Hello all, We're in the process of building a new house, and it's time to work in the kitchen. My wife saw a show where they fixed up an old stove, and I said, "hey, we have one just like that in the shed". So it turns out to be a 1951 O'keefe and Merritt 600G with one oven and the broiler. It looks to be in great shape, so I don't think it would take much to bring it up to code. But the big question - does anyone know where I can get the missing clock/light assembly? thanks, dt

I lost my beloved 1953 O'Keefe & Merritt when we downsized a couple of years ago, but yes, the oven and broiler doors were always very hot. I suspect the insulation was pretty much shot. It's too call for anyone to call Child Protective on me, so I'll admit that when my then-toddler (now age 45, and her own kids are mid-teens) was heading toward the broiler door one day and reaching slowly toward it, I said loudly and firmly, "Christy! Do NOT touch that! It's very hot! You'll get burned and it will hurt!" I stayed very close but did not stop her as she reached out one inquisitive finger and got a tiny blister. I gained a heck of a lot of credibility that day... There are ways to take an O'Keefe & Merritt apart, remove the old insulation, and replace it... A good idea we never acted on. You might consider doing that, for safety's sake. There are also some rebuilder$ who do that work, but you'd need to live in or near California.

Oh ! MY then you would love to have my kitchen , I started retroing it the minute the landlord told me to go for it ,and then when she told me the age of the house , I loved it even more , it's a 1920's Sears Craftsman home ,I love the the huge cabnets not, alot of space but I like it , it's still has the sink comeing out of the wall and of course the same windows with the weight in side, so far I stubled on a 1945 Gafflers and Staller stove , pressure wash it and got all the grills and stuff cleaned and the only thing I haven't gotten to yet is finding a clock for it , i've been all over the antique store's lucky me I live in Orange County and the orange circle is just brimming with retro items, on the mirowave I simply bought a red one from Target like 60 bucks and a red coffee pot, if you have any good wills in your area hit them up , cause alot of estate things go there , I've painted my kitchen red and yellow , took the rather large drawers and took some paint remover , and some elbow grease and a paint gun which just melts the paint off , painted them red and found some little rooster decals that I put on , went to the 99 store and food some checkered red and white contact paper and put them in the drawer some plactic deviders to . Because I'm into both the retro, feista and the older pyrex , you know the different colored one with the little lids, i found scores of them in the goodwill nd also the different color pyrex bowl set , for a grand total of five bucks ,it's got a door to that leads to the laundry room , so i took out the old glass and put some screen wear the glass was and painted the door red and then found some red and white checked curtains and it looks super , even still has those old looks with the knob to open the door , I'm still trying to find the perfect frigerator , I saw one on one ad and fell in love it's a kelvanator foodarama (SP). Know i have the Idea to pull up the linolim (SP) and see what he wood looks like, maybe sand it and do the red and white checker board my self or be lazy and find the red and white checker board myself , as for the kitchen counters I hate them the tile , but i want to go for the old soda pop look , red linolem , so far. as for the arctiure of the the house it's soild and and i love the wood detailing so i'm just going to get out my magic eraser and clean , the walls do need paint has a few cracks bit i figure to paint the walls a camel color so the cracks will give off a shadow , if you go to the 99 cent store you with find alot of red if that's your color and the good will you would be amazed , I found and old ceder wood cabnits that hold plates and glasses and I store my pyrex and feista wear in there , also at the good will I found not one but 9 chrome toaster with the cloth cord for 99 cents apiece still in the box to took them home shined up a little ,put them up on ebay for 50;00 a piece and all sold except the one I kept and still use , I don't know if alot of folks go to the good will but you can find lots of stuff , I'm fixin to paint my 1945 stove red , like i said i live in what i call antique town , I just got the universal knobs to the stove , because it has the stove on one side and the broiler on the other and has the griddle in the middle , I guess the floors are pretty stonge cause that thing took 4 good sized men to get in my kitchen oh and of course , i found some old cambells soup and vegatable ad that came out of the time life magazines painted some black frames and put them on the wall above the stove , I will have to take a picture although not all toghether yet I still love my kithen even if it is in the works. Take care

The place that restored our OKM didn't work on clocks, and the guy she knew who did had died, so it wasn't part of the restoration. It had a wire with no plug on it, and I added one, plugged it in, and was happy to find it worked, but it was REALLY loud. I've read that that happens over the years from heat degrading lubrication. I took the clock out of the housing to clean the face and the inside of the glass and, as is my luck, it didn't work when I put it back together. Argh. After finding a retired clocksmith (he told me a hair-thin wire lead in the motor broke and needed soldering) and trying several electrical shops and other clock places and lots of searching online, I found someone in Texas (Ken's Clock Clinic) who was willing to take a look at it. It was a few months before he had time to get it in, but I shipped it off and it came back a couple of months later. He basically rebuilt the entire electrical motor, rewinding all the wire, etc. and it not only runs and keeps good time but the gears are silent too. I'm really happy, especially since having become a bit TSO (totally stove obsessed) in this whole process.