1931 "Tiffin" model Magic Chef.  Hands down the best oven for baking bread I've ever used.

Monarch collection at the Historical Society Museum, Beaver Dam, WI.

a couple more Beaver Dam beauties

That's a Monarch.  If a range could ever be called sexy, that one fits the description!  I'd take that over a red sports car any day.

Edited that little brain lapse.  It's been so hot here I have had escaping to the north shore of Lake Superior on my mind, lol.

The first Monarch range I ever saw was our next door neighbor's, ca 1958.  It was decked-out with metallic accents like the cars of the time, and built like a tank.  Sometime in the late 60's we bought a similar one at Goodwill and hauled it up north to the farm to replace Grandma's ailing Hotpoint......an early model with the coiled-wire burner elements in ceramic disks and an oven the size of a breadbox.

Monarch abounded in the rural areas of farming and ranching in Washington state.  The ranges most popular were combination fuel with a wood burning larger side connected to an apartment size electric range.  The wood burning provide heat in the winter and doubled as a trash burner while the electric portion could be used in the summer months.  The second stove could also be pressed into service during harvest, round up and holidays.  I only saw one new Monarch in the early 70s which a 30 inch looking very much like the Crosley range in reply 34.  Apartment from trailers gas and propane are nearly unheard of in this part of the state so few of us have much experience besides camping.  In SEattle there is piped in natural gas so many more have the opportunity to use gas as a heat source for cooking than in the broader portions of the state.

I would put in a picture of a new new range, my lovely gas Whirlpool.  I am still very pleased by it.

I am finding all the pictures everyone is posting to be very interesting.  Thank you all.

This is not a direct quote, but it is close: In The Fannie Farmer Baking Book by Marion Cunningham, she said that "If the oven is working correctly, there is no great difference in performance between gas and electricity."  She said it, I believe it (borne out by my experience), and to me, that settles it.

As for gas cooktops, I will stipulate to greater heat in the kitchen.  I will also stipulate to electricity being somewhat (but not very,) in my experience faster.  However, I love the instant responsiveness of gas cooking.  I do not bend over to adjust the flame, I slide the pan aside a small bit.  I never got the hang of remembering to shut off the element and finish cooking on retained heat.  I did get the idea of starting on Medium High, and powering down.

The only electric I would ever consider would be a Radiantube Frigidaire with self cleaning oven.  However, the ones around here are either still in use, or long gone.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

They weigh as much as my car and take up nearly as much space but, oh, could I cook with one of those babies!  Two ovens, two broilers, a warming oven, 6 burners.....heck, a person could run a restaurant with one.  The Aristocrat's only rival would be the Magic Chef 6300, another "died and gone to heaven" dream cooker.

Hans, those ranges are wonderful!  The Kenmore and the '55 Norge look like they were designed by a car manufacturer of the era.   The Caloric has that "look of the future" that was everywhere in the 60's.....even the facades of buildings.   Seeing the picture of your GE made my heart leap in my chest.   It is remarkably similar to the 30" model ca 1958 we had in the house where I grew up.  The layout of the backsplash, the light with the pin-dots and the "tray" around the burner pushbuttons is identical.   Thanks a million for sharing!

How over the top can a person go?  I think it cheapens the look of that fine old range.  And cleaning it?!  The maid must have been thrilled.

I remember those Tappans with the warming shelf.  At the time I thought what a wonderful idea, just like the warming cabinets above an old woodburning cookstove.

Oh my gosh!  I haven't seen one of those since the 60's.  I remember two of them from my childhood.  One was either a free-standing or slide-in unit, the other was a surface unit with a separate wall oven.  I agree; with only one larger element and the burners being closer together plus the step, it wasn't good for large pots like a canner.  But, I thought it was a pretty cool arrangement!  I think I remember my mother commenting on it once, saying that for someone like her who is "vertically challenged" the lower level in the front made it much easier to see inside a pot or to stir things.

The hot water dispenser would have been  connected to the house's plumbing just like a refrigerator's automatic icemaker.  My hunch is the 2 quart reservoir (about the size of a 1/2 gallon milk jug) was located at the back of the range behind the bottom storage drawer, or possibly somewhere behind the backsplash panel.