Reproductions of Porcelain Ovens of the Early 1900s

A True Victorian

• Once upon a time, they burned wood or coal, but today’s porcelain oven reproductions are light years away from those cast-iron relics. Find boxy Victorian ovens with impressive price tags trimmed with turn-of-the-century embellishments that make the appliances look so similar to originals, you might credit old world companies like Floyd, Wells & Company, Majestic Manufacturing, Buckwalter and Napoleon with their fabrication. Tell them apart by checking the controls, but if you see style names like cannon, globe or egg stove, you’re seeing brand-specific versions of the pot belly.

Jumping on the Porcelain Bandwagon

• While steel replaced cast iron as the 21st century dawned, porcelain became a wildly popular finish for home ovens, and manufacturers introduced their cabinet designs in one color: white. Marketed to consumers as a sanitary finish, Chambers, Dixie, Tappan, Wedgwood, Oriole, Gaffers & Sattler all jumped on the white porcelain bandwagon and reproductions spare no detail replicating features. When gas lines became available to consumers, oven companies wanted to show that their stoves were versatile, which is why today’s porcelain oven replicas mimic complex burner configurations that may group four on the left or six on the right. You’re paying for these details, so it pays to do your homework before you shop.

The Color Explosion

• The trend of white porcelain ovens quickly faded the moment early 20th century porcelain paint makers saw the enthusiasm – and sales figures – generated by the production of color cabinets. If a kitchen color palette called for a candy-apple red porcelain stove, a homeowner could get one. Ditto vibrant blues, greens and yellows. Today, you have just as much design leeway as the check writer, so if, for example, you choose a vintage model from the Elmira Stove Works, you can stipulate modern add-ons like programmable baking, halogen surface lights and self-clean features in a big, black appliance that’s a dead ringer for its 1900 ancestor.

Efficiency of Porcelain

• Brand names like Roper, Century and Magic Chef were all known for quality porcelain oven engineering right down to ceramic baffles. When homeowners discovered how efficient porcelain surfaces were for heat conductivity, big name manufacturers began to feature baked-on enamel oven chamber linings in addition to coated exteriors. Color options grew exponentially, particularly gold used by Glenwood, an oven company with a pulse on consumer tastes and social trends. The company was unafraid to use butter yellow for the cabinet of one of their most popular models, and if you choose that color palette today, you’ll own the quintessential 1900s porcelain oven reproduction.