u/DepressedRadish

This entire thread has been amazingly enlightening. Thank you all! I wasn't exactly sure how to ask what I was looking for but everyone has helped me understand and see this process in a better light. For me, it was a matter of concern for safety and if there was something concerning that was an ongoing issue/hidden behind the scenes. I'm not exactly looking for "the tea" as much as hoping for better insight into this whole thing.

These replies have been great and I am very grateful to everyone who shared their experiences and perspectives!

Following for updates

This is it... Holy cow. I can't believe you found this. You are a magical creature. Thank you!

We are trying to get in contact with the original builders family to maybe see if they have some light on it. Unfortunately all they really have is photos of the outside of the house and the gardens. I'm hoping something is going to pop up at some point and maybe someone will remember something like this from their grandparents house. My parents own an appliance repair business and even they are stumped 😂

We're trying pretty much anything that we can because we don't want to have to resort to putting in something new. The dimensions of this thing are incredibly weird and it was unfortunately built directly into the house. Which means that replacing anything is going to require remodeling. The house itself is from 1947 and we are trying to keep it as original to the home as possible.

It's actually closer to late 50's/ early 60's. The house itself is from 1947. It's worked flawlessly for years and one-day just died. The design sucks but the dimensions suck more. It's built-in and we don't want to remodel the whole kitchen because of it. We want the house to be as original as possible.