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Other Vintage Household Electrical or Electromechanical Items For discussions about other vintage (over 25 years old) electrical and electromechanical household items. See the sticky thread for details.

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Old 31st Jul 2017, 9:43 pm   #41
Paul_RK
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

I really don't mind when it's from either! I confess surprise about the Osglim lamp, but admit to having no knowledge of just when they ceased production. The detail of the switch escutcheon isn't visible at all on the catalogue image, and my immediate response to seeing it was that its font and style are completely out of keeping with anything I've seen on an appliance from the 1930s: likewise the overall colour scheme. I've taken more of an interest than has been good for me in such electrical appliances from the earliest to the 1960s as have crossed my path since that interest began, in about 1968. Cream as a colour for cookers etc. was at the height of its popularity in the 1950s, but pretty much unknown as their dominant colour in the '30s: I can't think where you can have gained the contrary impression you relate. The catalogue illustration looks decidedly dark to me.

As regards GEC's policy, leaving a niche item in a fairly constant form for years made very good economic sense, as I thought I was illustrating by referring to Belling. If an item like this were selling, say, 20000 a year, and had various competitors in its place in the market, a thorough redesign every year or two might well be justified. If it was selling a couple of hundred a year and had no obvious competitors, but was turning a little profit, while the colour scheme might be changed at little or no cost in a modest attempt to keep up with the times there would be no motive for investing capital in redesigning the castings. Then, if not so much now, a large company didn't necessarily look to large production runs to justify continued manufacture of an item. Electric fire catalogues show, often, dozens of current models from a manufacturer - steady, slow sellers, many of them, hardly changing from one decade to the next because the capital investment in casting moulds, once made, paid dividends for years thereafter.

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Old 31st Jul 2017, 9:59 pm   #42
ms660
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

Some observations, the one in the catalogue is not exactly the same as the OP's one:

The plinth on the one in the catalogue is different to the OP's one..15 slots as opposed to 13.

The plinth casting top front edge is a different profile in the one in the catalogue compared to the OP's one.

There's no bolt heads shown on the front of the one in the catalogue, they can be clearly seen on the OP's one.

There is a switch escutcheon plate in the one in the catalogue but the picture is not clear enough to show any lettering.

Lawrence.

Last edited by ms660; 31st Jul 2017 at 10:04 pm. Reason: addition
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Old 31st Jul 2017, 10:41 pm   #43
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

Thank you for that Lawrence....I missed the 13/15 slots, well spotted....but might add that mine also has rivets either side of the switch plate.
Paul..I trust you'll not see my comments as any kind of dig at your good self for I in comparison have virtually no knowledge of these things...thus your input is most welcomed & valued.
That said, as originally stated, I've spent forever & a day attempting to track this thing down and over some 4 months and hundreds of hours I've long since lost count of the number of 30's items browsed at along the way that were described as finished in Devon Cream Enamel. But as I said, you would surely know better than what I've only gleaned from Google searches of late?
I think my next step, after the kind & successful help from you folk, is to pass this over to `Value My Stuff.com`.....I'm neither inclined to keep it or sell it as such but for 15 quid I can get not so much the value but the full expert report. I've used the service before & was very impressed.....I'll post that report....as a footnote to a thread highly successful but presumably dead as such.
Again...many, many thanks for all your time/effort on my behalf, Lawrence in particular of course, who might give me a shout should he ever find himself near Glastonbury so's I might repay him
All the best
Gill
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Old 31st Jul 2017, 11:31 pm   #44
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

Gill... rather your 15 quid than mine, we've metaphorically rolled our eyes here a great many times over "expert" valuations and assessments of radio and related items and the truth is that, regarding classes of object that hardly anyone has paid any attention to at all, there scarcely are any experts. I'm sure, though, that a few of us will await the report with curiosity if you go ahead.

Lawrence, I've just been looking at comparable illustrations in a 1927 Sunco catalogue, about the nearest thing I have to the 1931 GEC one, and I'm often quite at a loss to tell where a particular illustration is completely an artist's impression, or a touched-up photo, or just possibly a real and unaltered photograph of the item concerned. I suspect that some of the differences you cite, especially the different number of slots, mean that the catalogue image is wholly or in part the work of an artist.

Paul
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Old 31st Jul 2017, 11:38 pm   #45
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

Tut...it was curiosity that was driving me also but alas, they value just about everything...bar electrical items.
Guess I've got as far as I'm gonna get but that'll do fine ta.
Gill
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Old 31st Jul 2017, 11:51 pm   #46
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

Be glad that they've not just taken your money and ran, giving you a few generalisations or inaccuracies in return Some things are just so darned obscure that nobody knows very much about 'em, and I'm not at all confident that a national museum or auction house would have anyone qualified to tell you much about this, though they might have the materials to research it for a price.

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Old 1st Aug 2017, 12:03 am   #47
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

GEC's archivist used to have a pretty complete run of old GEC catalogues. They all went to Oxford as part of the Marconi collection. The answer would probably be found there, but I don't know how accessible the collection is these days.
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Old 1st Aug 2017, 1:28 am   #48
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

My first thought as to the hole bottom front centre was that it would be where the pilot burner would be on a gas-fired sister model, the existence of which is quite plausible given the age of the item.

I imagine stoves like this would have been used by single men living in rented rooms, to make tea or reheat food when the landlady was unavailable; especially on the upper floors, where coal might be inconvenient.

It's an interesting little item, for sure. Now, though, a microwave oven would be used for the same purpose.
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Old 1st Aug 2017, 3:05 am   #49
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

Quote:
Originally Posted by julie_m View Post
My first thought as to the hole bottom front centre was that it would be where the pilot burner would be on a gas-fired sister model, the existence of which is quite plausible given the age of the item.
Agreed, except I don't know that GEC ventured into the gas appliance market or would have been likely to collaborate on a model with a company that operated there.
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Old 1st Aug 2017, 2:46 pm   #50
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

Quote:
Originally Posted by julie_m View Post
I imagine stoves like this would have been used by single men living in rented rooms, to make tea or reheat food when the landlady was unavailable; especially on the upper floors, where coal might be inconvenient.
And probably charged for by shillings in a slot meter.

Quote:
Originally Posted by julie_m View Post
It's an interesting little item, for sure. Now, though, a microwave oven would be used for the same purpose.
Hopefully not for also warming the room.
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Old 1st Aug 2017, 4:17 pm   #51
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

Something similar....the Belling bungalow fire

https://www.***********/photos/heathercrook/5243498013
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Old 1st Aug 2017, 6:15 pm   #52
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

Yes, that's an electric fire designed so that a pan could be sat on top of it to keep warm - a very common idea in the '30s. Early Belling Champions were designed with a ribbed top to allow air passage around a pan or kettle. later models had a flattened top and a decal saying 'Do Not Cover'. Quite a lot of simple bar fires were designed such that the heating bar could either point forwards, for heating the room, or be turned to point upwards at a kettle placed on top.

It's the combination of conventional fire bars and a conventional hotplate that makes your unit so unusual. A bit surprising really that we've not been able to trace the same combination made by anyone else, but as has been pointed out it probably wouldn't have held much appeal beyond the impoverished housemaid / night-watchman market.
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Old 1st Aug 2017, 7:26 pm   #53
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

Hello,
Belling made their "Dinkie" (601 and 602) electric fire that had projections on the back so it could be laid down flat and used for cooking. It also had slots in the top to keep a food warm on.
Yours, Richard
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Old 7th Aug 2017, 12:08 pm   #54
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

Oh, is that what they were for? I have one, in slightly parlous condition that I keep meaning to restore. I've often looked at it and wondered why it needed those- I thought it might be to stop it being placed flat against a wall. What a nifty idea..

Oliver
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Old 7th Aug 2017, 10:18 pm   #55
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Default Re: Mystery vintage electric fire/hotplate. Identified as a Magnet (GEC) D2400.

I purchased the 1931 catalogue...just so's to have a reference to go with the fire.
Seems the wiring is indeed rock asbestos.
Kinda wanted to add pics of all the fires, just as a record should another like myself came along enquiring...but I don't think it's possible to include 33 photo's in a post.
Cheers/Gill
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