A flash back to Bewitched, besides loving Bewitched, one of the things I enjoy is observing the technology of the 1960s… the oven specifically draws my attention. It is a Frigidaire Flair. What a neat design, eye level ovens and a pull out cook-top. Why did it have such a short-term popularity? How did design take a step back and stick to the common freestanding ranges we have today? Yes you can get a separate cooktop, wall ovens, or a slide-in range… but the Flair is so dramatically different, yet went poof after the 1960s.
On Kitchen & Residential Design, they include several pictures from the Bewitched set.. and a question that I think says so much (as they are talking about the declining life span of appliances)…
So which do you think came first? Short-lived appliances or people unwilling to maintain the appliances they already have?
Kansas Historical Society talks about the Frigidaire Flair. They note the Flair was created to use space efficiently. That makes this a design that SHOULD make a come-back, right?
The Mershons donated their stove to the Society in the spring of 2008. It is in the collections of the Society’s Kansas Museum of History.
DanLangon.com includes an image of the Old Frigidaire Flair oven from the early 1960s.
Owners manual & Tech Talk on the Flair on Obvious Diversion.
Katie said,
April 23, 2011 at 11:09 am
Short lived appliances came first….
My dad, in his traveling days, spent the plane trip next to another engineer. But, this engineer’s job was to design applainces that broke after a few years. Yes, what you might have cursed under your breathe is actually true. The products are designed to fail. It seems as though the manufacturers “discovered” that the old reliable appliances lasted. Since they lasted, people did not have to buy new ones. Products that last forever are not as profitable.
Of course, I see it from the other side – if I pay thousands of dollars for an appliance it had better last a long, long time….
Very cool Bewitched stove/oven. Loved the show. Amazing how “futuristic” the thing looks, even almost a half a century later. Only proble that I could see was the fact that I would not like to reach over boiling pots to get to what is inside the oven.
gypsy said,
April 23, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Humm, that is a good point.. about the oven access. For me, being it is unique, space saving.. I like that combination alot. But the over-access could have been what made it unpopular.
I am not remotely surprised about the break-down feature.. heck Dodge & GM has been running their business (badly) on that principal.
Rhonda-Elaine said,
October 25, 2011 at 9:53 pm
What a trip! That was my mom’s oven when I was growing up! She still remembers it fondly. Speaking of long-lasting appliances, the range was running just fine in 1979, when she sold it for a pretty penny. I didn’t know that it was on Bewitched; I’ll have to look for it the next time I come across an episode.
By the way, I don’t remember the oven reach-over thingie being an issue, but I wasn’t cooking yet when we sold ours…
tina said,
January 23, 2012 at 11:15 pm
I cooked on this stove / oven as a child. We had it until I was about 14. Learned Hollandaise sauce on it. Never was it a problem that I can remember. I love this design to this day. I only wish I could have the double ovens, and pull out stove top today. It was wonderful. It was replaced only when it kept electricuting us and parts were just to darned expensive. Our Neighbors was working until I moved out of the house in the 90′s.
barbara garland said,
March 7, 2012 at 12:48 am
i have this stove i bought years ago and want to sell it still working great e-mail me if interested @bfgarland50@yahoo.com