Westinghouse standard

[90grad]

All,

I have a Westinghouse Standard ice cooler.  I'd love to find out how old it is.  I spoke with Steve Ebner a few years ago and he asked me what the position of the word "Drink" was on the embossing.  Apparently, on the older ones, the "drink" was lower (i.e., closer to the "Coca Cola").  It is an open front model, too.

Anyway, I looked inside the tank today (it's been wrapped up in my basement for a while), and the tank is stamped with "W-RRDT".  Does this mean anything or give a clue to its date of manufacture?

Thanks,

Wayne

[vendobaldtops]

Your machine was produced from mid 30s to early 40s, I believe.  They did not make many once WWII started and once the war was over, the more rounded bow-out Westinghouse coolers entered the market.  Another thing is that the earlier version Westinghouses had the "C" in Cola go through the "L" whereas later versions had a break between the C-tail and the letter L.  I could be a little off on dates and stuff, but I am pretty sure this is correct.  I have never heard of the Drink being positioned differently in earlier versions but Steve Ebner is Da Man and I would not question him.

[90grad]

Vendobaldtops,

Thanks for the info.  The "C" tail does go through the "L".  I always knew it was one of the earlier ones, by the open front.  But, I was hoping to narrow it down to a year (for conversation sake).  After Steve told me about the word position, I started noticing it on coolers.  Some have the "Drink" distinctively higher than others.  I wish there were a serial number of something I could trace.

[vendobaldtops]

90grad, I've found serial numbers on these machines underneath the cooler.  SInce your's is an open front, I think the serial numbers were nailed to the bottom of the cooler bin where you have that tar junk to seal the cooler bin from leaks.

[racerx45]

Here is a picture of my Westinghouse Master and it looks like the early version with the “Drink” above the Cs in Coca-Cola. Looking at Jeff’s book there are pictures of both types of the Coca-Cola script but not the Location of the “Drink”. The ones in his book show the “Drink” level with the top of the Cs.

[90grad]

I'll try to post a photo of my cooler, but looking at Racer's Master, I can tell you the word "Drink" on mine is definitely lower.  Weird.