TIM O'BRIEN Staff writer
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| THIS GE MONITOR TOP REFRIGERATOR was photographed for a story in February, 2000. It was restored by Mike Arnold of Twentieth Century Restorations, who's still in business. A model such as this, which Arnold sells, will cost about a couple grand in cold cash. |
| Of the thousands of stories
written since I began covering Troy almost 15 years ago,
there is only one that still has people calling and
e-mailing me three years after the fact.
I'd like to say it was my investigative reporting on the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District that still has people talking. It might be logical to guess that a story on some awful crime, the still-unsolved murder of Mei-Ling White perhaps, would hold that distinction. But no, it was a story that appeared on Feb. 26, 2000, that still has people calling or writing. Less frequently now. At first, the number of calls were almost unbearable. For some time, I confess, I lost my sense of humor about them as the deluge continued six months, a year, after the story first appeared. But now, time has passed, the calls have lessened, and I no longer curse the day I met Mike Arnold. Mike Arnold repairs antique appliances. His specialty -- 50 percent of his business -- is to repair GE Monitor Top refrigerators. Manufactured between 1927 and 1937, Monitor Tops were among the first refrigerators sold. Their distinctive trait is the large, white tire-shaped unit on top, where the compressor, motor and condenser coil are stored. The top comes off, so the customer can send it for repairs while keeping the cabinet. Mike Arnold, sole proprietor of Twentieth Century Restorations, is one of the few people in the world who repairs them. He sells them, too. A new one cost $79.50 in 1935. Today, it would set you back a couple grand. Arnold says he fixes 100 Monitor Tops each year. His business has grown markedly because he is now on the Internet. (The Web site has changed from three years ago; it is now the much easier to remember Monitortop.com.) ``I've shipped parts as far as Brazil and to the Czech Republic,'' he said. A man whose own home is filled with lovingly restored antique appliances, Arnold said he understands the refrigerator's appeal. ``It's certainly the look. It's the quintessential refrigerator,'' he said. ``Even if you look at a Bugs Bunny cartoon, the refrigerator in the picture is a Monitor Top.'' The Monitor Tops were immensely popular, and they were built to last. ``With the demand, I am actually manufacturing the parts myself,'' Arnold said. He makes door gaskets, rubber seating to protect floors, thermostat replacements and other parts. When I first met Mike Arnold, I thought he was an interesting guy with an unusual profession. I enjoyed writing about him, but I never expected to think about the story much again afterward. But I left out the phone number, and there is no listing for Twentieth Century Restorations in the phone book. (I won't make the same mistake twice; it's 272-7916.) Again and again over the years, people called to ask how they could reach him. His original Web site -- listed in the story -- no longer exists, so I was their only hope. This week -- almost three years to the day -- another person e-mailed the newspaper to find Mike Arnold's number. Two weeks ago, while touring the upper floors of the River Street building Garrett Brown converted into the new concert space Revolution Hall, I spotted an old Monitor Top left there when the building housed a storage business. If you need someone to restore that, I told Brown, I know just the guy ... Someday, which I hope will be many, many years from now, when I leave this good earth for destinations unknown, I expect the newspaper to run my obituary. And the next day, a reader will call and say, ``I read Tim O'Brien's obituary, and it reminded me. He did a story many years ago on a guy who repairs Monitor Top refrigerators. Would you happen to have that guy's phone number?''
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