Here she is, folks!  The FREE vintage O’Keefe & Merritt stove Philip got for me.  It required a visit to a dusty shanty-town near a power plant in which it would not surprise me to find a dead body in an old oil barrel (not that I go looking inside oil barrels, cause, c’mon!  Bodies get hidden in them…) and a whole lot of jostling a local with a truck to help haul it home plus this stove almost crushed Philip to death.

This stove supposedly works but the person who was giving it away (to us!) hadn’t ever actually used it himself so this is not really known.  It’s in remarkably good shape for a stove that has been lying on its side out in the open air.  Very little rust on it – definitely some rust near the pilots (not good) but the enamel is in really good shape and the chrome is also in great shape.  The whole thing is understandably dirty.

Isn’t it pretty?  It comes with cooking guides (such a convenience).  It also has the salt and pepper shakers.

Why get excited about an old stove like this?  Have you ever cooked with one?!  In our old house on Beaver Street we had an O’keefe & Merritt stove very similar to this one (but it only had one oven) and it was the best stove I’ve ever cooked on.  I left it behind because the house we were moving to up in Oregon has no gas to the house.  But boy have I missed that stove.

These stoves cost an arm and a leg when they’re restored.  It’s a lot less expensive when you start by getting it for free.  I’ll need to have it worked on inside by a place that restores vintage stoves (I’ve already found a place) and I don’t know what that will cost.  The more pressing problem is how to fit it in the kitchen.

The current stove we have is only 30″ and this one is 40″ so to make it fit we’ll have to lose some cabinets.  This is not work we know how to do so we’ll need a professional to help us.

It’s in really good shape inside too – it’s pretty clean.  Look – more instructions for my convenience!  I can’t wait to be cooking on this stove.  Philip is hoping we can have it in by Thanksgiving.  I don’t know that that’s realistic.

Two ovens and two broilers!  Think of the possibilities!  I know I am.