Thread Number: 22868
Childhood memories of those wonderful appliances.
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Post# 357754   6/17/2009 at 13:22 (5,397 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs)        

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I think I've seen this topic several times before, but I thought another one would be fun.

The first automatic dryer my Mom had was an Apex gas unit. She had this when I was born so I figure it was probably a model 1 with serial number 00001. The dryer had no console, all the controls were on the front. This is how you operated the old Apex:

First, you set the timer for the desired minutes. Nothing unusual about that, but it gets better.

Next, you turned a knob that said "Gas On/Off" to the on position. This was actually a valve that opened to release gas to the pilot. If you walked away at this point you'd smell gas in a few minutes.

Now you turned and held a knob that said "Ignition" and you would hear this zzzzzzzzz noise. This was a common automotive spark plug that lit the pilot. You had to hold the knob for about 30 seconds or so until the pilot heated the thermocouple, then you released it hoping the pilot remained on.

Now you got to press the little red button next to the timer, the dryer would start and, here is the best part, you looked through the viewing window to see if the gas burner had come on. The burner was at the top side of the perforated drum and like an old Filtrator, your clothes were "broiled" dry. If the burner failed to light it meant you didn't hold that ignition switch long enough and you went back to square 1.

Oh...there's more, please stay awake!

The laundry room was actually the punishment room...no I did not get beaten. For those very few times when I misbehaved (I was a little saint) I had to sit in the laundry room for a half hour or so, sometimes with the door closed, no big deal since it was huge and had a window and a door to the backyard for a quick escape. The area I would always sit in was directly across from the Apex which, if it was on, provided entertainment in living color via it's glass window. You could look up inside the drum and see the flames dancing and the clothes tumbling...I was in heaven.

The Apex had a cabinet-type latch and no door switch. My mother warned me repeatedly that if I opened the door while the dryer was on I would get sucked up inside like Dorothy in that Kansas cyclone. It was only a year or so later that I tried it and you know what?...mother lied.

My mom has been gone for 3 years, still have the house in San Jose, the laundry room's still there but the Apex is long gone. Somehow I think sitting in that room just wouldn't be the same, and the Whirlpool dryer has no window and no entertainment value.





Post# 357768 , Reply# 1   6/17/2009 at 14:36 (5,397 days old) by davek ()        

Great story. That sounds like a scary dryer. Most are benign of appearance and sound, and certainly don't have a visible burner. I'll confess: I wish my little dryer had an off switch for the buzzer, as I find it a little startling.

I think that some basement appliances (water heaters, furnaces) aren't engineered to remove disturbing squeals and hisses, and end up being quite scary to children. It's almost like it's on purpose! I was always quite scared of our furnace growing up, as it made hisses and growls that could be heard upstairs before the blower started. The thermostat on one of the water heaters had a loud click, too.


Post# 357802 , Reply# 2   6/17/2009 at 18:47 (5,397 days old) by frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

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Lord! Did the Apex come with a fire extinguisher?!

Post# 357806 , Reply# 3   6/17/2009 at 19:31 (5,397 days old) by whirlaway (Hampton Virginia)        
Flames

It sounds better than one of those fireplace videos,Bobby

Post# 357812 , Reply# 4   6/17/2009 at 20:01 (5,397 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs)        
a fire extinguisher?

twintubdexter's profile picture
That state-of-the-art Apex was as safe as the gold is in Fort Knoxx, and so convenient...there was no bothersome lint screen to clean. The lint was exhausted to the outside along with the hot, moisture-laden air. At times, part of the yard looked like dem ol' cotton fields back home.

Post# 357832 , Reply# 5   6/17/2009 at 22:53 (5,397 days old) by golittlesport (California)        

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Great story. Thanks for sharing. When I was a young boy, neigbors had a "Duchess" dryer that I think from looking at old Apex ads was made by the Apex company...but no window. I remember the timer knob looked just like a gas oven knob and I also remember that little red button to start the drum. My mom had a 1955 Frigidaire Filtrator.

Post# 357838 , Reply# 6   6/17/2009 at 23:30 (5,397 days old) by alr2903 (TN)        

My Great Aunt, had and old Universal i think they were made by apex also. Her Universal had this Chrome strip all the way across the door, i always wanted to look inside (on the sly), but not knowing what side the door was hinged on i was afraid i would break it. I still do not know if there was a trick to opening it like a moving up and pulling out. I remember long after i had moved away, going to her home and seeing a 70's SQ from Otasco in the universals spot. She told me that when they lived in Kansas the gas company sold her the Universal dryer and collected the monthly payments, until it was paid out. :-) You know those chats with a favorite Aunt, i think we all remember them and their stories..

Post# 695797 , Reply# 7   8/11/2013 at 09:18 (3,881 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)        

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Just remembered almost forty-years ago when my family & I were moving into our "then-new" house a stove being moved out (and clearly remember seeing the stove come forward more than any men actually moving it) which was a white one and 30", though likely to have been a from mid-'50's to early-'60's Westy! to make way for ours...


-- Dave


Post# 695858 , Reply# 8   8/11/2013 at 13:58 (3,881 days old) by carmine (Detroit)        

My grandmother had a dryer (1956-ish?) much older than the washer (1970s); I suspect they both matched at one time. The drier was Whirlpool (written in script) with two big knobs at each end that almost looked like eyes. The console area was not a separate piece, but rather a one-piece stamping with the top of the unit.

I remember it had a clear plastic button you pushed to open the door.. This may have been lighted when in use? There were also two bulbs inside, one to light the dryer drum, and another "to kill germs" as I was told.

For a long time the temperature control didn't work, but my grandmother would just remove things before they overheated. Eventually they gave the dryer to an idiot uncle who used it at his rural cottage, tired of the thermostat problem, so he and his drunk buddies brought it outside and shot the hell out of it.

Even as a kid, I thought that a rather sad ending.


Post# 695863 , Reply# 9   8/11/2013 at 14:41 (3,881 days old) by retromania (Anderson, South Carolina)        
Westinghouse

I've posted this before, but our first dryer was a Westinghouse that had a music box in it that played 'How Dry I Am' at the end of the drying cycle. I don't remember that because by the time I came along it didn't signal the end of a drying cycle any longer. My mother told me that. It was replaced with a GE that lasted longer than the Westinghouse. I thought the GE was neat because it had push buttons. I loved to press buttons!!!

It didn't take much.....lolll!



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