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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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15th Mar 2020, 10:46 am | #1 |
Octode
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Ilkeston, Derbyshire, UK.
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1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
I picked this up recently for use in my 1960s kitchen. It dates from 1965 and has survived remarkably well, probably in the care of one owner as it still has it's instruction booklet with it. I really love the styling- the metallic royal blue colour really sets off the chrome. The only thing missing is a small square plastic cap with the Tricity 'crown' logo set into it, which would normally cover the hinge fixing on top of the cabinet.
I had a minor disaster with the fridge when I inadvertently broke the glass shelf over the salad compartment. To my immense relief I was able to get an exact replacement cut by a local glass company 'while-u-wait' for 8 quid. The frosted glass is still a current pattern so the new shelf is identical to the original. The temperature control is unusual, being divided into coloured zones according to the ambient temperature of the kitchen. The instruction book (scanned below) explains all. I like the idea of the add-on worktop with built-in temperature indicator. The idea being that you set the fridge control to match the colour shown on the indicator. This Tricity works fine and is very quiet in operation. All in all a rather nice 60s survivor! Steve |
15th Mar 2020, 10:47 am | #2 |
Octode
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Ilkeston, Derbyshire, UK.
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
More pics...
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15th Mar 2020, 10:48 am | #3 |
Octode
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Ilkeston, Derbyshire, UK.
Posts: 1,398
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
And finally the instruction booklet...
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15th Mar 2020, 11:01 am | #4 |
Heptode
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Blackburn, Lancashire, UK.
Posts: 729
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
That's gorgeous - it's immaculate, isn't it - lucky you!
Nice original MK plug too
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15th Mar 2020, 12:40 pm | #5 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oxford, UK.
Posts: 17,865
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
Very rare in that condition I would have thought. Well done for saving it!
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15th Mar 2020, 8:35 pm | #6 |
Octode
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Ilkeston, Derbyshire, UK.
Posts: 1,398
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
As a matter of fact Peter it came without a plug and sad case that I am, I fitted an MK (nicely cleaned up) of the appropriate vintage. A modern plug just doesn't feel right. I tend to do this with all my old appliances.
I really should get out more. Steve |
15th Mar 2020, 9:09 pm | #7 |
Heptode
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Blackburn, Lancashire, UK.
Posts: 729
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
I'd have done exactly the same thing, Steve Well done!
I would even probably have gone a step further, though, and fitted an ivory one, as a better match for the flex! These things matter....
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Best Regards, Peter. |
15th Mar 2020, 9:23 pm | #8 |
Octode
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Rotherham, South Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 1,724
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
That’s really great! Amazing condition. You have done well, I love it!
I like the idea of time themed rooms, given the opportunity I’d like to re-create the living room of our house was I was a boy. Peter |
19th Mar 2020, 12:29 am | #9 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Staffordshire Moorlands, UK.
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
What lovely condition. Whenever I see a duck-egg blue interior I always think of Harry Palmer's fridge in 'the ipcress file'.
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Kevin |
19th Mar 2020, 1:09 am | #10 |
Heptode
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Ellesmere, Shropshire, UK & Co. Cork, Ireland.
Posts: 502
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
I never realised 'white goods' were made that attractive in the past. A great find! I hope it lives on for many years.
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Dom Less snakes...more ladders! |
19th Mar 2020, 9:11 am | #11 |
Octode
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Ware, Herts. UK.
Posts: 1,082
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
I recall seeing quite a few of this model in various student houses in the early '80s.
John |
19th Mar 2020, 8:44 pm | #12 |
Octode
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Ilkeston, Derbyshire, UK.
Posts: 1,398
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
Thank you for all the interest and kind comments. I suppose to most people a fridge is a fridge, but the styling touches on 60s models like this really appeal to my design aesthetic. It's great to have the chance to preserve an example - and keep using it for the purpose for which it was intended.
I shall have to re-watch The Ipcress File...! Steve |
19th Mar 2020, 9:31 pm | #13 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 14,007
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
Lovely!
Tricity always managed to produce appliances that were both leading-edge technically and also understood the customer-aesthetic 'zeitgeist'. I can imagine that in the mid-60s that fridge would have taken pride-of-kitchen-place in a middle-class-aspirational 3-bed semi-detached Wimpey or Barratt house in somewhere like Letchworth or Welwyn Garden City, along with a new Ford Corsair parked on the driveway outside. Truly a reflection of its time. John Betjeman should have reworded this to include a Tricity Vogue.... "I am a young executive. No cuffs than mine are cleaner; I have a Slimline brief-case and I use the firm's Cortina." |
20th Mar 2020, 12:58 am | #14 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Surrey, UK.
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
That's rather nice- I like some crisp, clean, simple '60s styling, a fresh escape from some of the dowdier '50s hang-overs. At least the manufacturer spent a few extra farthings on a metal backing, too, unlike some current fire-boxes.
Might have to be careful not to mention "R12" in the wrong company, though.... |
20th Mar 2020, 9:59 am | #15 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: East Sussex, UK.
Posts: 3,326
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
We had a Tricity Fridge about 1966 that had a woodgrain finish on the door and and top with bronze coloured side panels. The interior looks like the one above although I thought it was white. Just a variation I guess.
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20th Mar 2020, 7:22 pm | #16 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Wiltshire, UK.
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
I remember even back in the 60s some fridges were supplied with a set of different frontal appliques so you could choose the one which best fitted-in with your kitchen-decor (and even change it with the season - that 'novelty' extended to the mains-powered wall-clock in my parents' kitchen, which had snap-in blue, orange, maroon and gold surrounds to match your domestic seasonal mood).
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20th Mar 2020, 9:30 pm | #17 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: East Sussex, UK.
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
It was a factory finish not an applied addition. I know it was original as I bought it for the old folks when I was about 25 - a long time ago - actually 53 years ago. It was the only fridge they ever owned.
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20th Mar 2020, 9:35 pm | #18 |
Octode
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Evesham, Worcestershire, UK.
Posts: 1,423
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Re: 1960s Tricity Vogue Fridge
Very nice piece, brings back happy sixties memories of that whole style, our first fridge didn't have a compressor, worked by heating element, took days to produce a few ice cubes in a tiny compartment.
Well done for saving it. Greg.
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