Britain's oldest fridge still going strong
Britain's oldest fridge is showing no signs of freezing up anytime soon - after 58 years of continuous use.
Retired piano teacher Doris Stogdale bought the General Electric fridge when she and her family lived in what is now Malaysia in 1952.
Mrs Stogdale, 89, of Oxford, recalls that it cost the equivalent of £135 - and has never needed any maintenance or even a single new part.
The fridge followed the family around the world as they moved to accommodate Mrs Stogdale's husband Vivian's job as an engineer.
Eventually the Stogdales, along with their three children, David, now 59, Valerie, 55 and Annie, 52, returned to the UK in 1959.
Doris said: "It's kept going for pretty much an entire lifetime. It might not have any shelves inside for your eggs or any fancy lights or ice makers, but it has always worked for us.
"Things like fridges were made of strong stuff 60 years ago - nowadays they all have warranties of a couple of years and it's almost as if the makers expect them to break at some point."
Daughter Valerie wrote to General Electric "because we thought they might like to know our old fridge was still going strong".
She discovered the company had held a competition to find Britain's oldest fridge just two months earlier which had been won by another General Electric appliance that had been going for only 56 years.
She added: "The fridge is older than I am and I remember it vividly from my childhood. We have no intention of getting rid of it because it's still in great condition."
Britain's oldest fridge is showing no signs of freezing up anytime soon - after 58 years of continuous use.
Retired piano teacher Doris Stogdale bought the General Electric fridge when she and her family lived in what is now Malaysia in 1952.
Mrs Stogdale, 89, of Oxford, recalls that it cost the equivalent of £135 - and has never needed any maintenance or even a single new part.
The fridge followed the family around the world as they moved to accommodate Mrs Stogdale's husband Vivian's job as an engineer.
Eventually the Stogdales, along with their three children, David, now 59, Valerie, 55 and Annie, 52, returned to the UK in 1959.
Doris said: "It's kept going for pretty much an entire lifetime. It might not have any shelves inside for your eggs or any fancy lights or ice makers, but it has always worked for us.
"Things like fridges were made of strong stuff 60 years ago - nowadays they all have warranties of a couple of years and it's almost as if the makers expect them to break at some point."
Daughter Valerie wrote to General Electric "because we thought they might like to know our old fridge was still going strong".
She discovered the company had held a competition to find Britain's oldest fridge just two months earlier which had been won by another General Electric appliance that had been going for only 56 years.
She added: "The fridge is older than I am and I remember it vividly from my childhood. We have no intention of getting rid of it because it's still in great condition."
