Pop Art Fridges

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Come to think of it, why can't you buy fridges nowadays with decorated fronts?

Original article here.
     Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 14, 2015
     Category: Art | Appliances | 1960s





Comments
I imagine there are two main reasons pre-decorated refrigerators never caught on --

Too expensive for stores to have a large selection. They easily fill showrooms with a wide variety of makes, sizes, and options; can you imagine also having to keep on hand a playing card, a fur print, etc. etc. etc. of each one?

Refrigerators last about 15 years. Can you imagine going that long without redecorating your kitchen (well, yeah, if you're a single guy, sure, no problem, why change it? But if you're married, it's a battle to keep your better 3/4s from a major redo every year, and if you don't give in at least once every 5 years, you're treading on really thin ice)?

But the real killer of the decorated fridge idea is that sooner or later someone is going to want one with a mime, and it all goes downhill from there.
Posted by Phideaux on 01/14/15 at 06:52 AM
Too easily out of style, remember the cool olive green appliances from the '70's? Or that mustard yellow? Ick!
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 01/14/15 at 07:15 AM
I'm thinking we had that one with the dragons.
Posted by Old_Person on 01/14/15 at 08:46 AM
Well, it was 1965, after all.
Posted by KDP on 01/14/15 at 09:42 AM
Brushed 'lumininium !agh! almeninium !agh! metal is more swabbv !agh! fancy.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 01/14/15 at 10:34 AM
Now you could do the same thing as a decal and only have to stock a large format printer and ink!
Posted by Tyrusguy on 01/14/15 at 11:15 AM
I want a clear glass refrigerator so the kids can see what is in there without opening the door for an eternity.
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 01/14/15 at 04:36 PM
@patty...AHEM Ick? My mustard coloured refrigeratotor has worked well has since 1982. When worst comes to worst, I probalby can fix it.
My sister bought a new fridge and it died in 2 months.
Posted by BMN on 01/14/15 at 05:19 PM
Things were made better of course, but that color is still ugly honey.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 01/14/15 at 05:53 PM
We had an old green fridge that got a short to the chassis .. so when you touched it you would get a shock. I named it the "diet fridge"
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 01/14/15 at 06:07 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJS0HdBh0RE

Kicks in after the minute mark. Was put out by Westinghouse for fridges
Posted by S.Norman on 01/15/15 at 09:26 AM
That's quite a find, S.Norman. Apparently, in the '60s people used their refrigerator as a sort of shrine, centering their parties around it. One of the women in the New Year's Eve party segment is wearing a dress that would match the olive green refrigerators of old.
Posted by ges on 01/15/15 at 11:35 AM
Back in the late '60's a new family moved into the neighborhood. The mother wore bell bottoms, a poncho, and big hoop earrings -- WOW! Hippies! She was an "artist" and made a huge daisy out of Contac (sp?- that sticky backed paper) and stuck it on their refrigerator. At six or seven years of age, it seemed like a great idea. Groovy!
Posted by ScoutC on 01/15/15 at 09:48 PM
I could totally go for this:

http://www.foodbeast.com/2013/04/22/nerdify-your-kitchen-with-this-tardis-fridge-kit/
Posted by Phideaux on 01/15/15 at 11:30 PM
The front of my refrigerator is decorated with: shopping lists, notes to the missus, the kids' artwork, miscellaneous magnetic knick-knacks, coupons, a couple recipes, and the phone numbers for a poison control center (in case the leftovers resurrect themselves), the ambulance company, the insurance company, etc.
No more room for my calendar :(
Posted by tadchem on 01/16/15 at 01:55 PM
Confirmed it, we did have the red fridge with gold dragons.
Posted by Old_Person on 01/16/15 at 11:34 PM
"Come to think of it, why can't you buy fridges nowadays with decorated fronts?"
You can, sort of. There is a company in California that will make fronts for any appliance. They have factory specs and will ship a frame to you within days. You put what you want in the frame.
They also will let you put SS/Copper/ whatever on your appliance.
Posted by UncleBill on 01/17/15 at 06:49 PM
We still have a built in green 1970's GE Electric Stove/Oven. The mechanical clock still keeps perfect time. We had to replace one burner years ago is all.
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 01/17/15 at 10:01 PM
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