Anyone Remember Tin Stoves?

We used them at deer camp. First thing we'd do was put about 2" of sand in the bottom. Yes, they used to glow red pretty easy. Don't remember who made them but like BB stated, most every hardware store used to carry them around here.

I believe Ashley used to have one like this.

Ja, pretty sure they were just called the Ashley airtight. A giant tin can with legs. Had them glowing cherry or even bright yellow at times.

still alot of these in service out there....
i still get lots of calls from folks looking to replace the inner lining on those old ashley type heaters

I remember them, not so long ago, too. It was in the early to mid 80s. I worked for a co. in our small town that heated our work area with one, probably cost about $10 here at the lumber yard, and it is a pricey retailer [only lumber yard within many miles], so they were probably available for less. It always got to glowing red. I was burning wood at my home so I was already accustomed to wood burning for heat and cooking. Nevertheless, I was never comfortable with this thing roaring away across the room and glowing bright red. It worked for us for three years, so whatever. It was also installed near a double-brick-thickness wall [nothing on the other side except the next-door store] and it was served by a very long run of the same thin metal stovepipe [you know, the stuff with a bluish tint like gunmetal blue, no longer sold around here and cost about $1.89 a length I believe]. The pipe ran up our very high-ceilinged room and through the roof and on up a ways. If I had to guess, it was at least 30', so quite a major draft for that little stove.

Still gives me the creeps to remember it.

I think I paid $17 for one in WV in the early 1970's. It was not as fancy as the models shown here because there was not a single piece of cast iron on it. We used it to heat the bread van we lived in that winter - did a good job, but that big metal van got cold about 3 minutes after the fire went out!

FYI, I think "tin" is the wrong word to describe them. I believe they were made from sheet metal...often "blued steel" which a lot of stove pipe was made from.

Kudos to anyone who can find some decent pics or catalogs of the blued steel ones with no cast iron! These were often top loading...take THAT Vermont Castings!

Yep had one back in the early 70s. I had no trouble leaving the house with it hot as hell. Makes me shudder to think of it. Everyone had one and there were numerous roof fires but most did not burn the house down as usually there was a couple of feet of snow up there. This gave us time to go up and throw the burning shingles to the ground. We ended up getting bigger flashing to keep the roofing away from that hot single wall pipe. Run her red and no creosote in house but the outside single wall would even make creosote when the stove was hot when it was -40 out.
Those were the good old days.

Let's clarity these various stoves!

The Ashley was King of the Heap. This sold for $90 to $120 and was thermostatic and airtight. It was really the stove that started much of the modern movement. The pics enclosed are of that model.

This is a stove that will last for decades if properly taken care of - cast iron top, bottom and front frame and door, as well as a second sheet metal lining inside which would take most of the abuse.

There were also many other similar models, some manual draft and some thermostatic....King, for instance, made one (we had one of those!).

The Hardware Store sheet metal models were often 100% sheet metal and, as I remember, there were two basic sizes...one a full size (ashley size) and another was a much smaller model that looked exactly the same.

Based on the pictures above, a lot of models fell somewhere in between.

I remember when I lived in WV a bunch of the local folks were ordering Ashleys from someone who was acting as the middleman......I remember WISHING I had that kind of money (I think it was $95) to get one of those amazing stoves!

Webmaster said:

Let's clarity these various stoves!

The Ashley was King of the Heap. This sold for $90 to $120 and was thermostatic and airtight. It was really the stove that started much of the modern movement. The pics enclosed are of that model.

Click to expand...

When I graduated from college in the mid 70s, I came here to Colorado for a few months and ended up never leaving. I moved into an old cabin and other cabin-dwellers assured me that the Ashley was the King of Stoves. I also read about them in "Whole Earth Catalogue" and other sources. Everyone agreed, Ashley can't be beat.

So, I saved and saved and then tried to find an Ashley to buy. No luck. I finally heard of a large hardware store about 75 miles away that carried them, so I drove over with a friend to get one. I think they were around $175 new around these parts at that time. Turned out the store no longer dealt with Ashley, but they carried Shenandoah, firebrick-lined and etc. I got it for $160 [saving $15 of course] and loved it. I still use it as our main heat stove, some 35 yr. later. I like it better than the Ashleys neighbors had back then.

I haven't seen an Ashley in many years.

Thanks for a great thread, folks. It really gives me a feel for the history, and makes me feel even more like a newb!

Nice images of sheet metal stoves glowing, and stove bottoms falling to the floor. My how attitudes about risk have changed!

I'm no spring chicken, and I'm sorry I wasn't involved with stoves before. It seems I misses some neat stuff. My only experience was with the ancient Franklin-type stoves in my Grandfather's circa 1840 house. I don't think I ever saw them burning, but I loved to look at them.

There was one of these in my exes basement, but it was all dolled up with tons of nickel stuff on it, Richmond Stove Company. It was still hooked up but I don't think it had burned in 30 yrs.