Friday, April 23, 2010

What was your worst wedding gift?

  Everyone gets at least one weird wedding gift. We may have gotten a few more than that but as a young couple in 1974 we were grateful for anything.
  The congregation of Foothill Baptist in Sylmar Calif was a generous group. With 3 wedding showers and gifts given at the wedding, our home was filled with many lovely and practical things. We had a new sofa, dining table, bed and dishes. We did return 11 of the 12 popcorn poppers we received but kept the case of popcorn.
  But my Mothers gift stood out above them all. In fact, this 1954 Westinghouse refrigerator stood sturdily humming in the garage for 20 years filled with the overflow from the kitchen fridge. Like many things built in days gone by it was a work horse. Nothing had ever broken or fallen off including the paint. There it stood in all its glory- Flamingo Pink- as the trades called it.
  Now what was a modern bride to do when the fashion colors of the day were stomach churning
        Burnt Orange, Avocado green and Harvest yellow. This pink wasn't even on the color wheel ( dont think those colors were either).
  So I drug the old thing into the driveway for a make-over. Wow-  4 cans of white spray paint later it was almost like having a new fridge- except that once we moved it to our kitchen, it moaned instead of hummed, smelled like a dead fish, and had a drip pan for excess condensation. I didn't know it had to be emptied and cleaned weekly leading to stagnant water and mold.
  I dont remember what happened to PINKY when Mike joined the Air Force and we moved to South Dakota, but I sure wouldn't mind having that "retro" fridge humming in my garage. The restored ones start at about $4000.00.
 
      

2 comments:

  1. and today, the pink would be retro and chic. who knew?

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  2. I love the pink - but I wouldn't have in 1974

    ReplyDelete