Incinerette
I discovered this gem in the basement of a house built in 1937. It’s definitely something you don’t see everyday. It’s an Incinerette brand incinerator. I wish I had taken the time to get a better shot of the information plate attached to it. It does say that it was made in Detroit, MI. Apparently in 1937 burning your trash was the cool thing to do. How the times have changed…
Stuff In Your House 
Our House was built in a small town (then) outside of Detroit, MI in 1961. In the Garage portion of the house in the brick chimney is an Incinerette Model N1-2. Back in the day we used to burn our paper portion of the trash due to lack of Land Fill Facilities in the area. Keep in mind there was not much paper packaged “Food” products, but meat items were wrapped by the Butcher in town in a wax faced sided paper. Milk was delivered in glass bottles, even at School. There were very few but not many canned beverages, and most of canned items were Vegetables. Chef-boy-ardee SP? had quick fix Italian mock stuff. Trash pick-up Service was a premium feature here and Mother felt blessed to have it. And then came PLASTIC!!!
Thank you very much for the comment. I enjoy hearing bits of history about these pieces and how they were used. I believe this one was in a house in Southfield, Michigan.
My Dad installed one of these in the basement when he built the house, back in 1961. I think he was inspired by our next-door neighbor, who also had one. I came across your post because I am nostalgically looking for one on sale to install in my home in latter Spring.
You cannot see the details well, but there is a grate upon which the paper to be burned was placed. The grate had an extension that came out thru the front, and upon which there is a handle. It’s so that you can shake the ashes thru the grate and into the collection box at the bottom.
What this unit is missing is an optional natursl-gas jet that was used to conveniently light the refuse. It had a pilot light, so all you did was put the paper trash into the Incinerette, shut the door and turn on the mechanical timer (just like an old-fashioned egg timer in the kitchen). This opened the gas valve which delivered natural gas to the spigot, and so lit the trash. You could set how many minutes the flame would be on, and then it shut itself off.
Hope this gives you additional insights. I regret never having taken any photos of it.
Hi Bill,
Thanks for the comment. Very cool to hear about how these units functioned. Good luck with your search!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XEPV9Gfvj66DWbbu7