27 Vintage Kitchen Appliances That Still Sell

A toaster from 1949 should be landfill by now. Instead, plenty of them are still browning bread every morning, and a good one sells faster than most new models on the shelf at a big-box store.

Old kitchen appliances were built with steel housings, simple motors, and parts meant to be repaired. That combination, plus a healthy dose of nostalgia, keeps buyers hunting for them at estate sales and online.

Sunbeam Mixmaster

Designer Ivar Jepson developed the Sunbeam Mixmaster, and it went on sale in 1930 as one of the first widely successful electric stand mixers in American homes. Its twin removable beaters and rotating bowl turntable set the pattern for decades of competitors.

Early models came with attachments like juicers and meat grinders, and complete sets are more valuable than bare mixers. Later versions in period colors like pink, turquoise, and yellow are popular with buyers decorating retro kitchens.

You will find plenty of plain white Mixmasters, so hold out for color or a full set of accessories.

Hobart-Era KitchenAid Mixers

KitchenAid began at the Hobart Manufacturing Company in Troy, Ohio, where the first home stand mixer, the H-5, appeared in 1919. The name reportedly came from an executive’s wife, who said it was the best kitchen aid she had ever had.

The Model K series of 1937, styled by designer Egmont Arens, set the basic silhouette the brand still uses. Machines built before Whirlpool bought KitchenAid in 1986 carry the Hobart name, and cooks pay a premium because the motors and gears are known for surviving decades of bread dough.

Osterizer Beehive Blender

John Oster’s company in Racine, Wisconsin, got into blenders in the 1940s, and its chrome base with stacked horizontal ribs earned the nickname beehive. The shape is so recognizable that it shows up in movie kitchens and retro diners.

Collectors want the chrome models with glass jars and working switches, and some buyers look for early units still bearing the Osterizer name on a badge. A dented base or cracked jar hurts value, but even a worn beehive tends to sell to someone.

Waring Blendor

Bandleader Fred Waring backed inventor Fred Osius and put his name on the Waring Blendor, spelled with an o, in the late 1930s. The blender was marketed to bars for mixed drinks before it found a place in hospitals and laboratories.

Early art deco models with cloverleaf glass jars and heavy bases are the ones collectors seek. Glass jars break far more often than motors fail, so a Blendor with its original jar and lid is worth considerably more than a bare base.

You can still use one for frozen drinks, but check the cord before you plug it in.

Sunbeam T-20 Radiant Control Toaster

The 1949 Sunbeam T-20 has no lever. You drop the bread in, and the weight triggers a mechanism that lowers it, toasts it according to its surface temperature, and raises it slowly when done.

Toaster fans still argue the design has never been improved upon, and they have a point. Later models like the T-35 kept the same system, and restored examples sell steadily to people who want toast done right.

Worn or broken internal springs are common, so a working unit is worth much more than a pretty shell.

Toastmaster Pop-Up Toasters

Charles Strite’s pop-up toaster design led to the Toastmaster, sold by the Waters-Genter Company in the 1920s as one of the first automatic pop-up toasters for home kitchens. Chrome two-slice models from the 1930s through the 1950s are the ones most collectors know, with rounded art deco lines and timer dials on the side.

Many of them still work, and buyers use them daily. Look for shiny chrome with minimal pitting and a clean crumb tray, and be ready to replace the cord for safety.

Hamilton Beach Drink Mixer

Hamilton Beach was founded in Racine, Wisconsin, in 1910, and its spindle drink mixers became standard equipment at soda fountains across the country. These machines, often painted in mint green, whipped milkshakes and malts for generations of teenagers.

Home collectors now want them for retro kitchens and home bars, especially models with the original stainless cup. Heavy rust on the base cuts the price sharply, while a mixer with a working motor and uncracked paint can bring a solid sum.

For your own kitchen, few gadgets make a better conversation piece.

Sunbeam Coffeemaster Vacuum Brewer

Vacuum brewing pushes hot water up into an upper chamber, steeps the grounds, then lets the coffee drain back down when the heat drops. Sunbeam’s Coffeemaster, sold in models like the C-20 and C-30, automated the process with two chrome globes and an automatic shutoff.

Coffee enthusiasts collect them because the brew is clean and flavorful. Missing filters and cracked seals are the usual problems, and replacements can be hard to find.

A complete unit with its cord, filter, and upper bowl sells for more, and it makes a pot of coffee that surprises people used to drip machines.

Chambers Range

Chambers ranges were made in Shelbyville, Indiana, and their famous slogan was that they cooked with the gas turned off. Heavily insulated ovens and a deep well pot called the Thermowell let food keep cooking after the burner was shut down.

Restored Chambers ranges are sought after by retro kitchen fans and serious cooks, and a small network of restorers keeps them running with salvaged parts. Moving one is a project in itself, and a range can weigh several hundred pounds.

Factor a trailer rental and a couple of strong friends into any deal you make.

O’Keefe & Merritt Range

O’Keefe & Merritt ranges came out of Los Angeles and became icons of midcentury California kitchens. Chrome trim, a built-in clock, and the Grillevator, a broiler that raised and lowered by crank, give them a look no modern range matches.

Restorers rebuild them from the burners up, and fully refurbished units command strong prices. Rust, missing knobs, and cracked enamel all increase the cost of bringing one back.

Even so, unrestored ranges find buyers, because owners in California and beyond treat these stoves as the centerpiece of a full retro kitchen.

Magic Chef Ranges

Magic Chef was the brand of the American Stove Company of St. Louis, which put a small chef figure on its ranges and advertising in the late 1920s. Vintage Magic Chef gas ranges from the 1930s through the 1950s are built heavy, with porcelain enamel finishes and simple controls that make them easy to repair.

The chef figure on the backsplash or oven door is a detail collectors want intact. You can often find them for less than a Chambers or O’Keefe & Merritt, which makes them a smart choice if you want a working vintage stove on a budget.

Frigidaire Flair

The Frigidaire Flair of the 1960s hid its cooktop inside a drawer that slid out from under eye-level ovens, and the oven doors swung upward on glass panels. The range appeared on television, most famously in the kitchen on Bewitched, and it still draws gasps at estate sales.

Parts are hard to find, which means a complete working Flair is worth far more than one missing components. Buyers who want one are serious, so condition and completeness drive most of the price.

GE Monitor Top Refrigerator

General Electric launched the Monitor Top in 1927, and its round compressor on top reminded people of the gun turret on the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor. Engineer Christian Steenstrup developed the sealed refrigeration unit that made it reliable enough to sell by the hundreds of thousands.

Many still run today, humming away in basements and restored retro kitchens. A working unit with its original cabinet finish brings the most.

A dead compressor means a costly repair, so ask the seller to plug it in and let it run for an hour before you hand over any money.

Presto Hot Dogger

The Presto Hot Dogger cooked hot dogs by running household current directly through them on metal spikes, finishing six in about a minute. It was sold in the 1960s and 1970s and has become a cult item for its sheer oddness. Collectors and curious cooks buy them for fun, and complete units in the original box sell best.

The lid is designed to cut the power when opened, so you should never use one with a broken lid switch. Consider it a novelty first and a cooking tool second.

West Bend Stir Crazy Popcorn Popper

West Bend of Wisconsin sold the Stir Crazy popcorn popper beginning in the 1970s, and its motorized stirring rod kept kernels from burning. The clear dome lid flips over to become the serving bowl, a trick that made it a family movie-night fixture.

Buyers pay for vintage units because they remember the machine from childhood. Clean domes without scratches and a stirring rod that still turns sell far better than scuffed ones.

Newer versions are still sold, but the original earth-tone models are the ones nostalgia buyers want on their counters.

Nesco Roaster Oven

The National Enameling and Stamping Company of Milwaukee, better known as Nesco, popularized the electric roaster oven in the 1930s. The countertop roaster could cook a turkey without tying up the main oven, which made it a holiday lifesaver and a church supper staple.

Vintage Nesco roasters in cream, green, or red enamel appeal to collectors of kitchen Americana, and early models with a removable inset pan and glass-windowed lid are especially popular. If the heating element and thermostat still work, you have an appliance that can still feed a crowd.

Vitamix 3600

William Grover Barnard’s Cleveland company, which became the Vita-Mix Corporation, introduced the Vitamix 3600 in 1969. It could grind wheat berries into flour, knead dough, and blend soups in one stainless steel container, a feat that earned it a following among health food fans. Barnard is also credited with filming one of the earliest television infomercials, back in 1949.

The 3600 is heavy and loud, with a simple forward and reverse switch, and working examples sell to people who would rather have a motor than a touchscreen.

Cuisinart DLC-7 Super Pro

Carl Sontheimer adapted a French restaurant machine and brought the Cuisinart food processor to American kitchens in 1973. Its success was so complete that the brand name became shorthand for the entire category. The later DLC-7 Super Pro is the model cooks chase now, thanks to a powerful induction motor and a build quality that makes many current processors feel flimsy.

Complete machines with the original blades, discs, and pusher are worth noticeably more, because replacement parts for older models can cost more than you would expect.

Rival Crock-Pot in Harvest Gold

Irving Naxon patented a bean-cooking pot he called the Beanery, and Rival Manufacturing bought his company and relaunched the idea as the Crock-Pot in 1971. The slow cooker became a symbol of 1970s kitchens, sold in avocado green, harvest gold, and flowered patterns that now look delightfully dated.

Early units have stoneware crocks fixed into the base, which later models replaced with removable inserts. You can still cook a pot roast in one, as long as the crock is free of cracks and the lid sits snugly.

Kenwood Chef A701

Kenneth Wood introduced the first Kenwood Chef in Britain in 1950, and the A701 model that followed in 1960 got a crisp redesign from industrial designer Kenneth Grange. It became a fixture in British kitchens and gained a reputation for motors that simply refuse to die.

The appeal lies partly in its huge range of attachments, from a liquidizer to a mincer and a slicer. British collectors chase complete sets in original boxes, and a working A701 with a full kit of accessories can sell for more than a new mixer from the same company.

Braun KM 3 Kitchen Machine

Gerd Alfred Muller designed the Braun KM 3 in 1957, and its smooth white body became a landmark of postwar German industrial design, sitting alongside the radios and record players Braun was producing at the time. A related model is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Design collectors look for complete KM 3 machines with the bowl, blender, and grinding attachments. Yellowed plastic lowers value, but a clean example can bring more than many American mixers of the same era.

Dualit Toaster

Max Gort-Barten founded Dualit in London in the 1940s, and its hand-assembled toasters became a fixture in British cafes, hotels, and eventually home kitchens. The stainless steel body, mechanical timer, and replaceable heating elements are the reason a decades-old Dualit can be rebuilt instead of thrown away.

Owners who prize repairability over features keep the market for used units strong. Look for original elements and a timer that still clicks through its cycle, because dents in the housing are cosmetic but a dead timer is not.

Salton Hotray

Lewis Salton founded his company after World War II, and the Salton Hotray warming tray became a postwar dinner party essential. The concept was simple: a heated surface that kept serving dishes warm on a buffet or sideboard.

Midcentury versions with walnut handles, brushed aluminum, and patterned glass tops are the ones collectors want. Holiday hosts still put them to work, and a clean, fully working Hotray sells quickly to hosts who like a little retro style on the table.

Manning-Bowman Waffle Iron

Manning-Bowman of Meriden, Connecticut, made some of the most handsome electric appliances of the 1920s and 1930s, and its waffle irons show off the art deco style at its best. Chrome bodies, decorative lids, and Bakelite handles turned a breakfast appliance into something worth displaying.

Deco collectors often buy them for shelves, but many still make excellent waffles. Frayed cloth cords are the first thing to check, since the wiring on a 90-year-old waffle iron almost always needs attention before use.

Early Mr. Coffee

Vincent Marotta and Samuel Glazer launched Mr. Coffee in Cleveland in 1972, and Joe DiMaggio soon became the smiling face of the brand in television ads. The automatic drip machine quickly replaced the percolator in millions of American homes.

Early models in their original boxes appeal to collectors of 1970s pop culture and advertising. You will find plenty of used ones, so the value lies in first-generation units with their original carafe and the DiMaggio-era packaging.

Dazey Butter Churn

The Dazey Churn and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis made glass butter churns with cast metal gear tops and crank handles in the early 20th century. Each churn is numbered by its capacity in quarts, and some sizes turn up much less often than the common ones.

Farmhouse-style decorators prize them for display, while a few buyers still use them to make butter. Cracked glass and rusted gears reduce value significantly, and a matching lid and paddle make a big difference to what you should expect to pay.

Rival Juice-O-Mat

Before the Crock-Pot, Rival Manufacturing of Kansas City built its reputation on the Juice-O-Mat, a lever-operated citrus press. Its heavy cast body, often finished in chrome or colored enamel, clamps down on half an orange with enough force to make short work of a bag of fruit. The design is simple enough that many units still work perfectly after decades.

Collectors like its retro diner look, and home bartenders appreciate that it never needs a plug.

Motors That Outlived Their Owners

These machines came from a time when manufacturers expected customers to repair things and hand them down. Steel housings, simple switches, and motors that could be rebuilt meant a mixer or range could last several lifetimes.

The market for them today is really a market for that expectation.

Collectors buy for design, cooks buy for performance, and many buyers are simply chasing a memory of a parent’s kitchen. What unites them is a belief that some objects were made better before planned obsolescence became normal.

If you come across one of these appliances, check the cord, plug it in carefully, and let it show you how long “built to last” used to mean.

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