Wherle Gas Stove

Hello everyone, I recently acquired this stove for my collection. The intent is for it to be used in our kitchen. I have had a difficult time finding information regarding this stove. I was able to track down a gentlemen in Newark Ohio whom I spoke with; his father worked at the Wherle plant and he has "boxes" full of pictures and literature but he was ill and unable to sort it all out. Obviously there is limited information on the internet, mostly about the history of the company and not specific to their products.

I purchased a couple old Sears Catalogs trying to see if I could find anything similar just for informational purposes and I cannot find anything even close to this stove. (The catalogs are awesome though!)

I reached out to a restoration company and sent them the pictures, the gentlemen was pretty excited about this piece and told me it was likely the "flagship" design; one of their first real production runs from the 30's since it was so ornate with the scroll work, and it was likely a showpiece to get customer's attention before they changed to a more mass-produced model.

That is pretty much all I know. I rescued this from a gentlemen who dug it out of a barn. As far as I know, it is complete. All burners are in tact. Any information is appreciated.

 

Sounds like you already know quite a bit about it. Short of extensive research into local newspapers and/or trade publications, there may not be much out there. So much gets lost to history, you may never find out any more.

 

That is what I was afraid of It is hard to even get an accurate value of the stove for insurance purposes which is my main issue.

 

Think you can compare to other similar ornate stoves of the period. Brand does not make a lot of difference for value on these things.

 

Any suggestions for a similar brand?

 

After searching awhile, I am starting to see your problem. I am not finding any similar gas stoves of any brand. Most are not ornate, nor do they have the triple doors yours has. You may need to contact a specialty dealer and pay for an appraisal if you want anything halfway accurate. However, what good is an appraisal for X amount if you can't ever find a replacement?

Thing about antique unrestored stoves is that they are cheap to buy out in the field, so to speak. In restored condition, from a specialty dealer, they can be very expensive. Personally, I might insure it for an amount that would buy me about any replacement out there. Say $1,000-1,500.00 for unrestored. Once restored, you might compare it to the price of other top of the line restored stoves or, even, some of the reproductions.

 

It is quite the challenge this one.
Thanks for taking some time to try to help me out, I sincerely appreciate it.

I will take your recommendation since it is about the only logical thing to do in this situation. I was concerned because the restoration company told me they had one somewhat similar but not close enough to compare apples to apples. It was fully restored and on their showroom floor for 8k. He said mine would fetch much more because of the rarity. He did mention he had seen one of these in the past but it had been many years and it was not in good condition like mine. He actually offered to buy it from me in it's current condition, but I really would need more information (somehow) before I considered selling.

 

Hi Rink, and welcome. I can't help you with the stove except to say how gorgeous it is. I'd buy a farmhouse just to have it in my kitchen!

 

Thank you!