AGA_Stories
 

Owner: Mr & Mrs Johnston
Model: Cream 2-oven
Vintage: 1945
Location: County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Snapshot: The AGA in the Johnston household was originally installed when Mr Johnston was a child. “We had an old black stove which had to be fired several times a day – the war was raging, my mother, a teacher in the local school, was out ‘night and day’ collecting money for the Spitfire fund. Time was limited and the thought of a cooker that would burn day and night and only be fired twice a day was like a dream from heaven.” Mr Johnston’s mother placed the order and a few days later the AGA arrived. “It was great. No school for two days and I got to help the expert build it,” says Mr Johnston. The AGA soon became the focal point of the home, the family amazed at the cleanliness and its outstanding ability to cook. When the Johnstons, some 50-plus years later, had to move house from the inherited farmhouse, they took the AGA with them. “My wife said the cooker had to go with us, or she was not moving. Now it stands majestically in the new kitchen. Young ones coming in almost refuse to believe it is over 60 years old. I see no reason why it would not last another 20.”
Finest Hour: Mr Johnston’s late mother would have been delighted to know that her great-grandson enjoys the same warmth from the AGA she bought in 1945.