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Post by melissaf on Apr 6, 2017 10:06:48 GMT -5
I was browsing through the Building Technology Heritage Library on Archive.org and came across a Chambers Built-Ins catalog. It is dated 1961 and the company is listed as Chambers Built-Ins Co, Arlington Heights, IL. A Division of Chambers Corp. The catalog shows the wide range of built-in products offered at the time, from the cook tops and counter top ovens that show up fairly often to the less seen dishwashers, range hoods, refrigerators, garbage disposals, and in-wall ovens. I especially like the "Imperial Twins" ovens. The back of the catalog has a complete price list. archive.org/stream/ChamberBuit-ins/ChamberBuilt-ins#page/n0/mode/2up
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Post by Chuckie on Apr 6, 2017 15:24:19 GMT -5
I was browsing through the Building Technology Heritage Library on Archive.org and came across a Chambers Built-Ins catalog. It is dated 1961 and the company is listed as Chambers Built-Ins Co, Arlington Heights, IL. A Division of Chambers Corp. The catalog shows the wide range of built-in products offered at the time, from the cook tops and counter top ovens that show up fairly often to the less seen dishwashers, range hoods, refrigerators, garbage disposals, and in-wall ovens. I especially like the "Imperial Twins" ovens. The back of the catalog has a complete price list. archive.org/stream/ChamberBuit-ins/ChamberBuilt-ins#page/n0/mode/2upFunny you should find that catalog, I just found this complete kitchen on Searchtempest: stlouis.craigslist.org/app/6075221071.htmlCHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by nana on Apr 6, 2017 17:01:12 GMT -5
Normally when someone is renovating a vintage kitchen I feel like they are making a big mistake. But this one is so unrelentingly beige and bland. The only two features I like are the linoleum countertops and the Chambers, although it's my least favorite type of Chambers, and the countertops may be cracked and peeling and past their useful life. The pictures don't really show enough detail to tell, although it looks like there is some damage between the stove and the sink. Is there something redeeming about the cabinets that I just can't see?
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Post by evangeline on Apr 6, 2017 18:12:42 GMT -5
Nana, I'm not knowledgeable enough about steel cabinets to recognize the escutcheon but those things were often marvelously built. . . I wish I had a good photo of a kitchen I once saw featured in a high end Manhattan brownstone. This was many years ago. But the designer had the steel cabinets stripped, buffed and waxed. Oh, freaking so, so beautiful.
Have seen references to folks having auto body shops strip and repaint metal cabinets but the Garden Web discussions indicate this is very regional.
If I had unlimited funds and a husband who did not faint at the word Craigslist I would consider giving it a shot, some way, some how. But it is not going to happen.
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Post by melissaf on Apr 7, 2017 8:44:15 GMT -5
Chuckie, Great find. Are you making an offer?
From the look of the hardware, I'm pretty sure those are Geneva cabinets from the early 60s. I did some work on a house a few years ago that had the same cabinets. The kitchen itself is pretty blah but with some fresh paint on the cabinets & walls and some new linoleum on the floor & counters it could be a great vintage kitchen.
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Post by vaporvac on Apr 7, 2017 11:36:30 GMT -5
MelissaF, that pdf is hours of entertainment. We've see posting for these a few times, but seeing variety is awesome. GREAT FIND!!!
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Post by pooka on Apr 7, 2017 14:07:50 GMT -5
melissaf, that's a great find. I've seen a few brochures of the later stuff, but nothing this extensive with prices. It also shows the problem I've had searching this kind of thing out. It's listed as Chamber Buit-Ins. instead of Chambers Built-Ins. When it's misspelled like that, it get lost in all the Chamber of commerce & other things that use the name or term Chamber. It's going to take me a while to digest this.
Chuckie, that kitchen is cool. I'm not really a fan of metal cabinets, but that was a real time capsule of it's era before it was all removed. Even though I'm more of a fan of the earlier stoves, I do like that earliest style cook-top with the more machine age levers, & also has the pull out secondary drip pans, kinda like the crumb tray on a toaster. It's such a clean modern design, it still looks modern today.
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Post by nana on Apr 7, 2017 15:26:31 GMT -5
It just goes to show, as my mother-in-law loved to say at flea markets and tag sales, one man's trash is another man's treasure. I can see how the metal cabinets under the cast iron drainboard sinks might be attractive because of the cool look, but having lived with and used my share of them, I say: give me solid wood every time! I don't like the echoey metallic thunk they make either. And those old sinks are death on dishes and glasses, too. But the ones in that picture are just not my thing, even if they were not such a sickly color.
There are an awful lot of them, though! Storage space is not an issue in that room!
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