Thread Number: 33699
What Was the first vintage washer you remember seeing or started up as a child
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Post# 506513   3/24/2011 at 16:39 (4,752 days old) by pierreandreply4 (St-Bruno de montarville (province of quebec) canada)        

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hello to all aw members i don't know if such a thread or topic was made but what was the first washer dryer set you remember seeing or started up as a child?

for me the washer dryer set i remember as a child and started up was this set

And i remember my grandmother set as well

for me inglis whirlpool superb

my grandmother set inglis whirlpool liberator push to start washer with dryer (*pic number 2 for picture).

my godmother harvest gold inglis liberator washer and dryer

1 of my aunts viking washer and dryer see picture number3





Post# 506514 , Reply# 1   3/24/2011 at 16:40 (4,752 days old) by pierreandreply4 (St-Bruno de montarville (province of quebec) canada)        

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pic number 2 my grandmother 's dryer

Post# 506515 , Reply# 2   3/24/2011 at 16:42 (4,752 days old) by pierreandreply4 (St-Bruno de montarville (province of quebec) canada)        
my aunt viking washer dryer set

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last pic that i remember

Post# 506519 , Reply# 3   3/24/2011 at 16:53 (4,752 days old) by labboy (SD, CA)        
1974 Avocado Green Kenmore W/D

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My parents had a matching 1974 avocado green Kenmore set. I took the pump out of the washer for fun (much to my mother's dismay) when I was ten. It worked when I was done putting it back together! The washer is still in operation at some rental property my parents own.

Post# 506522 , Reply# 4   3/24/2011 at 17:05 (4,752 days old) by paulc (Edinburgh, Scotland)        
My Mums.....

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1967 Hotpoint Supermatic and my Aunty's Indesit L5....the L5 made me fall in love with automatic washing!

Post# 506523 , Reply# 5   3/24/2011 at 17:06 (4,752 days old) by 3beltwesty ()        

1947 Westinghouse FL

Post# 506524 , Reply# 6   3/24/2011 at 17:07 (4,752 days old) by 3beltwesty ()        

1947 Westinghouse FL

Post# 506526 , Reply# 7   3/24/2011 at 17:19 (4,752 days old) by turquoisedude (.)        

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I remember a 1955 Whirlpool wringer as the first. It was ironic, because we had a 1962 or 1963 GE V12 Filter-Flow washer and matching dryer! The house where we lived at the time had plumbing that would make the Ogden laundry room look like a professional installation and wiring that rivalled the 'plug board' in the Douglas' kitchen in Green Acres!
That Viking washer is exactly like the last vintage washer I had in the house in the Laurentians in the early 2000's!!


Post# 506530 , Reply# 8   3/24/2011 at 17:26 (4,752 days old) by washernoob ()        

Well in the first house I lived in until I was about 2-3, we had a real large sink in the basement with a wringer washer next to it. Im sure the wringer was somehow connected to the sink. Wether it was by a water hose or drain. The house was built in the late 50s early 60s.

Thats really my first washer experience. I know it was a square tub machine, and I was always afraid of it because it didn't have a lid, and the big black agitator scared me!

We didnt use it. My mom had another washer/washer dryer somewhere. I just cant recall where those were.
_______

The house after that was from 1918, but nothing special. Dont remember anything on the W/D
_________
In the next house, which was built in 1909, we had that dreadful cliché uber creepy unfinished basement. The floors in one side were white and black checkerboard style (I HATE THESE FLOORS!)

The cement walls were painted deep red. The main furnace was a monster that sat in a very large pit that was about a foot and a half down into the ground. Took up most the basement. I never dared once stick my foot down there!

Anyways on the other side was the washroom area. As creepy as it was, it was very cool. Two absolutely massive cast iron sinks that you could practically swim in. Lots of little faucets, and hoses to connect to washers. A very old wooden hand crank wringer was next to them. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if it were original to the house.
There was a gargantuan (to me at the time) 1940s fridge in there. I again never dared open it! The newer washer and dryer sat opposite the sinks, and next to the ??storm doors?? that led to a staircase up outside (for the life of me I cant think of what they were called. Maybe tornado doors or something. Very large!

The coolest house I have lived in was that one. I want to go back there now and explore it. The attic had a room built in the back, that was locked. We never did open it. There was a separate room behind the furnace pit with 2 large double doors, but you had to pass behind the furnace to get to it. My mom said it was an empty room with a coal burning furnace.



Oh the memories!


Post# 506532 , Reply# 9   3/24/2011 at 17:29 (4,752 days old) by 3beltwesty ()        

When I grew up our 1947 machine was not vintage; it was just the washer we had that was older than me.

Thus my take then was a vintage washer was a gasoline powered maytag on a farm or wringer washer


Post# 506535 , Reply# 10   3/24/2011 at 17:42 (4,752 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)        

The first washer was my Mom's 1955 Westinghouse Laundromat. The first dryer I remember belonged to one my neighbors - a late 50's Kenmore.

Post# 506543 , Reply# 11   3/24/2011 at 18:12 (4,752 days old) by cfz2882 (Belle Fourche,SD)        
'70 hotpoint

1970 ST hotpoint in HG,clutch and sediment tube problems sent it to it's
grave in 1981...


Post# 506548 , Reply# 12   3/24/2011 at 18:37 (4,752 days old) by appnut (TX)        

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The first asher was a 1955/1956 GE just like jetcone's, except ours did not have the Filter-flo.  I've learned over time here that ours was most likely a special model, had the higher-end model look but less expensive.  I think it as also purchased around the end of that model year or was "last years model" when purchased.  The GE replaced the Bendix I would leave alone when it was running.  The other "1st" washer I remember, several of my mom's friends had Frigidaire WO65 or WO65-2 models. 


Post# 506558 , Reply# 13   3/24/2011 at 18:53 (4,752 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)        

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A 1955 Easy Rivera.

Post# 506568 , Reply# 14   3/24/2011 at 19:14 (4,752 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c )        
1955

Frigidaire Pulsa Matic, it was replaced in 1969 with a Custom Deluxe Frigidaire Model WCDAN It lasted till the mid 80s.

Post# 506569 , Reply# 15   3/24/2011 at 19:15 (4,752 days old) by mathewhebailey0 (port arthur tx)        

My parents I believe TOL Norge made early 1970's Wards avocado washer/dryer pair (the dryer having the fan behind the drum)

Post# 506570 , Reply# 16   3/24/2011 at 19:17 (4,752 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)        

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I've told this story many times before on this site. When I was born in 1956 we lived in a 2 bedroom apartment in a complex that was built by Metropolitan Life insurance company for returning WWII veterans for their new families called Peter Cooper/Stuyvesant Town. It was a light and sunny apartment, very well made. Some of you may remember a couple of years ago the whole complex was sold to the Tishman/Spears company for 750 billion which still makes it the most expensive real estate sale ever.

 

Anyway, in Peter Cooper, where we had our apartment, you could have air conditioners but no washing machine. Everybody with young kids broke this rule because there were no laundromats in the buildings back then and a couple of savvy appliance/TV dealers in the neighborhood figured out how to deliver the forbidden machines in TV and console phonograph/radio cartons. You needed to make sure that your machine was on wheels so when they came to paint the apartment you could scoot the contraband into one of the closets or back rooms. You also needed to have a quiet machine and be careful not to produce a lot of suds because they would show up in your next-door neighbor's sinks and then the jig was up. No surprise that there were many Maytags in those apartments.

 

Ours was a Whirlpool and it was the first machine I ever saw do its thing. My entertainment was being put up in a high chair and watching the thing do its neutral drain (into the deep 2nd sink that doubled as my bathtub) and then go into its spin which, I'm told I used to refer to as the "ca-ca-ca-ca-ca" because of the noise the machine made as it spun. I think I've admitted this to John LeFever, but there will always be a place in my heart for Whirlpools (and maybe Kenmores) because of that machine. It was a rock bottom BOL, no water level control, no buttons whatsoever (there MAY have been a water temp toggleswitch next to the control dial, but I may be confabulating that with the Frigidaire WO-65 that this reminded me of. I think this was Whirlpool's 1957 24" Deluxe model, that I've seen some paperwork for from other members, but if anybody has any hard info on this machine, I'd love to see it. All I can tell you for sure is that it had a turquoise plastic control dial, and the agitator was NOT a surgilator but a straight-vaned unit that looked like a lot of the old Kenmore agitators but without the "hump" where the drive shaft was. It had that small black agitator cap that had those arch-shaped indentations. I also remember some kind of primitive rubber adapter that she would attach to the kitchen faucet, but it was just for one inlet hose that went to the machine. The drain hose was normal and separate.


Post# 506583 , Reply# 17   3/24/2011 at 19:46 (4,752 days old) by paulg (My sweet home... Chicago)        
1957 or 1958 HOTPOINT

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Don't know the year. Hotpoint. Black straight-vane agitator. Red coffee-can filter that slipped over the agitator.
Full-width fluorescent lighted backsplash that didn't work. Pushbutton adjustments of something. Oddly, this website never showed a picture of this thing - you got close...
The unit was REALLY GOOD at walking across the room which scared the living daylights out of me. The unit went to Hotpoint heaven in the early seventies. Replaced by a Hotpoint Custom-Crafted-Silhouette-style washer of about 1974 vintage. Turquoise agitator that squirted water.


Post# 506592 , Reply# 18   3/24/2011 at 20:27 (4,752 days old) by mixfinder ()        
Oldy

Grandma had a gasoline powered Maytag from the 30's.  When mom got married grandma got a new Maytag wringer in 1947 and gave the old Maytag to mom.  It sat for years because we didn't have running water.  My most impressive memory was going to my great Aunt Rita's house and heard her talking about her new washer and dryer which were installed in a bedroom next to the bathroom.  It was New Year's day 1956 and she brought me in the cold unheated room  and started the washer while the family reunion raged on.  I watched an entire cycle.  It was a frog eye Sears with lighted dial and push buttons for water temp and level and a Roto Swirl.  I was forever changed.


Post# 506601 , Reply# 19   3/24/2011 at 21:21 (4,752 days old) by joelippard (Hickory)        


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1969 Frigidaire Jet Action Rollermatic Custom Deluxe in Avacado Green.  God how I wish we'd kept it.  Here is a picture of mine now that bears very near similarity to the one I grew up with.


Post# 506604 , Reply# 20   3/24/2011 at 22:18 (4,752 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)        

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A 1972 avocado Bradford washer & electric dryer set... They were probably small capacity, & I think made by Hamilton or Franklin & the washer even had a lint filter that sat on the agitator, while the dryer had a huge door-mounted lint screen (& somehow a WHITE door handle) but compared to a real Norge washer or dryer the resemblance to the design of either never came close...

They sat side by side in the house we lived in, in which they were bought when my dad worked at Grant's, while adjacent from one-another at the house I grew up in, each getting replaced by Maytags: a white one from 1978 replacing the dryer, and a 1978 white washer, then an almond 1992 washer (which I bought & had a lot of Large Cap. fancy features) before in I think 2006, a matching white Maytag top-of-the-line set finally came to be!

I remember a harvest gold Bradford dryer like ours in the vestibule of the Grant's store where mom & dad took me one night (& THAT had a white door handle, as well) and I remember him lifting me up to look through a window in the lid of a harvest gold washer, too--which I would be quite certain MIGHT have been a Frigidaire, but at GRANT'S????!!!!

-- Dave



Post# 506610 , Reply# 21   3/24/2011 at 22:38 (4,752 days old) by gr81nknox ()        
first washer memories

My parents pretty basic Maytag toploader. They bought it(and matching dryer) months after getting married in 1974 so likely a '75 model. It had 3 temperature buttons on the left, three load size buttons on the right and the dial right in the middle. It also had a blank that said "automatic" between the dial and load size buttons. I know it was a blank as our neighbor had a similar Maytag but theirs had additional buttons there(I imagine speed). As a kid, I literally wore the lid switch out by opening and closing it so much. My dad just bypassed it rather than replace it so it would spin even with the lid open. How in the world did I not lose an arm!(maybe I knew even as a kid to keep my hands out of a spinning washer). That was a reliable, but noisy machine that never had a problem(aside from the worn out lid switch) and was still running in 1995 when it was replaced by a 90 Series Kenmore.



Post# 506613 , Reply# 22   3/24/2011 at 23:24 (4,752 days old) by peteski50 (New York)        
1955 Hotpoint!

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This was our first washer - it brings back so many memories from when I was just a tot!
Peter


Post# 506614 , Reply# 23   3/24/2011 at 23:39 (4,752 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)        

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For me it would have to be my grandmothers 1958 WD-58 Frigidaire Pulsamatic washer...
 

 


Post# 506615 , Reply# 24   3/24/2011 at 23:55 (4,752 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)        
The SECOND, THIRD, and So On...

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My mom's first Maytag washer was also a basic model: 3 water levels, 3 temperatures...

2 cycles: Reg. & Permanent Press, of which she thought she was getting "gentler action" on the PP portion of the timer dial, which was white instead of the shiny metal on the better ones... But her machine was also really a 1-Speed; it also said "Automatic", where the "speed buttons" would really be...

The dryer, also a Maytag, was a bit higher up: it had a shiny metal knob for the timer, featuring Regular, Permanent Press and even an Air Fluff (which ran at only 15-Min., though I really believe the far-reach of the dial gave you 20!)

There were also a couple of Reg. Temp. and Low Temp. push-buttons, too...

I bought my mom an almond Maytag washer in 1992, even though there was really nothing wrong with her old one.... But this one boasted Hot/Warm, Hot/Cold Warm/Cold and Cold/Cold Wash/Rinse settings (No Warm/Warm, unfortunately)... It also had an infinite water level, bleach & fabric dispenser (the latter disp. was also on the old one) and 2 speeds...

A flood in the basement, I believe caused the fuse to blow, everytime the washer was used, however... But otherwise, a new lid switch was the only repair it ever needed (& possibly all the old one, too--along w/ the dryer needing an occasional drive belt)...

So in 2006, my mom purchased a new Maytag washer & dryer pair, this time the washer sporting a stainless steel tub! And gobs of other features, too...


-- Dave


Post# 506631 , Reply# 25   3/25/2011 at 02:40 (4,752 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc)        

Mom:Early Norege "Burpilator"Loved watching it as a child.Still trying to find one-large black bakelite agitator with the very large blades.
Stepmom-KN "pregnant Roto Swirl"
Grandmom-Pregnant KN Roto Swirl.Loved those too.finding machines that old in my area is a very tall order.and the Norge had the shiney metal lint dish.Liked seeing the lint balls form.


Post# 506636 , Reply# 26   3/25/2011 at 04:30 (4,752 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)        
GE Non Filter Flo

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The Chrome Strip always fell off

Post# 506638 , Reply# 27   3/25/2011 at 05:04 (4,752 days old) by stainfighter (Columbia, SC)        
1959 Lady Kenmore

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my friend's Mom had, loved the sounds it made, the lighted console, the scent of the detergents and bleach in use...

Post# 506647 , Reply# 28   3/25/2011 at 06:10 (4,752 days old) by Easyspindry (Winston-Salem, NC)        
My first memory was of . . .

. . . a Maytag wringer.

Then we graduated to a Thor Automagic.

Next was a Maytag AMP which lasted something like 16 years.

Our neighbors had a Bendix bolt down and a GE dryer which was used only for towels.

Other neighbors had a Bendix Economat.

Jerry Gay


Post# 506669 , Reply# 29   3/25/2011 at 08:18 (4,751 days old) by ingliscanada ()        
Our Inglis

The first vintage machines I remember was, as you've probably heard from me many times before, our early 60s Inglis Superb set. My earliest memories were my mom lifting me up so I can see it working, and I remember that tub full of sudsy water and that black agitator with the dome top going back and fourth. I remember all the clinks and clunks as the machine changed its cycles (obviously no shut-off pauses). I remember hearing that "ca-ca-ca-ca-ca" through its spin cycle, accompanied by the howling pump, which sounded to me a bit like the laundry tub pump after the tub was empty. (The laundry tub needed a pump to drain it when we were on septic tank, since it was below the sewer drain.) I also remember that hose spewing out rinse water and spun-out suds into the sump-pump, often causing that to turn on. It would also spit out a shot of water when the machine started agitating. As you may know, when a WP BD machine starts up, it would be in drain mode for a second before the wig-wag switches it into agitation. I also remember hearing that wig-wag ticking to the beat of the agitation, keeping that same beat throughout the drain and spin. And I remember the suds-return, which I thought was always the way it filled. My mom would turn on the machine, and the agitator would be oscillating in the empty tub. Then I would see the wash water come up through the bottom, then as it was rising above the agitator vanes, you'd hear a quiet "slish-slosh" becoming gradually louder and louder (with water spashing all over the place!).

And the dryer, that machine that made the random tapping noises. I remember the exhaust vent outside. I didn't know exactly what that vent was for at the time (until I was about 4 or 5), but it emitted the smell of laundry water, which gave me a bit of a clue. It was also quite loud, as I could hear it from a distance. The old impeller-type fan had the low-pitched tone that carried, unlike the high-pitched hamster-cage fans.


Post# 506671 , Reply# 30   3/25/2011 at 08:26 (4,751 days old) by searsbest (Attleboro, Ma)        

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Hey guys long time follower, member as of 3/24....the first memories I had..Mom and Dad had an early 60's 1964 or 65 I belive kenmore that belonged to my grandfather, and when they moved out of boston in 1975 they took it, and him with them. In 1984 the pump siezed (my Dad let me keep the agitator,YAY!) and they replaced it with an 84' Kenmore 70 series which I have the best memories of (the woo woo sounds,the solenoid click when it entered the spin cycle..the dual action agitator with the fabric softener dispenser on top...) the post WW2 house they bought (which they still live in) had and RCA Whirlpool Dryer in the kitchen (which I don't remember) in 1978 they replaced it with a 1978 Kenmore 70 series which they put in utility room with the washer. in 1996 both machines had some issues, and I aquired a whrilpool Imperial mark 18 dryer and a whirlpool LDAw5800, the washer is still in use, but the dryer sadly had a ground in it somewhere and back in 2000(I still have the use and care manual..) it was replaced with a TOL WP dryer. sorry for the run on blah...blah..blahs

Post# 506673 , Reply# 31   3/25/2011 at 08:39 (4,751 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI )        

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There were 2 vintage machines in my childhood, and both were owned by my grandmothers.  Grandma Wilde had the 1950 Speed Queen wringer that I now have which was paired with a 1968 GE dryer, and Grandma Baumann had a 1956 Speed Queen wringer.  Grandma Baumann never had a dryer, she line dried everything either in the basement, or outside.  She considered a dryer a waste of money.  My Mom had a 1967 GE FF w/ suds return, and matching dryer.  I don't remember them much, but they did laundry almost every day for 3 kids.  The washer was replaced in about 1983 with another FF w/ suds return, and the dryer a couple years later.


Post# 506674 , Reply# 32   3/25/2011 at 08:43 (4,751 days old) by GadgetGary (Bristol,CT)        
My maternal grandmother's

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GE Filter Flo


Post# 506684 , Reply# 33   3/25/2011 at 09:09 (4,751 days old) by mtn1584 (USA)        
Ken

I love your picture, and so typical of NYC apartments at the time. I grew up in the Bronx, with "the machine" as my mother and nana called it next to the kitchen sink. Ma had a BOL one knob Kenmore and Nana had a beautiful GE V12 filter flo form the mid sixties, that was my favorite machine, and I loved seeing the machine drain into the BIG DOULBE SINKS we both had.
Mike


Post# 506704 , Reply# 34   3/25/2011 at 10:37 (4,751 days old) by appliguy (Oakton Va.)        
The first washer dryer set I remember......

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Well that depends on which house you are talking about....the family home in Vienna Va or the cottage at Deep Creek Lake Md.  In Vienna the first washer and dryer I remember mom having was a 1972 Kenmore 800 washer paired with a 1963 Kenmore Model 70 Soft Heat Gas Dryer. The only way mom could cut my hair is if she sat me on top of the washer while it was running and my favorite part of the cycle to watch was the cool down portion of the Permanent Press Cycle which used low speed agitation as the machine filled up. At Deep Creek Lake Mom had a 1963 Kenmopre Model 70 Washer (the mate to the dryer in Vienna) and a circa 1971 GE 3 temp Jumbo Dryer that my mom bought new in the box during the summer of 1975 (when she was pregnant with me). My favorite thing about the Model 70 washer was the swooshing sound the Self Cleaning Lint Filter made and also the rythmic buzz buzz....buzz buzz the wig wag made during the spin cycle. The Jumbo Dryer was interesting to me because the only heat setting you could use with the Automatic Regular and Permanent Press cycles was high heat. If you wanted to use delicate heat you had to use timed dry (under the mark for 30 minutes there was the word Delicate). That dryer also had a very loud and annoying buzzer that would sound off for about 60 seconds before the end of the cycle and if we were watching tv I always remember someone jumping up to run down to the lower porch and turn it off LOL I also remember that due to it sitting on an enclosed but unheated porch the automatic cycles stopped work ing about 1981 That dryer did have a nice sound to it when it was running though it was very soothing. PAT COFFEY

P.S. here is a pic of the Jumbo Dryer we had...this is not our actual dryer this is a pic I saved off of Craigslist


Post# 506705 , Reply# 35   3/25/2011 at 10:46 (4,751 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)        
Enjoying this thread

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It's interesting that our passions for these machines actually coincide, historically, with the genesis of these machines. Very few of us had Wringer Washers, but lots of us seem to have had experiences with first run automatic models of all brands. I'm thinking of Anne Bancroft's character in that movie, saying "Nature's first green is gold". Even though they were clunky, heavy and had flaws that would be addressed later, these machines were pearls (to split and wreck that metaphor). I keep telling people that my appliance interest really isn't that different from folks who are fascinated by antique cars and I think that's totally true.

 

BTW I've heard lots of you "dis" the Frigidaire Pulsamatics but, I'm sorry, that agitator and tub are too beautiful.  Old, non 1-18, GM Frigidaires are getting harder and harder to find around here. I want one. I still get kind of sick when I think that people in my family had a WO-65 AND a Unimatic '58 that they just let go to the krushers. Ugghhh!


Post# 506708 , Reply# 36   3/25/2011 at 10:53 (4,751 days old) by westingman123 ()        
Whirlpool

At our house, it was the 1963/1964 Whirlpool set. At Grandma's, it was the Maytag wringer and a big rinse tub. To this day, the sound of a belt-drive Whirlpool soothes my nerves.

Post# 506710 , Reply# 37   3/25/2011 at 10:59 (4,751 days old) by pierreandreply4 (St-Bruno de montarville (province of quebec) canada)        
Wringer washer

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when i was a child 2 of my aunts had a kenmore wringer washer and by the mid 80 when they moved to a new appartment they bought an inglis librator washer dryer set the washer has this desing and is still in use today and in pic number 2 will post a pic of the dryer but the washer is an inglis liberator pic just to show the loook of the washer.

Post# 506711 , Reply# 38   3/25/2011 at 10:59 (4,751 days old) by pierreandreply4 (St-Bruno de montarville (province of quebec) canada)        
Dryer Picture

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here is pic number 2

Post# 506712 , Reply# 39   3/25/2011 at 11:00 (4,751 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)        

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Mike, thanks for the good words! Was your Nana's GE one with a gray control panel?

 

Somebody call for a Hotpoint with a red coffee can lint filter?


Post# 506728 , Reply# 40   3/25/2011 at 11:32 (4,751 days old) by mtn1584 (USA)        
Ken........................

Nana's GE V12 had a similar console to that of the General Electric Dryer a few posts back. The General Electric was on the upper left side of the console "cutout" where a light would be. It had three rocker switches on the left, and a knob in the middle which I believe was for the water level. Above the knob, was the V12 emblem, and on the right was the timer knob with the cycles "around the dial". The lid was on metal hinged that raised the lid off of the top of the machine. Blue filter flo pan (I think) YA KNOW, I CAN REMEMBER THIS, BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER WHERE I PUT MY CAR KEYS LOL! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?? lol
Mike


Post# 506730 , Reply# 41   3/25/2011 at 11:48 (4,751 days old) by franksdad (Greenville, South Carolina)        

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The very first washer I remember watching and being fascinated with was my mama's 1955 Frigidaire washer.  It had the agitator that went up and down.  I don't remember what model it was.  I was born in February 1955.  Before that my mama had an unknown type of wringer washer but decided since I came into her life she needed an automatic washer so this was the first one she bought after bringing me home from the hospital.  Mama hated that washer because it would wad all the clothes up.  My dad was a plumber and his overhalls would get tied in knots and would come out of the washer rolled up with balls on mud all over them.  Mama said she had to send the sheets and daddy's overalls to the laundry.  In 1961 she bought a 1961 Lady Kenmore washer.  This is the washer I learned to wash on.  I loved the colored pads and the light that came on over the display board.  When I could reach the knobs without having to stand on a stool Mama taught me how to separate the clothes and what detergents, bleach, fabric softeners to use.  I've been doing laundry ever since.  After helping my aunt with her wringer washer I have to admit there were times I wish Mama had never gotten rid of the wringer washer.  I loved her wringer washer and ALWAYS volunteered to help her do laundry.  I had another aunt who had a very old Maytag with the red agitator.  I thought that washer was really cool and wished Mama's LK had a red agitator.  A monumental moment in my life was when me, my mom, and my dad went to the huge Sears on Stone Avenue in Greenville, SC and bought the 1971 LK washer.  I begged and begged Mama to get the harvest gold but she wouldn't spend the extra $10.00 and went with white.  A couple of months later, though, Mama, Daddy, and I went back to Sears and Mama bought a new Coldspot fridge with ice and water in avacado and daddy said "what the h*ll" and told the salesman to add the matching 1971 LK dryer to the bill.  Mama chose avacodo for the dryer also and said she wished she had bought the washer in avacado.  I never liked avacado but I wasn't paying for it.  I've secretely always LOVED coppertone but Mama hated that also.  My dream kitchen will be pink and coppertone.     I was 15 at the time and more excited over the new modern fridge and Lady Kenmores than I was learning how to drive.  My wife thinks I am demented!Laughing  I can't wait until a wash-in in the Atlanta area.  Retromania and I are planning to attend.  My wife just shook her head when I told her.  I told her she didn't have to come with us.  She replied "thank god!"   


Post# 506753 , Reply# 42   3/25/2011 at 13:11 (4,751 days old) by kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)        

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The first washer I remember seeing and using was my Mom's 1961 Kenmore 70, which is the subject of my avator pic. We had that machine from 1961 until late 1974 when the spin bearings became so loud that we could hear the machine spinning from the garage through a closed door. I hadn't seen another one of these anywhere, OR seen one again until I acquired this washer about two years ago.

I loved the machine and at such a young age, I presumed everybody's would be similar since we had a 1963 70 series at one neighbor's house, and a 1962 Kenmore 800 at another. I was fascinated by the neighbor behind us later who had a coppertone Maytag 606.

Both grandmothers had the same model 1964 Whirlpool, standard capacity with the control box panel on the right side, black Surgilator with a thumbnail cap, and a transparent magic mix filter. I enjoyed them too - they made similar noises but were diffent to look at, as was the wash action as compared to our Kenmore.

I have never really used anything on a regular basis except other belt-drive Kenmores, even to this day. I do have a 1993 Kenmore DD washer that I got new, but it mostly sits unusued. It was used a lot from fall 2006 to spring 2008, and those 18 months are the most use it's seen.

Gordon


Post# 506780 , Reply# 43   3/25/2011 at 14:13 (4,751 days old) by yogitunes (New Jersey)        

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My one and only from my youth, started around age 3, I wasn't even in kindergarten yet, but would help Mom and Grandmom with the wash, We had a GE FF V12 from about 1962-63 era..probably a left over...from BF Goodrich(yeah they sold Tires and Appliances)...they got it in 64 when I was born, but the 64's don't resemble the one we had......BOL....one cycle....2 wash temp/ 2 water levels....I was a big help for Grandmom because when Mom went to work I new how to start the machine, so Granny could get stuff done.....somewhere we have pics of me hanging clothes on the line with a stepladder...

that freakin machine would never die....I finally got rid of it in 1982, My first paycheck went to a Used but newer Whirlpool, from a shop I used to work at after school...


Post# 506790 , Reply# 44   3/25/2011 at 14:39 (4,751 days old) by hotpoint95622 (Powys)        
hotpoint 95622

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Hotpoint Liberator 1828-02. Around the mid 70’s most likely 1976.

Post# 506810 , Reply# 45   3/25/2011 at 16:04 (4,751 days old) by cornutt (Huntsville, AL USA)        

We had a Kenmore washer of 1961-63 vintage. I don't think it was a Lady, but it may have been the next model down. Three cycles, infinite water level, and the five-temperature wash and three-temperature rinse temp selections. It had a tub light, which went through a lot of light bulbs. It had the waterfall cartridge filter, and one of my chores as a toddler was to clean the filter; I recall it being a PITA. It seemed to stay broken a lot too. One time the water recirc hose came detached at the top and it flooded the garage. I was trying to help my dad work on it by holding the top open while he worked on it; he did something and I got an electric shock. Not a good memory. The machine lasted until 1969. I don't recall what finally sent it to its doom, but I do recall that over the years it needed a new motor, a new timer, and a new valve of some sort (drain valve?). Also, the latch that held the filter in eventually broke, and after that, my mom just ran the machine without it. My mom has told me that they had a frog-eye Kenmore when I was born. I don't remember it, but I recall her saying once that she wished they'd kept that machine. (They gave it to my paternal grandmother, who used it well into the 1970s.) The '61 machine's replacement was a '69 Kenmore about which I remember little, other than that it had the can-of-marbles self-cleaning filter.

The dryer was the 1959 Lady with the rocker controls. It had no exterior vent; it just vented into the garage, and there was always lint blowing around. My recollection was that the controls never really worked right; my mom would put a load in, start it, and come back an hour later to find the clothes still wet because it had been running on air only. In 1965 or '66, my dad got tired of it and hacked the wiring so it just ran whenever the door was closed. My parents divorced in 1970 and my dad kept the dryer until 1973.


Post# 506827 , Reply# 46   3/25/2011 at 16:55 (4,751 days old) by jimmler (Nipomo, CA)        

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Just became a member and this is my first posting...

The first one I remember was probably a Maytag AMP. Bright red agitator with a stainless cap that pushed on a black button in the lid. That was about 1963 or so. I recall my dad having to do some work on it with the mercury switches in the lid and this huge solenoid under the tub. Somewhere in a box of goodies, I still have the mercury switches with the Maytag logo etched in the glass.

I think he eventually wired it so the lid could always stay open. I would watch the clothes agitate and spin for hours. Why is that so fascinating? Even watching the videos on this site, I feel myself getting glassy eyed.

Great thread!

-Jim


Post# 506847 , Reply# 47   3/25/2011 at 18:06 (4,751 days old) by ronhic (Canberra, Australia)        
1968 Simpson Fluid Drive

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Here's a pic of Leons that is identical to the one I grew up with.....

 

 


Post# 506848 , Reply# 48   3/25/2011 at 18:14 (4,751 days old) by ronhic (Canberra, Australia)        
BUT....

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...it was my aunts Keymatic that started me on this journey...I'd almost give my 'you know what' to have one...


Post# 506852 , Reply# 49   3/25/2011 at 18:26 (4,751 days old) by 300C (Jonesboro, GA)        
GE Filter-Flo

I rember my Mom's 1960 GE Filter-Flo with gold trim on the back panel and a lighted control dial. It had a turquoise filter pan with a black three-vaned agitator with a black cap. I remember the lid being warm and the smell of the hot sudsy water when it was washing. It made deep moaning and gurgling noises that I found soothing. When it spun, I would rest my fingernails against the ribbed filter pan column and listen to the zzzzzz zzzzz zzzzz sound that it made. My Mom found this amusing, thank god!

Post# 506855 , Reply# 50   3/25/2011 at 18:47 (4,751 days old) by akronman (Akron/Cleveland Ohio)        
Kenmore

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Mom had some early 60's Kenmore, nibs on the agitator and a measuring cup on top of that. The filter was located at about 5 o'clock position, and was a screen sleeve. I was about 8 when we moved and left it in Florida. I do not remember the cycles or anything else at all, but would be very happy to find a similar machine, 45 years or older. On my folks' budget and 7 kids to wash for, I'm sure it was bought for big size and low price, not features.

Post# 506856 , Reply# 51   3/25/2011 at 18:52 (4,751 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)        

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Larry,

 

What you described sounds like the solid tub machine I bought from Timonator, but never received:


Post# 506865 , Reply# 52   3/25/2011 at 19:27 (4,751 days old) by appnut (TX)        
Reply #32 from Gadgetgary

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That's ALMOSt the GE washer that was bought to replace the Bendix.  Like I said, it looked just like that but didn't have the Filter-Flo.  A friend of my mom's, my sisters and their kids went to the same school, had the same GE washer as ours and it was paired with a Hamilton dryer. 


Post# 506872 , Reply# 53   3/25/2011 at 20:01 (4,751 days old) by angus (Fairfield, CT.)        

For me it would have to be my aunt's Norge Timeline circa 1956. Not the top of the line, but the control panel did light up and it had the gray tub, not the white like Robert's. That was hands down my fave. A few Brooklyn neighbors had GE's of varying vintages from mid 50's to early 60's and I recall being intrigued by them as well. Of course, didn't become acquainted with Philco's until we came to CT and I saw a Miss America in a friend's basement.

Post# 506918 , Reply# 54   3/26/2011 at 07:04 (4,751 days old) by virabhadrasana (France / Italy)        
early '70s

The jumping Candy SA5 we had at home (or similar model, I'm not sure) and my grandma's shaky Indesit K5 ;))))))

Post# 506993 , Reply# 55   3/26/2011 at 13:58 (4,750 days old) by roscoe62 (Canada)        
Late 50's GE Wringer gas powered

Is my first recollection of a clothes washer, my parents bought it from my grandmother and had an electric motor put on it ,used it until it died, then she went to a Speed Queen. It said "Automatic Clothes Washer" on the panel, like the one I have seen in Aberdeen farm photos, with the one cycle and colored panel, lasted a long, long, time. I can still hear her calling to me from upstairs when the washer started the wash cycle to "Turn the water temp to cold for me.".

Post# 507076 , Reply# 56   3/26/2011 at 19:08 (4,750 days old) by HiLoVane (Columbus OH)        

The first recollection I had was with my grandmother's Blackstone 250. Until 1960, my family lived in an apartment, so we didn't have our own washer & dryer. My mom's aunts' had a '52 Bendix "Perfect Pair" (which looked like the original Duomatic); a '53 pair of Westinghouse "Laundry Twins," a '57 GE FIlter-Flo washer & matching dryer (in yellow, no less) and a '58 GE pair (in turquoise). My mom's first laundry machines were a 1960 Hotpoint "Touch Command" washer (with the "coffee can" filter; but no little flippers on the agitator vanes) and a matching dryer.

Post# 507079 , Reply# 57   3/26/2011 at 19:27 (4,750 days old) by KenmoreBD (Mass, usa )        

First vintage washer I remember seeing was gram and grampas late 1970's 70 series washer. I would love to help grandma do the wash! I think it had three knobs. One on the left was water level, 5 settings? 4 wash cycle or maybe 5. I do know that it had a hot-warm temp setting. The washer also had a large fabric softener dispencer white in color like the agitator. The tub was grey I think. I loved the woo woo sound it made. One thing I remeber is it BANGED into wash and would make me jump. It was thrown out in 2003 after the finnaly stuck timer and the water level switch would not work. They were thinking about fixing it but the older kenmore dryer a "soft heat" model with one knob for auto dryness setting blew the heating coils. I think the dryer has been seen on pod, sold as the neat nick secret weapon.

Post# 507088 , Reply# 58   3/26/2011 at 19:54 (4,750 days old) by hoover1100 (U.K.)        
One of the first machines I remember using

Was my Great-grandma's original Hoovermatic. Would have been bought when my Grandad worked on the Co-op electrical department, so probably more likely late 50s (I believe they were sold into the early 60s though).

Bearing in mind it would have been about 30 years old when I came along, it was very much a vintage machine even when I first used it.

She had it until she passed away in 1993, not sure what happened to it after that.

Matt



Post# 507119 , Reply# 59   3/26/2011 at 23:29 (4,750 days old) by sudsreturn ()        

First machine I ever started up and used? Hmmm. My mum had a Colston Concorde, but I never remember using that, but she did get a second hand auto (we all did up north in 80's Thatcher's Britain)and I can't remember the model, but it was an Indesit, 450rpm, controls and soap despenser on the top, three rocker switches. We didn't have it plumbed in, so it had to be fed from the cold water tap with them mad connectors. I used to help my mum move the heavy thing to the sink, and soon after she let me connect it up and set it going, organising the clothes according to programme. Meanwhile my nana decided she would let me have a go doing her washing once a week seeing as she was getting bad on her legs. She had a Colston Coronette, the smaller version of the Concorde, and taught me how to do washing twin tub style. It broke not long after, so she got a Hoovermatic Deluxe, like the T5090 but in black. After that I was away! I was about 12 I think, around 1991.

Post# 507186 , Reply# 60   3/27/2011 at 06:16 (4,750 days old) by 300C (Jonesboro, GA)        
To Bajespuma -- Reply #51

Yes, that is the EXACT same machine. After 8 years of use, Mom gave it to Grandma in 1968. It was still in service in 1988!

Post# 507227 , Reply# 61   3/27/2011 at 10:20 (4,749 days old) by chaskelljr2 (Washington, D. C.)        
1961 Kenmore.....

The "VERY" first washer I ever saw was a 1961 Kenmore that my Grandmother (on my late father's side). That would be the model with the fake looking buttons on the panel with the cycle-timer on the VERY right. Those fake looking buttons would actually be the cycle guides that listed the various cycles the machine had. So in fact then, it was actually a high end "one-knob" machine with a 2-Speed Motor. There's a picture of it here in the club somewhere that is in a junkyard with the lid ripped off. Someone has mistakingly labeled it a 1961 Lady Kenmore (which is something it clearly wasn't). I know I seen the matching dryer somewhere here in the club as well.

Now.... what I don't quite remember is did that model have a lighted panel or not. It may look like it did, but I am not sure about that.

The "VERY" first machine that I have started up would be our 1967 One-Speed, One-Cycle, One-Knob 24" BOL Kenmore. That would also be the "VERY" machine that I would also learn how to do the laundry on when I was a teenager. We got it in 1967 when I was the tender age of four years, and it lasted until August 1978, when we then upgraded to a 1978 Large Capacity Kenmore Model 70 with the Agitator-Mounted Fabric Softener Dispenser, with us acquiring a dryer in 1976 (a 1975 Kenmore "All-American" Dryer with Solid-State Sensor, Wrinkle-Guard and a Full-Width Door) two years before that.

--Charles--


Post# 507233 , Reply# 62   3/27/2011 at 10:46 (4,749 days old) by spinmon (st. charles mo )        
love at first sight

1956 RCA Whirlpool Imperial washer & dryer. The same set a member here has w/the purple lights & also seen on POD. VERY cool machines! I was hooked at age 3. Oh to be able to buy that washer new today.


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