Gee, could they make the panel on that '56 Hotpoint range any busier?   I find it a bit off-putting, and would think that any housewife looking to replace an older and relatively basic range in 1956 would have been intimidated by it.

The three-door monitor top cabinet is a nice early version with the nickel plated trim all around.  Too bad the rest is missing, but that does make it a lot easier to move.

The blue monitor top is another example of a later cooling unit on an earlier cabinet.  Monitor tops were like the VW's of refrigeration.  Regardless of their age, you could pop out the old power plant and slap on a new one without making any modifications.

The Hotpoint is a 57 model, probably came out in late 56.  Some friends of our family had this same model, by the early 80's moved to the basement when replaced with a new HP in the kitchen.  It was a truly beautiful and full-featured range, theirs was clean and nearly mint condition.  I'm sure the learning curve was steep for some but much of the panel could be ignored for many day-to-day needs.  The temp probe controls, then Supermatic element controls and clock when they inevitably stopped working :-)

That's a fairly unusual 40" GE range.  It's a single-oven model, but it does have a Sensi-Temp burner.  The controls are identical to the red 1961 that I had down here for a while.  On the far right of the top there is a bank of 4 pushbuttons; these control the oven function.  The knob to the left of the clock is the temperature control for the Sensi-Temp, the knob to the right of the clock is the temperature control for the oven.

Nice-looking range.

lawrence

The 40" range in your original post is Frigidaire, and it does have the aluminum panel on the storage drawer.

Reply #1 is a GE.

lawrence