They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To

Little Known Facts 32 Comments

The International Harvester deep freeze in my brother’s basement is still in operation, 22 years after I first mentioned it here.

In an adjacent room, is an International Harvester refrigerator keeping beer and soft drinks cold. It looks like the one pictured below.

 

International Harvester, a farm equipment manufacturer (more here), produced refrigerators and deep freezes between 1948 to 1955.

I’ll let you do the math.

To be fair, I wouldn’t expect Emma to know this, given they just might be older than her grandfather.

32 Replies to “They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To”

  2. In the ’50s, appliances were closer to the price of a new Chevy. They were made to last. Now they are basically disposables. The new refrigerants are also harder on the compressors.

    1. The problem with inventing a 100-year lightbulb (and they do exist) is that you put yourself out of business very quickly.

      1. Not a problem … just have the government BAN all other light bulbs, and mandate that every household purchase 25 of the 100-year bulbs to be held in reserve. Voila! A viable business.

      2. the flaw in that logic is, the mfger merely specializes in *something else* lasting 100 years and markets that. and it sells because the customers have cash left over they didnt squander on lite bulbs.
        tell me lm wrong . . . . . aka so much gawdawful waste from planned obsolescence.
        and war. oh jeez. the historic costs of prepping for, engaging and cleaning up after 100s of wars throughout history. where did it get us? ready for the ultimate nuke exchange (sounds like a trade agreement)
        l dont even wanna think about it.

  4. Meanwhile my new (still under warranty) John Deere X380 lawn tractor won’t cut grass. If the grass gets any higher I’ll have to harvest it.

    International Harvester was once one of the largest companies in the world. It almost collapsed in the 1980s, filing for bankruptcy protection in 1984. What happened?

    https://plant4harvest.com/what-happened-to-international-harvester/

    Increased competition from foreign manufacturers. In the 1970s, International Harvester began to face increased competition from foreign manufacturers. These manufacturers were able to produce tractors and other agricultural equipment at a lower cost than International Harvester.

    Changing consumer preferences. In the 1970s, consumers began to demand smaller, more fuel-efficient tractors. International Harvester was slow to respond to this change in consumer preferences.

    Financial mismanagement by the company’s leadership. International Harvester’s leadership made a number of decisions that contributed to the company’s decline. These decisions included investing in unprofitable businesses, expanding too quickly, and failing to invest in new products.

    The 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis. The 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis had a significant impact on International Harvester. The company had a large presence in Asia, and the crisis caused a sharp decline in sales.

    1. Steve, To prove the point my JD LX173 is 33 years old and still cuts and runs great. Mind you on the 3rd engine and several blade replacements. I do my own maintenance. I don’t cut the grass all that often as we turn our 3 horses and 2 donkeys out into the yard from mid May until the grass quits growing(usually early August). I would rather pick up horse shit once a week for one hour than cut grass for 3 hours.

      1. Farmers have always been prone to testosterone poisoning. I used to laugh at JD 4WD tractors parked in 45 acre fields surrounded by forests in North Carolina. Barely big enough to turn it around.

    4. uhuh. now do one for Massey Ferguson. formerly of Brantford.
      l remember passing the factory time and again whilst l lived in Niagara area but was getting some freebie extensive dental work done in London.
      a production management course at Mohawk College Hamilton the instructor told a story how they called taxicabs to ferry parts from one area of town or whatever to another.
      wow. like real efficient eh? SPLAT. yesbut yesbut yesbut Chirese electric cars are SOOOOO much cheaper and the way to go according to the illustrious p.m. Carnage The Communist.

    5. I have a 30 year old Coop mower with 11 hp and it attacks tall grass at slower speed. It needs new belts. I used my son-in-law’s 30 hp fairly need John Deere it fights and protests and eventually quit. The electric clutch on the mower failed to engage.

  5. Have two old Maytag w/d’s, one a Neptune dryer; I wouldn’t trade either straight up for the garbage they make now. The new crap is all bad bells and wayward whistles, cheap software, programs over buttons and dials.

    Have an apartment building full of 2019 stoves, fridges, dishwashers and stackable washer dryers. Been breaking down from day one, at least three or four requiring repair at any time. New appliances don’t last. It’s mostly cheap junk made by mostly the same manufacturers giving the same bad results – frequent breakdowns.

    At home, have a GE stove, fridge and dishwasher purchased in 2012. Wouldn’t trade them even up either.

  6. The Harvester plant in Melrose Park, IL employed many who lived in my hometown. In addition to farm & construction equipment and appliances, Harvester built trucks and the SUV like Scout. The Scout was a popular alternative to the usual station wagon or as a 2nd car in IH families during the 1960s and 70s.

  7. Emma is “adorable” in the same way the Supergirl actress is attractive. To some, maybe.
    Her post-capitalist schtick is very bougie.

  8. Not quite as old as the heavy appliances but my mother had a Home-Line fan built in Korea in 1987. Sill use it, keep it clean and it’s quiet as a mouse.

  9. My parents bought an IH freezer in 1957. They sold it in 1977 and it ran for another decade at my friend’s house.

  10. Why I just bought a 36-year-old truck.
    No power window motors to break, no play station screen on the dash, no mandated surveillance camera on the rearview…
    Can’t believe I threw out my Woodstock era cassettes…

    1. I had a McIntosh amp, kinda looked like that MC 502 model.
      It was heavy in weight and performance.
      I wish I still had it, but, then, I wish I still had my mint copy of Spiderman 1, which I sold for $1,200 in the 70s, and which now lists at about $4 million.
      Oh, well.

    2. BTW … I own (2) MC275’s … monoblocked so one runs each speaker in my 2-channel system. 150w/speaker. I’ve driven these speakers with even MORE McIntosh ss wattage … but they never sounded better than driven by the MC275’s. I’m sure other … more modern ROCK speakers would demand more power for the SLAM bass … but until my listening room gets bigger … on my TN farm (LOL) … these are good for me.

      The two of them bought used … the year they were released … so essentially NEW. Despite paying a discounted USED price … two of them are the costliest investment I’ve ever made in my system. And they’re PERFECT for my 1980 speakers, my components and my room. I have no desire (as most audiophiles do) of ‘upgrading’ them.

    3. end of summer ’69. living in a hippie house with some exchange students (one of which gave me hope l might meet someone as nice as her)
      inspired to arrange a free concert, one of the guys had connexions w the musician’s union, another knew how to make silk screen posters, another was a musician.
      l was 17 with an instinct for electricity fully aware of ‘duty cycle’ as such knew l cd sneak a 20 amp fuse in the 15 amp socket.
      day of the concert, lm in the basement having a nap and it all goes silent. l bolt awake, dash to the fuse panel, pop another 20 in, go outside and watch it all, closing acts were fantastic.
      l was also very careful to put a proper 15 amp fuse afterward.
      l didnt take photos, didnt have a proper camera, didnt realize 58 years later l wd ‘remember it like yesterday’
      the very very LAST time l visited the site the house was abandoned and vandalized with a foot of water in the basement.

  14. Nothing lasts anymore. My parents have a toaster (sunbeam I think) that they had before I was born in ’68 and still working just like new.

    I went to walmart to get one and it lasted about 8 months. Chinese piece of sh*t

  15. Here’s where I repeat a story from my ONE summer (1974) on the 6,000 acre Klamath Falls ranch way out in the hinterlands. When I dumped a gigantic 1955 IH STEEL Flatbed truck in an irrigation ditch.

    https://topclassiccarsforsale.com/uploads/photoalbum/1955-international-harvester-r162-flatbed-truck-8.jpg

    Yes, pretty much just like that one. I was asked to drive it into a field where it could be loaded with hay bales. So I hopped into the beast without a synchromesh clutch, or power steering … and tooled down the main DIRT driveway to the dirt driveway that crossed a deep irrigation supply ditch. I recall that I was preoccupied trying to downshift the beast … and kinda missed the rather massive turning radius of the truck. Yep. One half of the rear end was in the ditch, and the cab was sticking upward like the sinking titanic. I managed to climb out with man-ego (18yo “man”-ego) completely destroyed.

    Yes, the entire group of ranch owners and farmhands watched my crash as it happened. I ran to them almost cry-apologizing … expecting the cost of the pickup to be taken out of my summer pay … leaving me OWING them when I left … only to see the entire group laughing their asses off. They took perverse delight in my suburban luxury-kid idiocy. Laughing. And laughing.

    But, but, but … what about the truck!? What about loading the hay!? I’ve ruined everything! They drove their D9 over to the crash … hooked a chain onto the massive steel bumper and pulled it out of the ditch in about 5 minutes. Meh. No damage done. Just a good laugh at the punk ass city slicker kid who thought he had the world by the short ones. I didn’t, but I learned humility. I learned that one needs to accurately assess one’s own limitations … and do something about them. And I learned yet another lesson about Farmers. They SOLVE problems as they arise … taking it all in stride. They don’t have time to whine. And they buy and use as near indestructible tools and equipment they can find. I have never lost my respect for farmers … and people who make a living off the land.

  16. “They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To”

    Sure they do. It’s just that now the bulletproof fridge is called ‘commercial.’

    I have one, it’s a ColdCo. Stainless steel, glass double-door. Type of thing you see in 7-11 with pop in it. Run forever, absolutely huge, everything that makes it go is replaceable, from the fans to the pump. I love it.

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