Goodwill Electric Iron find - need info

[McHeath]

Here are some snaps of my irons.

The GE one is the original, and it was in fabulous condition, looking almost new.  I bought it in summer 2000 for a couple of dollars at the Salvation Army store.  I liked it right away as it was like the ones mom used to have, before the plastic futuristic irons of today, and I honestly thought it was only a few years old.  It has a red button for steam, you fill the water by just pouring it in the hole, there is no "fill" setting or function.  The settings for heat are selected by moving the blue slider button.  There is no water level indicator of any kind, which really is no big deal as it just stops making steam and you add more.  It works great!  The cord has a coiler device attached to it.

The new iron is a Black and Decker, I bought it in late 2007 and it has a build date of April 2007.  Made in China, of course.  It is a darn good replica of the original, about the same weight, heats up just as fast and just as hot, both are 1100 watts, and presses clothes better than most newer irons I've used.  Differences include the fabric guide on the metal strap, the steam button is orange, and it has a water level indicator.  It operates the same way, add water in the hole, set the heat, iron, pretty simple.  However it has the very nice modern feature of auto off after setting still for 8 minutes, and after 30 seconds if left horizontal with no motion. 

So we retired the original GE iron both to save it from getting used up, and also because the newer iron has safety features that we like. 

Here they are, the GE iron always has the red button and is usually on the left in the pictures.

[Kenny C]

too bad it doesnt have the cloth cord like mine

[McHeath]

A few more pics.

The sole plate of the GE is a little nicer, with the elongated holes to spread steam, but neither has any sort of teflon coating.  Not that they need it, this is probably a feature of modern irons that really does not make all that much difference, IMHO.

The handle on the Black and Decker is not bakelite.  Fit and finish are quite good on the B and D, it conveys the same impression as the original.  The hole to fill the water on the GE is buggered up by a fix I had to do, it was leaking and needed a seal replaced.  

You can read all the features of the B and D by looking at the box cover.  Wal-Mart still sells this version for 22 bucks on their web site.  

Lastly where the ironing magic happens!  The ironing board is a built in, original to the house, and one of my favorite features.

[McHeath]

Yours is probably older than my GE iron Kenny.  It has a cloth cord, fewer steam holes on the bottom, and a little less contouring in the bakelite by the water fill hole.  Too bad it's missing the setting adjuster knob. 

[LarryInMichigan]

As long as we're showing iron pictures, here's mine.

[Kenny C]

all of ours so far have shown a few differences.

[McHeath]

Larry I wonder if yours is the oldest of our irons?  I speculate on that because of the fewer and extended steam holes on the sole.  My GE is the newest of the three and most closely resembles the B&D modern one in the pattern on the sole, and yours is the most different.  It's interesting how hard it is to find good info on these irons on the web.

[Kenny C]

I would think  so too i will go look at grannys tommorrow

[LarryInMichigan]

Well, for whatever it might be worth, mine is marked "Cat no 36F60" and "91" on the bottom.

Larry

[Kenny C]

does that stand for the catalogue number and serial number?

[McHeath]

I've found some indication that my iron was known as a "F63" model.  Maybe yours Larry is an F60.

[Kenny C]

mine is an F62 and instead of double digits mine has 3 it is 007

[LarryInMichigan]

I suppose that F60, F62, F63 are the model numbers.

Larry

[Kenny C]

grannys says F62 and has the numbers 004

[jsowers]

McHeath, the "Perm Press" setting on your GE, and the blue cord, date it to the 60s or 70s. I don't think there was Permanent Press until the mid-1960s. My mom hated ironing and everything I remember wearing as a kid in the 1970s was Permanent Press.

A cloth cord would also be an indicator of a 1950s iron, though I'm sure some were made in the 60s too. I think sometimes those cords had asbestos inside them, so be forewarned.

That's amazing how similar those two irons are--the GE and the B&D. If they can make a Chinese knockoff iron that works as well or better than the GE original for a decent price, why can't they do as well with reproduction phones? They never look exactly like the original.