refrigerators

[Kenny C]

me and my mom had a " spirited debate"  about refrigerators today when my aunts 1951 refrigerator went out I said that things then were built better then . She said that they weren't. So if our refrigerator from 2002 went out in 2009, that is 7 years of use. And my aunts 1951-2009, that is 58 years of good use. Phones then now, compare, need I say more.

[Jim Stettler]

me and my mom had a " spirited debate"  about refrigerators today when my aunts 1951 refrigerator went out I said that things then were built better then . She said that they weren't. So if our refrigerator from 2002 went out in 2009, that is 7 years of use. And my aunts 1951-2009, that is 58 years of good use. Phones then now, compare, need I say more.

My mom had her Maytag washer from 1956 thru about 1999. It needed a switch replaced and a belt replaced over all those years. She got a new one because she wanted a new one. It worked fine when she gave it to a young teenage mother that she had met and who was in need of a washer (cloth diaper fan).

New items have built-in obsolescence. This started happening after the depression. You need a recurring market in a consumer base society.
Jim

[Kenny C]

i am waiting on our new one to fall apart it is brand new it is one of those double doors it is gigantic

[McHeath]

I would argue that some things are built better today, such as cars, while others things are not, such as fridges. 

As much as I love old cars, they are usually pretty primitive in their construction, especially really old ones from before 1950. 

Modern iceboxes have nifty features and all, and better gaskets and such, but their compressors and working parts like icemakers don't last as long, from my observations.  My GE fridge is on it's 3rd icemaker in 9 years, which is insane. 

And of course house construction was much better in the past, not only in labor but in materials.  The framing in my house is all old growth douglas fir, that would cost a fortune today, and the walls are lathe and plaster which required skilled labor.  (I'm not sure you could find anyone who could do that today)  There is only one crack in the walls and that's in the master bathroom by the shower entrance, while my mom's house built in the mid 90's has sheetrock seams popping loose everywhere. 

And of course phones today are amazingly useful gadgets that can do things that only Dick Tracy's watch could do back in the old days.  But they won't last 50 years, and those that survive will be paperweights not functioning phones.   

I also think that clothes are made better today, even the cheap imported stuff is serged these days, look at antique clothes and you see that lots of them were not. 

All my opinions I note, others mileage may vary.

[AET]

I wanted a vintage fridge for my apartment, but my dad bought a brand new one for up there, and I guess I won't complain.

Cars is a 50 50 thing if you ask me.  My dad would say otherwise.  He always says that if you got 10 years or 100,000 miles out of a car, that was about what was expected, where I have 130,000 miles on my Crown Vic, and probably won't retire it until 300,000 miles.  My buddy's truck has 340,000 miles on it and still going strong, his father retired their van at 450,000 miles.  However, the bodies were built much better. Real metal, not plastic, dashes were metal, not plastic.  Door panels and seats were stylish, not plastic. 

I have certain articles of clothing in my wardrobe from the 50's and 60's and they still look like almost new.

[rp2813]

I had a little 1939 Westinghouse fridge that came out of an old apartment building that my sister and B-I-L used to manage back in the early 70's.  It followed me from place to place and eventually ended up on my parents' covered patio keeping drinks cold.  All it ever needed was a small spring replaced in the temperature control mechanism back around 1985.  It stopped operating a couple of years ago and I thought it would be something simple, but through much testing I felt confident that I had isolated the problem to the compressor, which was far too big a job for me to tackle.  So, it ran for almost 70 years. 

I promise you this:  no refrigerator made today, or probably since the mid 50's, will still be functioning 70 years after it was manufactured.

[Kenny C]

she said all it ever needed was a screw for the door handle

[bellsystemproperty]

I think that some things were built better then, but then some things today are built much better. Phones and appliances would usually be in the better category. But, you wouldn't go to the dentist and ask for some "vintage dental work". 

[Kenny C]

i'll say

[bingster]

I told the story once of a friend of my mother's who had a GE Monitor Top refrigerator that had been her mother's.  The monitor top had been replaced once, but it's still in service after more than eighty years.

I agree with McHeath about cars. Old cars require constant maintenance, and did when they were brand new.  Nobody today would put up with that sort of constant drudgery in a vehicle. And while the quality of materials then was much better, panel fit in all but the most expensive cars was slipshod at best. 

[McHeath]

I agree with McHeath about cars. Old cars require constant maintenance, and did when they were brand new.  Nobody today would put up with that sort of constant drudgery in a vehicle. And while the quality of materials then was much better, panel fit in all but the most expensive cars was slipshod at best.

My 1950 Ford F-1 truck came with the owners manual when I bought it in 94'.  The required maintenance schedule was insane, for every few hundred miles there was something to lube, changeout, realign, retorque or reset.  The fit and finish were appallingly bad, and mine was a fully restored to stock condition truck that was in great shape to start with.  If you would have actually followed the maintenance schedule you would have been endlessly working on the truck, a real ball and chain around your life.  

[AET]

That's why I've always wanted to do a restomod.  My goal was to buy that Ford Country Squire wagon I was talking about on here earlier, and to buy a Crown Vic interceptor with body damage, and put the motor and trans and everything in there, so it would have been like having a new car mechanically with fuel injection and such. 

I love the styling and the simplicity of old cars, but not the constant maintenance.  The build quality is great, but mechanically not the greatest, and this solves those problems. 

I have only owned 2 fuel injected vehicles, and the rest have had carburetors, and I will say, it's nice to get into a car, and not have to pump it a few times, or feather the gas to keep it running on a cold morning, or have to adjust the idle, or anything of the like on an injected model.

[McHeath]

Yeah I agree Tom that fuel injection is pretty sweet.  Both of our current cars have it and starting is easy as can be, compared to the old days of flooding the carb, pumping the pedal, trying to learn the way that particular vehicle likes to be started at that particular moment. 

If the engine is hot, do this, if cold after a night do this, if cold but ran a few hours ago do this, etc.

And the removal of endless maintenance is nice as well, no more points to adjust, cracking rotor caps, idle speeds and mixtures to set, timing to adjust, valves to adjust, drum brakes to battle, etc etc.  Modern cars are pretty much plug and play. 

But old ones have often got a tremendous cool sense of style. 

[AET]

Yes, not to mention the old ones are built of real metal, and pride.  And are yes, very very stylish and make a statement.  I've got a 63 Impala 4-door post, which I bought for 600 bucks.  My dad laughs about it because everyone thinks it's so cool, but in his day, it was just an old man's car.

[Dan]

I think that some things were built better then, but then some things today are built much better. Phones and appliances would usually be in the better category. But, you wouldn't go to the dentist and ask for some "vintage dental work". 

True, but GOLD is still the best material you can use in your mouth (for crowns). Most get the porcelain or ceramic for the esthetics.