1984

~ Liz A
May 30, 2021 – Vintage memory

Reading Jude’s blog post about leaving the stove on under the coffee brought to mind how I used to do that all the time … thereby ruining one Pyrex pot after another …

Thus it was that my mom bought me a yellow enamel pot at one of the many yard sales she went to …

I would still boil it dry at times, but at least it didn’t crack (until the day it actually melted down on an unattended burner, but that’s another story).

Anyway, in 1984, I was a semi-stay-at-home mom, having found a part-time job in the evenings at the William & Mary college library. Don would take our fire engine red Chevy Chevette to school to teach 6th grade during the day while I stayed home with Meg. When he got home, we’d eat a very early dinner and then I would head out to work from six to midnight.

One fateful morning, I once again turned on the burner under the coffee and forgot about it as I read a book to Meg. Well, maybe several books. Unfortunately, it soon became apparent I had turned on the wrong burner.

And here I have to back up to explain that we had a tabletop phone at the time …

which I used to keep on top of the microwave to keep toddler Meg from taking the receiver off the hook …

That, however, made it hard to dial, so I would put the phone down on the stove top when making a call.

That fateful morning, the burner I turned on to heat the coffee was actually the burner on which I had placed the phone. I discovered that fact after noticing the ash and smoke drifting into the living room from our one-and-only phone … which was in flames. With Meg on my hip, I ran across the street to use the neighbor’s phone and called 911.

Once the fire department got there, they did a great job of putting out the fire. But not before $2000 worth of smoke damage had occurred. What a mess.

You’d think I would’ve learned my lesson after that, but no, seeing as I did eventually melt down the enamel pot. At which point my mom got me a Mr Coffee. And all I’m gonna say about that is it’s a good thing they turn off automatically these days. Because, you know …

16 thoughts on “1984”

  2. Oh my!! I’m glad it was only $2000 in damage (even though that was a lot back then), not worse. I had electric stove in NV and my EX placed a pot of hot dogs on the back burner, but turned on the front one. I placed my whole hand, palm down on the burner to keep my balance as I reached into the cupboard above. It was not yet glowing red, so I hadn’t noticed until I touched it! Ouch.
    As for coffee, I don’t drink it, but the guy here at times forgets to turn off the maker (which does not shut off by itself). If he can remember he says out loud “I turned it off” – said in the same tone as Elaine in an old Seinfeld episode. Saying out loud seems to help…something I started when I couldn’t recall if I had locked my car (and could no longer do so from the house like I used to).
    I recognized this as an enamel pot right away!

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  3. Ha! I burned out three steel and ceramic coffee pots in 5 years then lashed out and bought the Italian steel pot back in 2005 after fusing the aluminium basket to the steel in the last ceramic steel one… it was glowing red after many hours on the stove when we got back from seeing Dr John at The Basement, a memorable night on many levels!

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  4. I loved my Pyrex coffee pot. The ritual of cleaning it, filling it, and waiting, waiting (Mom told me NEVER turn the burner up all the way cause the pot would melt). As soon as I had my own place I bought myself one and used it for many years. Making coffee in that pot was almost always followed by enjoying a few cups in good company. Now, I’m going downstairs to make some, but in my 40-year-old Revere coffee maker.

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    1. can’t count the number of times I’d turn it to high and walk away … never melted the pot, but the grounds would overflow and make a muddy mess

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  6. Oh my! I’ve burned the bottom of a kettle or two, and come to think of it, a pot or two as well. Luckily not needing a 911 call. I call for more embarrassing reasons, like bumping the control on a base board heater that hadn’t been on for years and then smelling something funny (the dust) and noticing the wall was hot to the touch (it was below freezing outside and I had no working heat). I was moving furniture away from the heater so I could turn it on. The fire fighters were really good sports about it. Love the enamel pot.

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    1. as a one-time EMT volunteer at a fire station … and with family and friends who were firefighters … I believe it’s safe to say they love good stories with happy endings as much as the rest of us … maybe more

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  7. Oh my goodness – such a tale! I am glad they turn off for you now. It’s too easy isn’t it? I wilted spinach in a pan once and just left it there and went outside gardening – the smell on return and the attempts to clean that pan have made me pay a tad more attention since! Go well.

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    1. the aftermath, that’s the thing … first ServPro came in to clean all the walls, ceilings, floors and furniture … then we had to wash/clean everything else: books, clothes, bedding, cookware, knick knacks, dishes … all of it coated with a thin veneer of plastic ash, even inside cabinets and drawers … I remember sitting on the front lawn with stuff spread all around me, picking up one thing after another and thinking, “do I like or need this enough to clean it?”

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  8. OMG, that was my mother’s coffee maker in the 1960 and 70’s. Loved watching it brew and drip down the chocolate colored liquid. Never tasted it though till I was in my late 50’s. Now I can’t live with out it in the mornings. LOL

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    1. I’m astonished that you survived so many years of teaching without coffee (although I never drank it at school, lest I offend anyone by having coffee breath) … however, I do recall non-coffee drinking colleagues who made do with cold carbonated caffeine

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