World's cheapest expensive stove

Two weeks ago I found something absolutely amazing at a yard sale a half block away. A very nice lady was selling her old gas range, because she had just remodeled her kitchen.

It's a 1950s era stove, with a big steel griddle in the middle. It's been recently inspected, gas-wise, but needs some electrical work to be fully up and functional. As it stands though, you could hook it up to a gas line and it would work.

Something like this could easily have been $500, maybe over $1000 in a bigger city with a more active vintage culture. How much did we pay for it? $100. Seriously.

I spent the entire day after buying it out in the front yard taking it all apart and cleaning everything. I have to say that that was an absolute joy. They just don't make things like they used to. This thing was built before the days of planned obsolescence, back when business plans actually called for making high-quality things.

Everything on it is easily accessible, and very straight forward. There's nothing you couldn't fix with a screwdriver - and a wrench if something is really horribly wrong.

The clock on top feels like it might not work, but I have a plan. I have the chrome strip from a 1950s Ford car, and it just happens to be almost exactly the same size as the clock. That's going to be pretty amazing.

Since buying it I've had a couple people say "why would you buy a 60 year old stove? Just get a new one." I'll tell you what I've told them: because it still works. How many stoves being manufactured right now will still be in good working order in 60 years? Also, for $100 I couldn't buy a modern industrial cheapo box of a stove - and this thing is a work of art.