‘Heating Up’ is a nod to Cleveland stove manufacturers

Foundry workers catch molten iron in ladles at the Magic Chef foundry, previously Dixie Foundry, in the 1970s. The photo is part of a new exhibit, "Heating Up! The Story of Stoves," which opens to the public Friday at Museum Center at Five Points. Foundry workers catch molten iron in ladles at the Magic Chef foundry, previously Dixie Foundry, in the 1970s. The photo is part of a new exhibit, "Heating Up! The Story of Stoves," which opens to the public Friday at Museum Center at Five Points.

By Staff Report June 8, 2017 2 min read

“Heating Up! The Story of Stoves” will open to the public on Friday, June 9, at 10 a.m. in the Museum Center at Five Points, 200 E. Inman St. in Cleveland, Tenn.

The new exhibit is a nod to Cleveland’s manufacturing history. July 2017 will mark 100 years since Dixie Foundry lit its furnaces and drew “first heat.”

Although the company began in the fall of 1916, it came alive in 1917 through the persistence and determination of Bradford Rymer and countless others, according to a museum release. Through this exhibit, visitors will learn about Cleveland’s Dixie Foundry and how it progressed to become known nationally and internationally as Magic Chef.

“We are focusing the exhibit on Hardwick Stove and Dixie/Magic Chef and how they came to be owned by Whirlpool Corp.,” says Emma-Leigh Evors, curator of collections.

“We certainly could not tell the stove story of Cleveland without talking about Brown Stove Works Inc. as well. So we will touch on all of Cleveland’s own appliance and stove manufacturers, looking at the history, the people and stoves that created them.”