Metters

An abandoned Metters Improved Stove No 2. A small fire was built behind the sliding doors at top centre.

Metters was a brand of kitchen appliances originally made by Metters Limited, an Australian company established in Adelaide by Frederick Metters (1858–1937) in 1891. Distribution of Metters equipment was expanded to Western Australia, where Metters formed a partnership with Henry Spring (1864–1937), and then to the eastern states of Australia.

Fred Metters patented and manufactured a number of appliances including the 'top-fire' fuel stoves. The popular 'Metters Improved Stove No 2.' used an enclosed wood fire to heat a hob above and an oven below. Pots and pans could be exposed to direct heat by removing small plates recessed in the cooking surface.

The Metters company introduced the 'Early Kooka' range of gas cooking appliances in 1937. The name of this oven, punning on 'cooker', was emblazoned over the enamelled image of a kookaburra gobbling a worm. Metters Limited was acquired by Email Limited in 1974, which continued to market electric and gas kitchen cookers under the Metters brand name, but was eventually phased-out in the mid-1980s.

References

• Joyce Gibberd, 'Metters, Frederick (Fred) (1858 - 1937)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition, 2006, updated continuously, ISSN 1833-7538, published by Australian National University