Most unusual stove you'll ever see: Portland Stove Foundry Bicentennial stove. One of 2 made!

[KennebunkHabitat]

Any thoughts on this? It was donated to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Kennebunk, Maine.

 

[bholler]

Any thoughts on this? It was donated to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Kennebunk, Maine.


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It's a Franklin stove but looks like better quality than most made during that time period. It has little to no value as a stove but probably does as a collectable

 

[Ashful]

Beautiful. Probably real nice for someone who doesn't have any interest in regular heating with a stove, but wants something pretty for occasional fires.

 

[peakbagger]

Definitely the tail end of Portland Stove Foundry. If they had converted to building modern designs, they may have made it to today.

 

[Ashful]

I was just a kid when the bicentennial passed, but I remember the way everything on earth seemed to go red-white-blue for a year either side of it. Today's marketing hacks capitalizing on the zeitgeist having nothing on their 1970's predecessors, this stove being a nice historic example.

I remember wrapping my bike in red white and blue ribbon for riding with the other little kids in the Independence Day parade. Good times, for anyone old enough to remember stay-at-home moms throwing neighborhood picnics at each summer holiday, but still too young to remember the actual politics of the time.

 

[begreen]

Definitely looks made for show and not for burning.
As for the most unusual, there are many contenders.

 

[stoveliker]

Let's say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That colored monster would never get into my home. But, if you find an appropriate "beholder", you can ask for quite some money.

 

[Ashful]

Let's say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That colored monster would never get into my home. But, if you find an appropriate "beholder", you can ask for quite some money.

I dunno, stoveliker. I thought the Dutch flag was also red white and blue? All you'd need to do is change the bicentennial date from 1976 to 2014!

 

[stoveliker]

Correct. But the stove is not appealing in my eyes.

Google dutch soccer team colors. Google 30 April Netherlands.

That's why TN is a good state 😁

Thoughba stove in that color would be a "oh chit, call 911" moment.

 

[stoveliker]

Also, the last constitution was written in 1815 if I'm correct, but the republic was formed in 1581. (Yes, from Republic to constitutional monarchy...🤔🧐🤪)

And the color comes from that guy in 1581

 

[Ashful]

Good point. Hey, although set almost squarely between those dates, this reminds me of my favorite Dutch movie: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2544766/

 

[bholler]

Let's say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That colored monster would never get into my home. But, if you find an appropriate "beholder", you can ask for quite some money.

Oh I don't like the look at all either but there is probably some value

 

[stoveliker]

I agree. There's always someone crazy about something like this. And they could even willing to pay much. If you have the time and space to wait for it.

 

[EbS-P]

if my father in law gets wind of this he will be right over to buy it.

 

[3650]

I was a kid in 76 too. Painted my room red white and blue. I still have my Spirit of 76 N scale train my parents bought me that Christmas. Definitely different times back then. Everyone was proud of our country unlike the youth of today.

 

[begreen]

I was a kid in 76 too. Painted my room red white and blue. I still have my Spirit of 76 N scale train my parents bought me that Christmas. Definitely different times back then. Everyone was proud of our country unlike the youth of today.

Wealth and opportunity were much more evenly distributed back then. There were no billionaires and the wealthy paid up to a 70% income tax. College cost was in the hundreds per semester, not ten thousand. That said, the 60s-70s were rough, especially after the Vietnam war and Watergate.

 

[3650]

Very true. I just read a headline that said single digit millionaires are the new middle class. That makes me very low poverty.

 

[bholler]

I was a kid in 76 too. Painted my room red white and blue. I still have my Spirit of 76 N scale train my parents bought me that Christmas. Definitely different times back then. Everyone was proud of our country unlike the youth of today.

I take issue with the fact that just because people see problems with certain aspects of our society it's automatically assumed they aren't patriotic or proud of our country. I would argue that working to improve places we fall short is very patriotic.

 

[Ashful]

I take issue with the fact that just because people see problems with certain aspects of our society it's automatically assumed they aren't patriotic or proud of our country. I would argue that working to improve places we fall short is very patriotic.

I need to go back and watch some All in the Family. I'm pretty sure Mike Stivic uttered these exact words to Archie, if not very closely so. Great show, very thoughtfully constructed.

The youth of today have always been, and probably will always be misunderstood by their predecessors. I'm pretty sure my great-great grandma once uttered in disgust, "kids today," about my great-grandfather's classmates.

 

[Max W]

I don’t envy today’s young or even many of the less young. Starting out has got to be much more challenging. I think it would be easy for many to feel like the deck is stacked. Gradually over the years it has gotten harder to get or stay in the middle class. In the 60’s and including me into the 70’s one person working at a modest job could comfortably support a family. For example, rent for us with our 2 kids for a first floor two bedroom apartment was one week’s entry level pay, stacking boxes at a sneaker factory. With one income we could pay our bills and still afford recreation. During my college years the very modest G.I. bill and a variety of very easy to find jobs meant my wife could stay a full time mom and choose a different career later. The regular tuition then at the state college was $200 / year. That gave students from families with less income a leg up. Later and still on one very modest income we were to build and then later buy a house. Today even renting can be at the edge of reach by many, or worse than that. Yes, Income and opportunities have become much more stratified. Despite the economic and many other challenges I choose to have overall faith today’s youth.

 

[Ashful]

I don’t envy today’s young or even many of the less young. Starting out has got to be much more challenging.

I anticipate the white collar workforce will undergo disruption during the future careers of today's students, which make even the blue-collar job losses of the 1970's and 1980's look relatively quaint. Artificial intelligence is on the cusp of replacing such a large portion of employment opportunities, that I honestly don't want what professions will stay viable during the working lifetime of my children.

Operating within the system we have is easy. You can plan for the known. It's when the rules change along the way that even those who did their homework up front can get caught in the grinder.