History in the baking
After the oven that’s still hot stuff at 60, Mail readers say: I can beat that!
WHEN Val Marks showed off her 60-year-old cooker in the Daily Mail last month, we asked if she had the oldest working oven in Britain. But you responded in your droves to contest the title. Here, six readers tell XANTHA LEATHAM just how long their ovens have been going strong …
1927: OLD AS THE QUEEN
KIM Downs, of Warlingham, Surrey, believes her 91-year- old New World oven may be the oldest in the land. The same age as the Queen, it was installed in the same year that car tax discs were introduced, the first Poppy Day was held and Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid was released.
Mrs Downs, 59, came to own the oven when she and her husband bought their house six years ago.
She uses it every day and can even take it apart to put in the dishwasher. She said: ‘This New World oven was part of the original house which was built in 1927. It’s so well designed and we’ve never had any problems with it. I once managed to cook Christmas dinner for 20 people using it, so I’ve got no complaints. We’ve actually gone through two new ovens which have broken while this one keeps ticking away.
‘When I first moved in, my mum said she remembered having the very same oven when she was a little girl, and we get lots of visitors saying the same thing.’ She added: ‘I absolutely love it. I’d hate it if it died.’
New World ovens have been in homes for more than 100 years. The simple original design featured a large oven, grill and hob – without any of the fuss of modern appliances. To buy a new cooker in the 1960s would have set you back £38 – £840 in today’s money. The company says it doesn’t have a pricing structure for older appliances, but buying a brand new one before the Second World War would have been considered a luxury.
Their latest launch, the New World Suite 60MF oven, boasts nine functions and starts at £319.
1950: IT’S STILL IN PERFECT CONDITION
ReaDeR Jayne Tingey uses her ‘gorgeous’ 68-year-old oven every day – much like Val Marks who we featured last month.
She fell in love with it after spotting it on eBay six years ago – and the owners gave it to her for free.
‘It used to belong to an elderly couple, Ruby and Ben Clover,’ Mrs Tingey, 53, from Cambridgeshire, said. ‘It was put on eBay when Ruby went into a nursing home, and she was overjoyed someone was going to continue to use it.
‘I never buy anything new and my house is full of second-hand and vintage things, so I knew I had to have it. It’s in perfect condition and cooks beautifully.’
The oven came with an original GeC cookbook containing a range of traditional recipes. She has no plans to upgrade any time soon, since a modern cooker ‘would look weird’ in her house.
1953: COOKER CAME WITH OUR CARAVAN
GIll Dickens used her 65-yearold gas oven to cook haggis, neeps and tatties on Burns Night last week. She came to own the New World 33 cooker when her husband bought a showman’s caravan 30 years ago and has no intention of replacing it.
‘The oven came with the caravan and it’s always served us well,’ she said. ‘I’m not having a new one while this is still running perfectly fine – I don’t see the point.’ The pair live in a caravan park in Oakham, Rutland, but drive up to Wales and other parts of the country. ‘We used to use the caravan to go on holiday but we live in it permanently now and use the cooker every day,’ Mrs Dickens, 52, said.
‘It’s served three generations as our grandchildren now come over and we cook for them.’
1954: SPARE PARTS? ONLY IN A MUSEUM
RIChaRD Rakowski has many fond memories of his mother preparing family meals on their electric cooker.
he was only a young boy when his family moved over to the UK from Poland in 1955 and bought a house in Slough.
The property came with a one- year- old electric cooker. his mother Tatiana, now 91, ‘ refuses to get rid of ’ the 64year- old appliance.
‘She is so attached to it that when we bought her a new cooker she refused to throw this one out,’ Mr Rakowski said.
‘The new one has been in the garage for the last 20 years as we wait for this english electric cooker to fail, which it probably won’t do for a long time.
‘I once tried to look up spare parts and the only ones I could find were in a museum. I think Mum worries that when the cooker goes she’ll go too – so let’s hope it keeps running for a long time.’
1955: OURS HAS FED FOUR GENERATIONS
WORKING on a farm can be exhausting, and Juliana Stevens’ family look forward to meals cooked on the aga at suppertime.
It was installed in the main farmhouse by her mother-in-law in 1955 and has been heating the water and cooking dinners since.
‘It’s seen four generations,’ Mrs Stevens, 49, said. ‘My mother-inlaw and her family used it and now my children do as well.
‘We’ve never had to touch it or repair it in any way. It’s still going very well and we’re happy with it – why would we ever change it?’ The family run a dairy farm in Stanton Drew, near Bristol, and often work long hours. ‘ We saw the story in the paper and knew our aga could beat it, it’s now 63 years old and is still as good as the day it was put in,’ Mrs Stevens added.
1956: £54 WAS PRICY BACK IN THOSE DAYS
ChRISTINe Joslin, from Welling in Kent, still has the receipt for her 62-year- old Cannon a130/S gas cooker. It was bought by her husband for £54 in 1956 – more than £900 in today’s money. ‘We have continued to use it since day one,’ the 81-year-old said. ‘My late husband serviced it every year so it was kept in great condition.
‘We’ve stayed in the same house and the cooker has stayed with us. I still have the receipt for it – it was a lot of money in those days so we had to pay it off monthly. I’ve even got all the maintenance cards and original cookbook. It’s an extremely sturdy oven and has served all three of us very well.’ She added: ‘I’ve never felt the need to replace it. It’s perfect.’
Still going strong at 60, is this Britain’s oldest oven? From the Mail, January 22