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Thread Number: 44867
/ Tag: Small Appliances
Black and Decker Classic Iron |
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| Post# 465733 9/1/2023 at 16:28 (408 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA) | ||
I’ve posted about these before but can’t find the thread. I have one of these brand new in the box that I bought at Walmart a few years ago with a gift card. I believe John has the same iron, it looks just like he 1950s-70s GE irons.
I also have one I got recently in a thrift store, I’d guess it’s maybe 10 years old or less, it’s nearly identical to the one I bought new, except this one has the older B&D logo and the other has the new logo. Anyway, I finally got around to using it (the thrift store one) as I don’t iron much at all but had a wrinkled shirt to do. The other one in box I’ve never used yet. What I noticed is when I first turned it on, the light on the side was green. But after a few minutes as it was preheating, it started flashing red. Is it supposed to do that? I thought maybe it had to do with the automatic shutoff feature, but it seems premature as I’d just let it sit to preheat. After I picked it up it turned green again but it just seemed to keep changing to red pretty often. Other than that it seemed to get hot and work fine. The only other thing that concerned me is the heel rest is made of the same chromed metal as the body of the iron and seems to get quite hot as well. Not nearly as hot as the actual aluminum sole plate, but still quite hot. I was kind of afraid to sit it down to cool off after I finished using it. Could it start a fire? I’ve used other plastic irons before and their heel rest stays cool. If John or anyone else could chime in on these two things, I’d like to know.
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| Post# 465754 , Reply# 1 9/1/2023 at 22:34 (407 days old) by human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
GE holdover...
We had the original GE iron like that when I was a kid. I remember that it got hot all over. Black & Decker acquired GE's small appliance division sometime back in the '80s, and that was one of the products that remained largely unchanged under the Black & Decker label. The iron I have now is a Black & Decker from the '80s, same basic design, but with an almond colored plastic upper body. I think have snagged it from our family's beach house before it was sold. I was in the process of moving after my divorce when all that went down. I see those chrome ones occasionally at thrift shops for not much money.
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Post# 465755 , Reply# 2 9/2/2023 at 00:28 (407 days old) by Gottahaveahoove  (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640) |
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Am I the John in reference? | ||
| Post# 465764 , Reply# 3 9/2/2023 at 08:29 (407 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA) | ||
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It seems like everyone had those almond Black and Deckers, both of my grandparents had them.
you’re right, I believe it was in 1984, that the sale happened. There’s another Black and Decker I’ve seen that is almond with a maroon handle. This model would beep or more accurately “chirp” when it had reached temperature, and then, would chirp again a few times and shut itself off if you didn’t move it after so many minutes. It also had red and green lights to show if it was heating or up to temp. In fact, I believe it may have been the very first iron to have auto shutoff. It’s be a neat one to find, but so far haven’t come across one. I see these chrome B&D irons in thrift stores pretty often, although on some the chrome is rusty and the cord housing broken off. Sometimes I also see older GE travel irons or the blue plastic GE models. Yes John, it was you that I remember having these. Good to know the heel rest is safe. I remember my mom would always sit the iron on the dryer or the (cool) stove after she used it so it could cool down. She was always afraid of that or the hot curling iron causing a fire. | ||
| Post# 470923 , Reply# 4 4/26/2024 at 21:41 by Human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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I was killing time at Goodwill this evening before I had to go to a meeting, and I found a probably early 1960s vintage GE steam iron, similar to the Black & Decker Classic pictured in the original post. It's a more deluxe model with a spray function, and its handle is white, instead of black, with a blue, cloth-covered cord. Before I laid down my $3 for it, I did plug the thing in for about 30 seconds, and it heated up immediately. Looking at it next to my Black & Decker Light and Easy iron, they definitely share quite a bit of DNA in common. Interestingly, the Black & Decker iron is a more entry level model, without a spray function.
I'm off to bed right now, but I'll post photos of both irons tomorrow. | ||
| Post# 470929 , Reply# 5 4/27/2024 at 12:29 by Human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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Iron photos...
Okay, as promised, here are some photos of both my new (to me) GE iron and my B&D 'Light & Easy' iron. It's pretty obvious from the photos that they share a significant amount of DNA; in fact, the B&D iron is a rebadged GE product. I'm guessing they're about 20 years apart in age. I've never even heard of some of the synthetic fabrics referenced on the GE's label. The GE is definitely the larger and heavier of the two. I think it's in quite good shape for its age. It should look quite nice after a light cleaning. I'm not sure what the dried brown droplets are on the handle, but they flick right off with a fingernail.
It was funny when I was checking out, the cashier was teasing me about how that old iron was going to drive up my electric bill and blow my circuit breakers. According to the ratings plate on the bottom, it pulls 1,100 watts, which is less than most hair dryers. I'm guessing a modern iron would be similar. Shows how much that guy knew. Enjoy... | ||
| Post# 470932 , Reply# 6 4/27/2024 at 13:07 by fan-of-fans (USA) | ||
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| Post# 470950 , Reply# 7 4/28/2024 at 13:55 by Human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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Post# 471166 , Reply# 9 5/8/2024 at 18:03 by JustJunque (Western MA) |
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| Post# 471175 , Reply# 10 5/8/2024 at 20:02 by Human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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Agreed
The Black & Decker iron really doesn't speak to me, beyond just being a functional, basic iron. When I saw the GE at the thrift store, it just kind of visually jumped out at me from the shelf. I didn't think much about it at the time, but since I've had it, I'm thinking Mom may have had one like it after the black one, but perhaps a later version with the plastic spray nozzle. I just don't remember whether that was a GE or something else.
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| Post# 472509 , Reply# 11 7/26/2024 at 22:40 by Human (Pines of Carolina) | ||
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"Perfection" iron
I have hardly been going to thrift stores at all lately, and usually walking out empty-handed when I do, which is good. For a while, it was a real addiction. Today, I actually went to two thrifts and bought nothing. One had an iron that was a complete knockoff of the Black & Decker Classic pictured in the original post, or perhaps more accurately, the GE iron upon which it was based. The brand was "Perfection", made in China of course. Where the markings on the GE/Black & Decker versions are blue, this one had beige and chocolate brown. I really didn't need a third iron, and at $5.95, it was priced at twice what I'd paid for my white GE. What actually interested me more was a Keurig 2.0 coffeemaker in pristine condition for $12.95, but again, I didn't need it so I left it where it was sitting. Restraint is good. I just realized while typing this that it's been more than a year since I last bought a vacuum.
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