Harvest Gold 1978 : Further Ramblings On About My Appliance Fetish

I originally bought the 1978 stove and fridge together on ebay as a lot for less than $20. It included the color brochure for the '78 Dreamhouse and furniture line so was an exceptional deal. It just goes to show you that it is helpful to buy lots of random stuff because there is often unkown treasures included. I bought 3 more stoves and 2 more fridges in order to upgrade to a mint set which usually involves buying 4 of something and swapping out parts. I have nearly a complete set now with just a few tiny pieces missing, but I do love a challenge. For one fridge I renovated, there was no orange stickers left on the door handles so I used espresso wood contact paper and filled in the recessed part and it looked actually better than original and the buyer was perfectly happy with it. (see 'bloggers own house' post) Another random bag of food I bought had a flat yellow square I didnt know what it was until I realized it was the bottom shelf of the fridge I needed. The cookware eventually came in red, white, pink, and blue in addition to the original light and dark orange. The fridge right side door top hinge is almost always broken off, i cut off a que tip and stuck it in with a little glue and it works perfectly now- 2 minute solution. I bought another oven and fridge, and made up one minty complete set, and a second not so great set. The lesser set helped me get top dollar for the lesser A frame i sold. Interestingly, the oven in thsi picture had noticabley darker orange doors, so not all ovens are created equal. I cant get enough of the clear orange! Love it love it love it. I am not sure what the shiny sticker is supposed to be on the back, maybe stainless steel? We had a side by side but it was avocado, my mom's kitchen aid was harvest gold though. Check out this italian MIB example... http://www.flickr.com/photos/30317431@N08/3905806867/in/set-72157622032896796/ COLLECTOR TIP: For those bent/warped oven doors you can bring a pot of water to a rolling boil, using tongs submerge oven door in water for about 1 minute till slightly soft, bend flat again (quickly) and reattach to oven. Repeat if necessary. For broekn upper door tabs, a small wad of gum or putty in the joint works terrific.

Complete, minty, shiny set of orange/red cookware. I still dont have the orange spoon, or a scratch free pots and pan set. I do sort of prefer the clear orange cookware circa 2001. 

Lighter orange without the flash. 

Darker orange, with the flash on. 

The fact is that the orange pot/pan incarnation was molded in reverse colors. You can see there is a random dark orange pot amongst the mix, the kettles are reverse colors, the utensils are in different shades of orange and the cookie pan is also in reverse colors. We know already the pink line most certainly reversed the colors and there was also a purple and blue incarnation before they completely reinvented the Barbie kitchen cookware line in the 90's. A Chinese company has copied the design in all pink with dishes and crystal glassware for $5 including shipping, quite a bargain! 

Rarest color issue: purple. 

The redder of the reverse orange set. 

Orange set on top, red set on bottom. 

Better shot of redish colored bottoms and orange lids. 

Nicely made, great alternative to Mattel appliances. 

I really like the shiny chrome and attention to detail. 

Here is the likely real life inspiration behind the orange pot set:

Turns out the refridgerator fridge was issued new until 1989 somewhere in the world, in this Brazilian ad you can see it:

Would love to see it reisued in todays colors, maybe with reflective stickers for the front for that 'stainless steel' look.