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Post# 79167   8/19/2005 at 03:31 (6,797 days old) by Washinsheen ()        

Hello, everyone!

I've visited this site numerous times, but just now decided to register. Good to know that there are others out there with similar interests!

My family (parents, sister, grandparents, aunts, etc.) have always been bewildered by my fascination with washing machines. It seems that it's been the case since before I could walk....I'm told that they would sit me on top of Grandma's washer and hold me there, watching my eyes light up and a big smile appear on my face. When I learned to talk, I often referred to the "washinsheen," thus my screen name (ha!) Sometimes they'd pull up a kitchen chair to the washer so I could stand on it and look into the open lid as the washer went through its cycles.

As a young child prior to starting school, I would hang around my mom on Mondays for regular wash and Thursdays for regular wash plus sheets. Mom had a 1958 white Frigidaire, which I was fascinated by. An aunt had the same model, but in a pastel yellow, and Grandma had a mid 1960's Frigidaire in white on the farm. Visiting her was a particular treat, as she did wash daily, due to PaPa going through so many clothes in the cotton field near Muleshoe, TX!

As an adolescent, I was always peaking around in order to find out what kind of washing machine friends and family members had at their house. My parents would explain it away by saying, "Oh, he's crazy about washing machines. We don't know why." Of course, this always humiliated me (ha!) A present day friend says he had the same experience due to his fascination with vacuum cleaners! Often, the people they were visiting would get out their vacuum cleaner for him to play with.

We got our 1958 Frigidaire from Daddy's boss in 1964. We kept it until 1973 when it konked out (wish I had it, today!) and we replaced it with a new harvest gold Frigidaire. That one lasted us until 1981, when we replaced it with another havest gold Frigidaire, which unfortunately didn't have the up-and-down agitator....BORING! (By the way, can anyone explain why Frigidaire quit making that type of agitator??)

Our 1957 house in Odessa, TX was a small starter home with the washer located in the kitchen. No clothes dryers in that neighborhood! Mom & Dad still live in that 900 square foot house, and to this day my mom hangs the clothes out on the clothes line in the backyard, and she'd have it no other way.

I pretend to my family that the washing machine fetish was some long forgotten childhood quirk, and we laugh about it from time to time......Little do they know!!!

I love anything to do with the past, and I admire those of you with restoration talents. Even though I'm a retired mechanic's son, I learned nothing from him. (Go figure.) I've been with my life partner for 15 years, and he doesn't share my love for things of old, as they remind him of an unpleasant childhood. Therefore, it is doubtful that I'll be able to be the proud owner of any of the kinds of treasures I see pictured on this sight. But, never fear, for I will certainly keep my eyes open for all of you, in case I run into anything that needs a good home. Incidnetally, Robert, aka unimatic1140, I am totally envious of your gorgeous 1958 turquoise Frigidaire pair!! Reminds me soooo much of the washer we had when I was small. The video clips brought back tons of memories, too!

My best to all of you!

David





Post# 79173 , Reply# 1   8/19/2005 at 04:15 (6,797 days old) by Washaholic ()        

David,

I am also a new member. I visited this site for months before joining and just like you I thought I was the only person fascinated by washing machines. WELCOME!!!

Darin


Post# 79176 , Reply# 2   8/19/2005 at 04:33 (6,797 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )        

petek's profile picture
Wow this place is taking off. Who knew..lol welcome guys from a fairly newby myself. Speaking of childhood memories, at a very early age, pre school, we had an old black bag Hoover of some sort down the basement and my dad or uncle with much delight used to chase me with it and scare the bgeezus out of me but that never stopped me from my fascination with vacs. LOL. If they weren't doing that they would hang me by my feet over the toilet bowl and say they were going to flush me away...hahahaha.

Post# 79180 , Reply# 3   8/19/2005 at 05:57 (6,797 days old) by Spiraclean (UK)        
Welcome Guys

spiraclean's profile picture
Hi David,
Welcome to Applianceville. Like you I have loved washers since I was a small boy. I could hardly believe my eyes when I stumbled upon this great site and realized so many people shared my love of washers.

Hi Darin,
Welcome to Applianceville. I am not sure if I have welcomed you or not, better late than never.

All the best.
Hugh


Post# 79230 , Reply# 4   8/19/2005 at 11:31 (6,796 days old) by frontaloadotmy (the cool gay realm)        
Isn't this the coolest place?

Welcome gentlemen. So many people on here have so much incredible stuff it is dizzying!

Darrel


Post# 79236 , Reply# 5   8/19/2005 at 12:49 (6,796 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture
David, welcome!! Isn't it comforting to nkow you're not alone!! Since your parents still live in Odessa, I think we should claim you as an extended member of the Texas contingent. Can't blame your mom for still hanging out wash out in the near desert. Bob

Post# 79239 , Reply# 6   8/19/2005 at 14:18 (6,796 days old) by westtexman (Lubbock, Texas)        
Welcome David!

Howdy David. I agree with Bob. We should make you an extended member of the Texas contingent. I know Muleshoe Texas very well, as well as Odessa. I live in Lubbock, and travel through both of those places quite often. My Mom is actually from Muleshoe. Small world.

Feel free to kick back, relax and enjoy the posts! I think everyone here is in the same boat as far as our fascination with washers, detergents and the like.

Tex


Post# 79262 , Reply# 7   8/19/2005 at 16:46 (6,796 days old) by Washinsheen ()        
Fellow Texans

Hey, Bob! You're from Lubbock? So you, too have sand in your veins! (ha) I was born in Morton and we lived on a farm near Stegall. Wasn't long before we moved to another place near Baileyboro (love these names!) and my grandparents' farm was also near Baileyboro. We went to church in Maple and my mom and her siblings all went to school at ThreeWay. We did grocery shopping at Eddy's Food Market in Needmore. Guess you've stumbled across all of these places from time to time. I have an aunt who was 1st runner up in the Miss Muleshoe Pageant, which was very impressive to me (ha!) I still have relatives in and around Lubbock, so it feels like home.

Oh, here's more memories from the grandparents' farm....The mid 60's Frigidaire was located in the kitchen, and the drain pipe went through the wall behind it and snaked out the side of the house for several feet, held up onto the house by wires. Very high tech, eh?! I used to rush outside to watch the water come rushing out the corroded end of the pipe, and that was quite a thrill, let me tell you! And Grandma swore by her clothesline! She would talk about hanging the clothes out to let them "flop in the wind." Now, my mom didn't have her own washer, so she'd drive over to my grandparents' farm and do wash there. I'm told that one day while my mom was pregnant w/me, she was out hanging the wash on the clothesline. Grandma (her mom) came out and fussed at her, saying that she shoudn't be raising her arms above her head, or the baby (me) would be born with a birth mark shaped like a snake! Mom just laughed and kept hanging out the clothes. I'm 42, now, and have yet to find that birth mark!

Tex, I taught school in Waco from 1989 to 1991....just down I-35 from you. My sister and brother-in-law still live in Waco, near Hewitt.

Anyhow, good to hear from you guys....Tell Texas hello for me!

David


Post# 79263 , Reply# 8   8/19/2005 at 16:53 (6,796 days old) by Washinsheen ()        
OOPS.....sorry, Bob & Tex....

Hey guys, sorry for mixing you two up. Let's see, Tex, you're from Lubbock, and Bob, you're from Temple. My apologies for switching you two!

David


Post# 79264 , Reply# 9   8/19/2005 at 17:17 (6,796 days old) by appnut (TX)        

appnut's profile picture
David how cool, y'all were soo close to me from 1989 to 1991. Wish I'd met y'all back then. Who'da'thunk!!!. Bob

Post# 79268 , Reply# 10   8/19/2005 at 17:43 (6,796 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )        

petek's profile picture
Perhaps what your granny meant by the birthmark was that you'd be a boy..lol

Post# 79279 , Reply# 11   8/19/2005 at 20:00 (6,796 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        

dadoes's profile picture
Mercy, Texas washerboys are everywhere! Yay!


Post# 79329 , Reply# 12   8/20/2005 at 02:35 (6,796 days old) by Washinsheen ()        
Mixed up Wives' Tales

OK, Bob, Tex, and anyone else who's reading this, it seems I got my "wives' tales" mixed up. True, my grandmother fussed at my mom for hanging clothes on the line while she was pregnant w/me, as one is not supposed to raise one's arms above one's head....BUT, I remembered later today that the consequence for violating this superstition was that I was to be born w/the chord wrapped around my neck.....It didn't turn out that way, though (sorry, Grandma!)

And the snake birth mark, you ask?? Well, I remembered that Mom had seen a rattle snake out in the garage and promptly killed it with a hoe (farming tool for eliminating weeds from the cotton field!) When she told Grandma about it, Grandma fussed at her because if one kills a snake whilst one is pregnant, the child is to be born w/a snake shaped birth mark. As I said before, it didn't happen.

Where do these silly superstitions come from?? (ha)

Anyhow, enough about that.....

David


Post# 79382 , Reply# 13   8/20/2005 at 14:49 (6,795 days old) by westtexman (Lubbock, Texas)        
Definition of a [garden] hoe.....

David -

Being from Texas and having parents and grandparents who were all raised on farms, I found it funny that you had to define what a "hoe" is. I guess it never occurred to me that there are people out there who have never seen one, much less used one! I guess not everyone can be a Texan! LOL.

Tex


Post# 79385 , Reply# 14   8/20/2005 at 15:52 (6,795 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)        
Hoes

dadoes's profile picture
I'm thinking he was differentiating it from the vernacular for "lady of the street corner."

Post# 79397 , Reply# 15   8/20/2005 at 18:53 (6,795 days old) by Washinsheen ()        
More about Hoes....

DADoES, you are absolutely right! And Tex, I taught elementary school for 12 years, and it amazed me that the kids were really unfamiliar with that particular gardening or farming tool. They knew rakes and shovels, but not hoes. And, of course, anytime I would use the word, the whole room would roar with laughter. They didn't know the gardening tool, but sadly they knew what prostitutes were.


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