A 99-Year-Old Refrigerator, a 1950 Stove Called Christine and 10 More Kitchen Appliances That Never Quit

“My 1950 stove still works like a charm. I call her Christine.”

Originally built in the factory in Los Angeles, she came with the house we bought in California in the 90s. I had her totally refurbished in 2005.

When we moved, it was in storage for a few years until we remodeled the kitchen around it.

I find it easy to clean, but hard to reach since the pilots on the stove are always on and therefore the top is always warm. I’m short, so I climb on the counter.

I like making pancakes on it.

Not. For. Sale.

“My parents’ 45-year-old microwave still works perfectly.”

Just reheated a plate of chicken for lunch for 1 min, had to wait for it to cool to eat it. So it’s still pumping out some watts.

Picking it up I would estimate over 35 lbs, but I would never make a living guessing weights at a carnival.

“Wedding present from my MIL- 1978 mixer”

It’s funny because my husband uses the mixer more than me, so it really is a gift for both of us.

It’s honestly hard to imagine how old this is. I guess my MiL got married in 78. I probably should know this. She upgraded a while ago, so it’s great that her first one still works!

We make pizza dough with it.

“Happy birthday to our refrigerator that turned 99 years old this month! She’s still going strong.”

If you look closely you’ll see that it’s standing on the original shipping crate. The fridge has the original shipping label posted on the back and the date of shipment is on there.

We inherited it in 1977 when we bought this house and we’ve never had it serviced. Might have had some repairs before us though.

“You always have to go buy a new appliance if yours breaks, but what if it still works but is old? I decided to take a few refrigerators from my store and test them for a week against each other to see how they all operate, and if it really would make finance sense to ever upgrade, including my Grandma’s old 1950 refrigerator, which I put right beside a brand new, top of the line refrigerator.”

Why they last: Owners on this list point to the same things: porcelain enamel on steel, cast iron parts, thick insulation and simple designs that can still be serviced.

One of 2 toasters my great-grandmother received as a wedding gift in 1925 that’s still used every day by my parents. The other one broke within the last 3 months.

They have to keep an eye on it and occasionally have to pop it up a little early to prevent burning the edges, but otherwise it’s great.

“61 years ago my parents received this waffle maker as a wedding present in 1961. Still makes great waffles.”

I told my son that was pretty unique and he said, “Well everyone does that!” My husband and I laughed because we were married in 1998 and it would be amazing if we were both alive in 2096 for that anniversary!

“JoAnn Saladino and Marcus Weisgerber purchased a stove in 1979. Even then, the stove was something of an antique. It was made in the early 1920s. The Long Island, New York, family showed off the aged appliance, which still works. It even has a bread warmer.

And the stove isn’t the family’s only working piece of history; their refrigerator dates back to the early 1930s. ‘We never had it repaired or anything,’ they told Inside Edition.”

“World’s First Automatic Coffee machine. 1952. Been in the family for 70 years. Still works perfectly.”

My favourite aspect of it is the way that it boils and how it looks through the glass top. And the colour is just really nice too.

Honestly, this is how I grew up drinking it on a gas stove and so it fits for me.

“Mixer from great grandmother”

My mom gave me this mixer recently that she thinks was a wedding gift to my great grandmother. The bottom says “Canadian patents 1938”. I’m not sure what year it was actually gifted or if 1938 is even the same year it was built but I gave it a good clean, plugged it in and it still works!

I turned it on and told my partner it smelled like we were touring an old naval ship.

My mom apologized for how dirty it was but after a good scrub and some toothpick cleaning, it was honestly good to go It’s cartoonishly shiny.

“My 1948 refrigerator still runs like new 77 years later.”

This fridge occupied a single tenant apartment since 1948. In 2014 the owner “upgraded” to a modern refrigerator and this was headed to a scrapyard until I volunteered to give it a second life.

It has worked like new all of these decades without any repairs needed beyond a new electrical plug I put on as a preventative measure. The prior owner later conceded the new fridge doesn’t run half as well or as cold.

It is a common myth that these old appliances consume a huge amount of electricity. In fact, the opposite is true. Its simplicity and massively well-insulated design makes it more cost effective than modern ones, with almost zero cost to run.

“This fridge was bought the day my older sister was born in 1985. This week my sister turned 30 years old & we sold our house with it still running (& looking) perfect!”

According to my parents, their old fridge broke on the same day they brought my newly-born sister back from the hospital in July of 1985, and my dad went to buy a new one — a light almond color with wood paneling on the handles & around the water dispenser/ice maker.

We have replaced some small parts (mostly due to the water dispenser) throughout the years, but it has never broken down on us or had any major problems.

This past week my mom let me know our house had accepted a full offer from a buyer, and this fridge will probably be moved on & out to the dump by them...but it has had a great journey and has powered through the decades like a champ!