My best guess is the old plastic's "plasticizers" (compunds that make it flexible) had sublimated out. That's the main new "hot plastic smell" you get from brand new applainces, all those plasticizers coming out. So, on the old one, because the plastic was no longer flexible, it started to warp with the heat. Even though it's vintage, and has a differnet culture surrounding it today, back in the day it was just a simple coffee pot like any other. It wasn't deisgned to last a lifetime, it was designed for convenience and made to a price, even then. Today, using something vintage like that day-to-day used up its remaining life; there are only so many pots of coffee it's going to make. Like I said, it was a typical, run-of-the-mill coffee pot. It was never designed to last forever, and one day it would need to be replaced. It certainly had a good run. There are other coffee pots, like percolators, that are all metal, and can last a lot, lot longer. My parents have one. The plastic on the base of it cracked, it was glued back together with silicone rubber. I haven't seen it used in forever, they have a more modern coffee pot these days that's used when they make coffee. The style of the old one is classic 1980s, typically a Dolores or Maggie or especially Barbara would own one, and they would drive a Buick as well. Their Buick often had a finicky carburetor and sometimes flooded out at the grocery store, and some man would have to rescue them, typically by holding the choke plate open with a pen until the excess gas cleared out and it would run again. You'd often find Dolores or Maggie or Barbara at a mechanic's shop getting her pocketbook drained. Bamberger's (pronounced like hamburgers) was a retail department store like Macy's or JC Penney. They started in NJ, but expanded to the Philly area and also NY. I saw too many malls in NJ as a kid when Fran would buy clothes that she'd never wear, and it almost always had a Bamberger's. It was a "highfalutin" store back in the day, and had many different departments. Eventually, they got bought out by Macy's, but the name stuck around for a while. Type it in to wikipedia, they have the logo there. As soon as I saw that, I instantly remembered it. The price tag has the logo as well but it's clearer on the computer. The type of person who would own the new coffee pot are either people like us who need one, or mainly Millennials who have actually learned how to make coffee for themselves instead of waste half their paycheck at Starbuck's. _Typically they drive SUV's, or, if they have kids, a minivan._ I have a plain old Mr. Coffee run-of-the-mill coffee pot from the early 2000s. It's showing it's age but still works fine. I am sure it also will one day crap out and need to be replaced. The plastic on mine is about 20 years old at this point, and it's not as flexible as it was when new. I wouldn't expect it to last another 20 years but you never know. The fact that the burner plate's coating has worn off over the years on your old one is simply indicative of wear and tear. It really was showing it's age. Sad to have to get rid of it, but again, never designed to last forever.
