Due to the positive response I received regarding the post about the Kalamazoo Stove Company catalog from September 1931, I've pulled another artifact out of my collection to share with you all: a little brochure about Quick Meal Ranges.
This brochure measures 3 1/2" x 6 3/8" and does not have a date on it anywhere. From the styles of range and the print fonts used in it, my best guess is that it is from the late 1920s or early 1930s.
The Quick Meal Stove Company was located in St. Louis, Missouri, and eventually became Magic Chef.
The first pages of the brochure talk about the exterior finish on their ranges, which they call "Fusenamel." I have only seen a couple of Quick Meal ranges in person. One was a bright blue, and I have to admit that the enamel had endured beautifully. In case you can't see it well in the scans below, these pages also tell you that the enamel comes in "lustrous white, blue, grey, or tan."
The next pages contain the obligatory advertisement for how well the ovens on Quick Meal ranges bake. It points out that the oven is made with zinc and is "the most uniformly heated and perfect-baking oven ever devised."
It also explains that some of their ranges are made with "triple wall construction" where exterior range walls are made of two layers of fusenamel with a layer of asbestos in between. I would think that this would make the range more pleasant to use in the summer.
The last page of text points out the range's "corner tube" with a cutaway illustration. I thought this was particularly interesting. The text reads "An exclusive and patented feature. Notice how side walls clamp into tube. The tube permits expansion and contraction of walls, yet it always holds firmly." Then, the cavalcade of beautiful pictures begins.
The range on the right of the picture below begins their more affordable line which has only single wall construction and a smaller oven.
I didn't scan the back cover because it has no pictures, but it does have "No. 678" printed there.
Are any of my readers cooking on a Quick Meal, and do any of you have any information on a more precise date for this brochure? If so, please use the comments section below to tell us about it.
