Valuable antiques chilling in Cuban kitchens

This General Electric refrigerator was one of the first to arrive in Cuba

July 14, 2000
Web posted at: 4:56 p.m. EDT (2056 GMT)

HAVANA (CNN) -- A General Electric refrigerator that's about 60 years old is humming in Eulalia Lazio's kitchen in Havana. For Lazio, it's nothing more than a machine to keep her food fresh. In the United states, that model would be considered a piece of functional art.

Lazio is among the estimated half-million Cubans still using vintage fridges. Authorities are on a campaign to encourage residents to replace them with modern models, noting that the older appliances consume four times more energy and may leak freon gas, which is damaging to the earth's ozone layer.

MESSAGE BOARD Is vintage better?    VIDEO Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman looks at some of the Cuban refrigerators that pre-date President Fidel Castro's rise to power in 1959 QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

Despite their faults, antique fridges are hot in the United States, says Jack Santoro, founder of The Old Appliance Club, an online clearinghouse for vintage kitchen gadgets and household equipment. The Web site averages 100,000 hits a week, he says, and 2,000 e-mails a day.

Santoro estimates that Lazio's model would probably sell for $25 to $50 in the United States. Vintage GE fridges in stellar condition can sell for up to $2,000. An American-made Leonard or Frigidaire made during the '40s or '50s can go for at least $250, if they're in good working order. If they're an unusual color, all the better, he adds.

It's not uncommon for U.S. antique appliance dealers to venture south of the border to snap up refrigerators, Santoro says. But getting to Cuba is a different story.

The owners of this American-made Leonard purchased it in 1951, years before the Cuban revolution

The U.S. government enacted a trade embargo in 1962 that prohibits Americans from doing business with or spending money in Cuba.

The law may work against Cubans, who are being encouraged to buy newer refrigerators that typically range in price from $440 to $530. Most Cubans don't earn that much in two years.

So unless the Cold War-era law is lifted, U.S. antique dealers will have to keep their passions for those vintage fridges on ice.

The Old Appliance Club

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