|
Thread Number: 34872
What got you fascinated with laundry machinery in the first place? |
[Down to Last] |  |
| Post# 522356 6/3/2011 at 22:21 (4,703 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea)) | ||
What got you fascinated with laundry machinery? Everybody here obviously is. Long story or short.
At 5 I'd pull up a chair and watch the slantfront Westy, go to neighbors and watch theirs, remember Grandma's two machines--a Thor 'magic fingers' and Easy Spindrier. The Westy was an adventure. We didn't have Indiana Jones back then or much on TV either, but an unbalanced Westy galavanting across the floor was exciting. Not long before I learned to reset the top and bottom compliance springs. At 10, replaced the timer singlehandedly. But I'm getting ahead of myself. In second grade there was a laundry/cleaners on the way home from school. After I hung around a while they would let me operate their 25# Cooks. But not the Bosch extractors. Tribute to Grandma's Easy, in 1973 I got a Panasonic twintub. Wish I still had it. In 1997 I got a Frigi FL in tribute to the Westys. Would have got a Neptune but NO WINDOW NO SALE. Besides those early ones turned out dogs. The smell of detergent and the ions agitation gives off. The random motion of tumbling or swirling water. Knowing what was coming next but not how it would play out (spins). Fixing it if it crippled itself. I do like machines in general, at one point working on $1/2M broadcast video recorders. But not sure if I liked washers because they were machines, or if I liked machines because I liked washers. | ||
|
Post# 522363 , Reply# 1 6/3/2011 at 22:59 (4,703 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy  (Oak Park, MI) |
||
Sounds..., Cycles...,--Just the neat array of knobs, pushbuttons, levers & switches...!!!!!!
Are you sure these were only built for your mother (or sometimes father) to wash & dry clothes in?????? Easy to see how when these were front-loading & had windows on 'em that they could be more fun 'n' watchin' TV...!!!!!! P.S. The boxes the new ones came in were the most fun!!!!!! -- Dave | ||
| Post# 522367 , Reply# 2 6/3/2011 at 23:07 (4,703 days old) by StrongEnough78 (California) | ||
For me it was the whole washing process. Watching the agitator swish back and forth. Trying to watch the spin cycle and hearing the machine grind and clunk into the spin cycle. My Mom had a 1976 Whirlpool in Avocado Green and my Grandmother a 1971 Lady Kenmore in white. I learned how to do laundry at an early age, just so I could be the one to control the machines lol. And it just progressed from there.
| ||
| Post# 522377 , Reply# 4 6/4/2011 at 00:06 (4,703 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea)) | ||
|
Yes, THE SOUNDS! The clicks, clacks and clunks!
The Thor was bidirectional. No idea how they accomplished it, but when it reversed it went BANG like a Whirlpool BD snapping into agitate but louder. I christened it the "bang washer". I was about 5yo. Grandma wouldn't let me help with that, only watch. Just as well I wasn't tall enough to reach the wringer. But I was the clutch operator on the Easy. | ||
| Post# 522382 , Reply# 6 6/4/2011 at 00:51 (4,703 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea)) | ||
|
Remember when department store washing machines had clear plastic replicas of washers running full of poker chips? Both mom and dad left me in the washer department while they went about their retail business. That was back in the day you could leave kids on their own and nothing bad would happen.
Know who designed most of those see-through demo washers? Robert Kinoshita. Who also designed Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet and B-9 from Lost in Space. FP is my favorite movie of all time and LIS is in my top 10 series. | ||
| Post# 522409 , Reply# 8 6/4/2011 at 06:52 (4,703 days old) by xraytech (Rural southwest Pennsylvania ) | ||
 | ||
| Post# 522446 , Reply# 9 6/4/2011 at 13:49 (4,703 days old) by aquarius8000 () | ||
|
my story Was that I liked things that went round.(rotated) And when my brother came home from being born he gave me what is my casdon hotpoint wich got me stuck in. There you have it, Chris. | ||
| Post# 522461 , Reply# 10 6/4/2011 at 15:17 (4,702 days old) by beekeyknee (Columbia, MO) | ||
Maytag Wringer and Philco Automagic
Doing the laundry with my Grandmother and her Maytag Wringer Washer. I was intrigued by the process; filling the tub with a hose, pushing in the big red knob to start the agitation, digging out the clothes with a stick when it was time to put them through the wringer, watching them come out on the other side and fall into the big galvanized tub of rinse water, trying to figure out how that flip thing under the wringer knew which way to flip so the water would run back in the right tub, flipping the lever so the wringer would swing and lock in the right position and finally watching the clothes come from the final rinse, go through the wringer and drop into the clothes basket on the floor before going to the line.
Seems so primitive now, but I learned a lot about the proper way to do laundry from that experience. Secondly, watching my Mom's Philco Automagic and wondering how the clothes moved. | ||
| Post# 522464 , Reply# 11 6/4/2011 at 15:37 (4,702 days old) by retromania (Anderson, South Carolina) | ||
|
I was facinated with the way our Frigidaire went up and down and had the colored rings on the agitator. Pretty neat. I would sneak down to the laundry room and turn dial and hold the button down while it bobbed up and down. Probably not too good for the machine perhaps, but great fun for me. I've been facinated with washers ever since! | ||
| Post# 522470 , Reply# 13 6/4/2011 at 16:07 (4,702 days old) by retromania (Anderson, South Carolina) | ||
|
That was a great way to keep you entertained! When I went to visit aunt, she had a pink Sunbeam steam iron with a pink fabric cord. I LOVED that iron. I would iron and of course do spray mist on anything in sighted that could be ironed. | ||
|
Post# 522524 , Reply# 14 6/4/2011 at 20:39 (4,702 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut) |
||
Dr. Freud... When I was born, my family occupied an apartment in a building that didn't have a laundromat in the basement, so a lot of families had "illegal" portable washing machines with casters on them in the kitchens. The kitchens had large double basin sinks; the big sink was meant for hand washing laundry but many people took advantage of this second sink by hooking the rubber drain hose over the edge of it and connecting the faucet to a washing machine with a dishwasher connector. There was a porcelain enameled metal drain board specifically designed for that sink that had a corner that was beveled to allow a drain hose to be put through it. And yet both washers and dishwashers were NOT allowed in these apartments. Local appliance sellers were very savvy and cooperative here because there were hundreds of potential customers in each building (and there were twenty buildings in the complex) so they would sell people like my parents a new small washing machine (ours was a 24" wide Whirlpool "Deluxe" that, I'm told, was purchased from the old Mays department store on 14th Street) and send it over to the apartments disguised in a TV or a Phonograph/Radio console crate. Remember that back in the '50's those were large items. If any of the building officials happened to schedule a visit, the washing machines would be rolled into a bedroom closet and that was that.
Up until the time I was three or so, I was bathed in that same large sink and I actually remember it as a pleasant experience. Lots of hot water and soap and the happy hum of lots of people coming and going in the kitchen. At some point, Mae, my surrogate Mom, would park me on the drain-board of the sink and I would watch the washing machine going through all of its motions. There was, of course, no lid safety switch back then to spoil my fun and I remember watching the famous neutral drain do its thing. I was fascinated by the layer of white suds that would sink down and wrap around the shiny black vanes of the agitator and wet clothes. I remember clearly waiting with great anticipation for the machine to go into its spin (which I called the"Ca-ca-ca" because of the noise the machine would make as it wound up to speed). I remember that machine fairly well; it had a gray-blue plastic cycle dial and I believe that was it; a real BOL. It didn't have a spray rinse, but that may be because it wasn't connected to separate cold and hot water valves, only the sink faucet connector. I used to run into the kitchen when I heard the thing drain so I could watch the spin happen. I remember Fab detergent being the house soap; I remember no bleach or fabric softener at all. I think because the machine and I shared the same auxiliary sink for our business a relationship grew.
I was crushed the day we moved into our first house and discovered that the Whirlpool was not going to join us in our new digs. My Mother had kindly given the machine to one of her fashion models who was moving into her first apartment. Although I didn't know it at the time, ahead of me was our very first Filter-flo and our very first matching clothes dryer. When I saw them I thought my parents had bought two washing machines. Hadn't seen a matching dryer before. I've had a good life. 
| ||
| Post# 522748 , Reply# 17 6/5/2011 at 20:32 (4,701 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea)) | ||
|
| ||
| Post# 522911 , Reply# 18 6/6/2011 at 15:29 (4,700 days old) by franksdad (Greenville, South Carolina) | ||
 From an early age I have been fascinated by watching the clothes go back and forth in the washer. Watching the washer wash a load of clothes, especially towels, was something "magical" for me. I could watch all day. Helping my aunt with her wringer washer was just the most fun! I begged my Mama to trade her Lady Kenmore in and get a wringer washer! Mama thought I was insane! I loved doing laundry and by age 9 I was doing the whole family's laundry and you better believe NOBODY did a better job than me! I loved going to the big Sears store in Greenville and going thru the appliance department and watching the washers on display wash. Whenever we would go to someone's house I always slipped away and found the washing machine and studied on how it would work. The detergent aisle is my favorite aisle in the grocery store. I love the brightly colored boxes, bottles, and smells. I don't know, I guess it's in my blood. I love washing machines and watching them work! That's just me. | ||
| Post# 522984 , Reply# 19 6/6/2011 at 20:35 (4,700 days old) by redcarpetdrew (Fairfield, CA) | ||
It took G.E.'s to create a Maytagman...
My grandmother had a set of GE Americans Dispense All's in the old house in Laguna Beach, CA. I was entranced with how the water flowed thru all the little compartments in the lid. I also loved the 'Clack-Clack' it made when the spin cycle ended. I found that for some reason, when I'd visit as a kid, I'd sleep better with the console lights on both the washer and dryer shining thru the doorway... To this day, it has been my dream to find a set of Dispense Alls for my collection. Seems to me it would be coming full circle.
RCD | ||
| Post# 523141 , Reply# 22 6/7/2011 at 13:23 (4,700 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea)) | ||
|
That little fist size gizmo made everything else happen. A few might wonder how a 10yo manages to change a timer without so much as a suggestion how to go about it. Mechanically, nothing to it. Right under the lid, nothing in the way, 2 screws holding it in. Electrically, well I figured all the wires were in the right places on the old one, only a matter of moving them to the new one at a time eh?
Then I had a used timer with one bad contact to play with! Now, how to make it do what I wanted, with no idea what the connections were for? Take the covers off and see what contact corresponded to what part of the cycle. Can't do that with a microprocessor LOL. Not sure you can do it with a modern clockwork timer either, that was the only one I ever had to replace. But I scavenged 3 more from the scrap bin behind the appliance store. 2, the motor didn't work but one was like the one I had, one bad contact. What to make them do? Hookem to motors, lights, solenoids, even hooked em to each other. All with open 120V wiring scattered on my bedroom floor, wonder I never shocked myself or set fire to the house. | ||
|
Post# 523261 , Reply# 24 6/8/2011 at 02:54 (4,699 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
||
 | ||
| Post# 523267 , Reply# 25 6/8/2011 at 04:44 (4,699 days old) by retromania (Anderson, South Carolina) | ||
|
DADoES .... Your profile photo above. Is that the washer that someone in the blog commented about where the water dispenses from the lid? Until then I had never heard of one the the water came out of the lid. Correct me if I'm wrong. | ||
| Post# 523343 , Reply# 27 6/8/2011 at 12:07 (4,699 days old) by twintubdexter (Palm Springs) | ||
I know some of you have heard me brag before...
...about my "Appliance Disneyland" I enjoyed as a kid. Working at Western Appliance in San Jose (I started at 13) cleaning used appliances for resale was no picnic (think 3 bottles of caustic Easy Off and a filthy grease-laden chrome-top Wedgewood range) but a real paycheck for after school/Saturday hours sure beat having a paper route. But the real perk was the ocean of trade-ins in the parking lot, tons of washers & dryers from the late 40's to the early 60's...all the best stuff. Western was a busy store so even after the scrap guy came and cleaned the lot out (except for the "chosen few" that made it to the resale floor) there would be more trade-ins the next day and the day after that.
I discovered a 120V receptacle hidden at the bottom of a light pole next to the washers and dryers. I'd plug a long industrial extension cord in and have a field day playing around with anything that wasn't 220. I got plenty of shocks standing on wet asphalt and grabbing a hold of a chrome timer knob. Even without water those machines were very cool. Saturday the repair shop was closed which allowed me to bring in washers for "testing." There was a long trough and places to connect 6 machines at once...there was a 220 plug there too for combos. I always kept a "dummy" appliance nearby like a refrigerator to make it look like I was working just in case a salesperson wandered into the service department but they were a pretty dumb bunch. There was a time or two when they'd question why a Bendix combo or Apex Wash-a-Matic was running but I never worried. My dad was the service manager and my parents were good friends of the store's owners. I really had great fun with those appliances which is why I continued to work there through high school. I would rebuild some machines like Whirlpools, Maytags and Unimatics but I'd still sneak out to the parking lot with my trusty extension cord and see whatI could bring back to life like Dr. Frankenstein. It's very sad to think about all those machines being thrown on the scrap truck. There'd always be that washer that came in, it looked brand new regardless of age, the owner's book and any accessories would be sealed in a bag inside the tub...like the lady who owned it was passing it on like a family heirloom...and there it would be on that scrap truck, the porcelain top all smashed and chipped from the 2 or 3 machines that were stacked on top of it...really sad. 
| ||
|
Post# 523346 , Reply# 28 6/8/2011 at 12:34 (4,699 days old) by lovestowash (St. Petersburg, FL) |
||
round and round, up and down... My obsession began with my Grandmother's Unimatic...she had a red Cosco stool that I would climb up and watch her WO-65...I distinctly remember the aroma from the hot water, mixed with the Wisk in the metal can, and Clorox...
In the meantime, at our house, we had an RCA Victor Mahogany phonograph, the kind that played only 45's...I used to sit and watch all the records go around, from the front, sides, and back, for hours on end...and it's amazing now when I hear music from the 50's, on 9 songs out of 10, I know all the words...and I still have about 500 45's...
Then Grandmother got a slant-front Westy, and thus began my interest in front loaders...I still can sit and watch my current Westy through the entire cycle...so much more splashy and fun than the current wet-slap models...
And on the rare occasions when I go to the Laundromat, I make sure I get a machine that I can sit or stand in front of with an unobstructed view...
George | ||
|
Post# 523362 , Reply# 30 6/8/2011 at 13:55 (4,699 days old) by revvinkevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land) |
||
 Retromania: I'm sure DADoES will correct me if I’m wrong, but to me it looks like the dispensers inside the lid of a Maytag Neptune TL washer, and yes it fills through the lid. I was going to say the GE Dispense All fills thru the lid, but it doesn’t. It just flushes recirculation water thru the lid after it’s washing or rinsing. = = = = = = = = = = What got me fascinated with laundry machinery… I don’t know that there is a single moment that I can pin point. I have just always been fascinated with anything mechanical, but for some reason I was always drawn to washing machines, just like a moth to a porch light. As far back as I can remember, whenever my family would go visit anyone, I would always seek out the laundry room and the washing machine. A few short stories…. (The following occurred when I was between the ages of 5 or 6 thru 9 or so.) I remember visiting a woman’s home when and finding a Philco or Bendix combo in the laundry room (of course I had no idea what it was at the time). I can’t remember if it was already running or if the woman started it for me, but I did hear / see it humming along. I think it was drying now that I think about it. During a visit to another home I discovered a green Hoover twin tub in their garage. I thought it was so cute that I wanted to take it home! However I was stopped by my mother after I wheeled it down the driveway in and attempted to load it in our car. I don’t remember exactly how it was acquired, but I ended up with a (1950’s?) gas dryer sitting outside in my back yard (we didn’t have a clothes dryer until many, many, many years later). I now know it was gas because I was able to plug it into an extension cord and make it work. Anyway… I remember climbing inside it and me telling my brother to turn it on. I think I only did 2 or 3 revolutions before I told him to turn it off. Another time, OK a few times, I tried to turn it into a front load washer. I added clothes and stuck in the garden hose in an attempt to fill it with water. Of course it never held any water, but all the clothes got wet and it sounded like one of the newest FL washers (almost no water), IF you had the door open. Also, at some point within this time, after asking to have one, then begging and begging and begging… my parents bought me a Suzy Homemaker battery powered washer for Christmas. I can’t even begin to tell you how many sets of “D” batteries I went through…. LOL I played with it and played with it and played with it until the “transmission” finally broke. I almost forgot to add… Every time we would go to my grand parent’s house, I would go to the “back porch” to see if my grandmother was doing laundry. If so, I would always sit and watch her early 50’s Westinghouse slant front washer do it’s thing. She would ALWAYS chase me out of there… but I usually found my way back…. that is until she would get really angry and bring out the “switch” and swat me with it! I fondly remember the smell of the hot water and either Dash or ALL detergent! Then about 2.5 – 3 years ago after my relationship ended, a free washer presented itself and that was the beginning of my…. now extensive collection! Kevin This post was last edited 06/08/2011 at 14:32 | ||
| Post# 523481 , Reply# 31 6/9/2011 at 01:35 (4,698 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada) | ||
My neighbor used to have a green/white Suzy Homemaker washer which I really liked when I was a kid! I wanted one like it (there was a store in my town that old plenty of new in box vintage toys, electronics and sports equipment and they still had these new in boxes in the late seventies/early eighties! Instead, my parents got me (from the same store) an even older, crank operated toy washer with an orange plastic tub.
The first thing I thought when I got my green/white Frigidaire GMini washer was that it looked very similar to my neighbor's Suzy Homemaker washer! Even the Agitub looked very similar (but I think her's was dark colored instead of white!). I'm wondering if GM copied these toy washers with it's Agitub models! 
| ||
| Post# 523483 , Reply# 32 6/9/2011 at 01:58 (4,698 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada) | ||
|
I just looked at pics and a video of Suzy Homemaker washers and they look even more similar to my GMini washer than what I remembered!
Kevin, that's yours? CLICK HERE TO GO TO PhilR's LINK | ||
|
Post# 523505 , Reply# 34 6/9/2011 at 08:21 (4,698 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land) |
||
|
Suzy Homemaker washer | ||
| Post# 523556 , Reply# 35 6/9/2011 at 13:38 (4,698 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea)) | ||
|
My Mom's 1959 1 cycle Hotpoint washing machine and Aspergers!
============================================================ OMG! I never thought of that. I have Asperger's and ADHD (less) too. I think Aspy gave me my knack for machinery to a good extent. And of course made machines much more fathomable than people. Both misbehave now and then but with machines there is always a good reason. | ||
|
Post# 523956 , Reply# 37 6/11/2011 at 16:09 (4,695 days old) by rinso (Meridian Idaho) |
||
|
I was always fascinated watching my mom doing our laundry in her Maytag wringer washer. This started in the early 1950's. Then my aunt and uncle purchased a Frigidaire Unimatic in 1952, and nothing in my world would ever be the same. | ||
| Post# 527098 , Reply# 39 6/26/2011 at 21:01 (4,680 days old) by Spankomatic (Ukiah,CA) | ||
Evolution of laundry machine facination When I was two I can remember sitting on top of the washing machine watching the agitator and the water flowing out of the filter on our Whirlpool-RCA washer. I also remember liking the knobs on the machine. In 1966 we got our GE filter flow with matching dryer. I was in heaven. I liked the lighted consol,the switches and buttons, the filter pan, of course the filter flo, the lid design. In 1975 the filter flo started getting green transmission fluid all over the clothes. The new Maytag arrived in May. I loved the sound of the Maytag. Such a nice quiet hum to it. I liked to watch the clothes wash in it and compare it to the GE filter flo. I liked the lint filters on both machines. The GE seemed to look more modern, contemporary. The Maytag looked more solid, better quality to me. How the machines mechanically worked was just a general interest, not a facination. | ||
| Post# 527348 , Reply# 40 6/28/2011 at 12:49 (4,679 days old) by retromania (Anderson, South Carolina) | ||
|
I know.... When our Frigidaire washer couldn't be repaired anymore we bought a GE Filter-Flo. I don't think I seen a washer since that had a filtration system quite that easy and good. I also liked the way we woul sprinkle our wash powder in the tray. That GE was a workhorse! | ||
| Post# 527592 , Reply# 41 6/29/2011 at 11:13 (4,678 days old) by Blackstone (Springfield, Massachusetts) | ||
My parents had a TV & appliance store, and we lived behind the store. It was just an extension of our house. So, for as long as I can remember, I have been involved with washing machines, even going on service calls at the age of 4 with my father. It was not unusual to go into the store, and to see a Blackstone transmission on the workbench. I'm still amazed at the engineering that went into developing them.
Even though there were times when you would rather not be laying on someone's damp, dirty cellar floor, you would still have the satisfaction of keeping a washer going. When you have to go to a customer's house, you realize that there are all kinds of people in the world, and you are able to interact with all of them. | ||
|
Post# 1083119 , Reply# 44 7/30/2020 at 16:46 (1,358 days old) by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA) |
||
|
laundry and dishwashing I'm still interested in doing laundry and washing dishes in the dishwasher. I love the sounds of the different pumps, wash actions, types of blowers in dryers and more. I'd love to see what the direct drive whirlpool looks like on the insides where the good stuff is. | ||
| Forum Index: |
| Other Forums: |
|
|
|
|
|
Comes to the Rescue!
;){kind=link}
;){kind=link}