The only Arts and Crafts fridge in Britain
Or anywhere else, possibly.
In Footfall, the third of my Cassandra James novels, Cassandra’s husband opens the fridge and one of the plastic racks on the inside of the door comes away. A bottle of milk, a jar half full of olives, and a glass containing sticks of celery crash to the tiled floor.
In the way that writers do, I plundered my own life for this episode, which happened precisely as I described it, except that it was me who opened the door. Our old fridge was in a sorry state, no doubt about it, and anyone else might have decided to buy a new one. But Peter hated built-in obsolescence and the shoddiness of much modern design. Instead he repaired the fridge with fibreglass and made three wooden racks to replace the disintegrating metal and plastic ones.
That was years ago. The fridge doesn’t defrost itself any more and dealing with the jammed up ice box is a bit of a palaver. But it works, the shelves are still sturdy, and I won’t be buying a new fridge any time soon.
6 Comments
Deborah Mainwaring
October 1, 2016In our first few years in New Zealand, my family and I struggled with a half-sized fridge, but were determined to keep it going to the very last. I managed to finish it off by defrosting it with a hairdryer and an ice-pick — and the ice-pick slipped and punctured the gas canister, probably creating a small environmental disaster in the Bay of Plenty due to the release of CO2 into our kitchen. You are not alone in propping up old appliances — anything old and chugging is probably still going to last longer than something stainless steel-laminated and moulded with smooth plastic interiors. Keep up the good fight.
Christine Poulson
October 1, 2016I like the image of you attacking your fridge with a hairdryer and an ice-pick! Peter hated, just hated throwing anything away and our house bears witness to that. He used to complain about the mess, but only other people’s mess!
Moira, Clothes in Books
October 2, 2016Great post-title, and very charming story.
Christine Poulson
October 2, 2016Thank you, Moira! Glad you found it so.
Anne Raynaud
October 5, 2016I had the same fridge/freezer for over 40 years.
When I had my kitchen redone, and amongst other things changed the fridge/freezer, I was stunned by the amount by which my electricity bill went down.
But I can understand your sentimental reasons for not changing your fridge.
Christine Poulson
October 5, 2016Thanks, Anne. This is rather thought-provoking. A change is worth thinking about at some point, I guess.