Thread Number: 46190
POD 4/23: 1960 Kenmore Model 80
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Post# 674896   4/23/2013 at 07:23 (3,992 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

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Three cheers for the washer/dryer pair that served our family from 1960-1984! Worried that a 1-year old Frigilux was going to electrocute himself crawling about unplugging the '57 Kenmore wringer washer in our laundry room, my Dad took the leap and purchased the Model 80 pair (w/suds-saver) in white.

While I grew to despise the machine and took it completely for granted (due to a severe case of Frigidaire envy in the 1960's-'70's), I now realize what a cool washer it was. I can still hear the clackety-clacking of the rapid-advance timer setting up the cycle; the timed bleach and fabric softener dispensers; the brightly-lit tub; the array of cycles; the infinite water level feature; the lit console; the awesome waterfall lint filter; the "preggers" Roto-Swirl agitator. It had nearly all the high-end features you could ask for in 1960.

This was the washer that triggered my interest in appliances. I spent countless hours, when I was a toddler, standing on a step-stool with the lid open, watching it operate. I would set up camp in the laundry room every wash day and my poor Mom would always hoist me up so I could press the cycle button. The suds return was even more fun, as you'd push the desired cycle button, then immediately move the lever on the console to "return".

It made all the characteristic early-60's Kenmore sounds which I can still recall with precision. Loved the sound of the solenoids kicking in for the timed dispensers, the woo-woo sound during agitation; the otherworldly sound it made when going from drain to spin; the sound of the wig-wag still doing its thing during drain/spin. It had many interesting rhythms which caught my attention as a tyke--especially the loud rapid-advance timer, which was practically a little percussion solo of its own. And then I became a musician. Coincidence...or a case of appliance-as-mentor, LOL?

Thanks for indulging my ramblings; I'm feeling uncharacteristically nostalgic, today.





This post was last edited 04/23/2013 at 11:26



Post# 674901 , Reply# 1   4/23/2013 at 08:00 (3,992 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)        
Back to the era of "Inovative Features"

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Definitely the (Insert Number) Reasons to Buy A Kenmore Washer and/or Dryer ad of its time!

There's a clue how "Sears Roebuck (Insert Catalog #)" was Number 1!



-- Dave


Post# 674903 , Reply# 2   4/23/2013 at 08:03 (3,992 days old) by alr2903 (TN)        
Sears had Everything

Frigilux I can see why you caught the appliance bug. You had a very impressive set. Any appliance kid need only see a roto-swirl to know they meant business. Todays POD also has the wattage and amps of the two Kenmore combos. IIRC the expensive one is 8400 watts. I bet that one meant business. alr

Post# 675019 , Reply# 3   4/23/2013 at 18:26 (3,992 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

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Alr2903-- It really was a fine, if noisy, laundry pair. The dryer was very loud due to the lint bag installed on top of the cabinet. You had to speak up a bit to be heard when both were running.

Dave-- Nearly everything in our house came from Sears, probably because of the easy credit terms. The names Craftsman, Silvertone, and Kenmore were in nearly every room. The dirt on my mom's grave hadn't been tamped down before I bought a KitchenAid dishwasher and a large capacity Whirlpool washer and dryer in 1984.


Post# 675069 , Reply# 4   4/23/2013 at 22:27 (3,992 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)        
Total Empathy, Frigiux

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Every one of those sights and sounds I now enjoy regularly, except the rapid advance timer, which I've never heard, alas, and so hope to hear one day, probably at the Maryland Museum when it's up and running. The dispenser clicks and solenoid sounds in slow motion on Delicate are simply celestial, orchestral.
Wonderfully evocative story, especially the image of the 1 year-old Frigilux crawling about.

It's so nice to hear someone who appreciates the sheer drama and joy of a suds-return , regardless of the politics of washing liquor re-use. They're just too much fun to be overlooked, much less disparaged. CLANG. WOO WOO WOO WOO SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH ERRRRRRRRRR. ERRRRRRRRR. YAY YAY YAY YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.

How I love it. I want one at my funeral, LOL.


Post# 675183 , Reply# 5   4/24/2013 at 12:25 (3,991 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)        
Meant to say, CELEBRATES suds-returns

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Forgot to add that how many United States away, I had your identical experience in reverse:

I grew to despise the 57 Sheer, Tower Frigidaire due to a sever case of Kenmore envy. Pretty cool, huh?

And now we'd both die to have have the once despised machine back in our laundry rooms. Ah, the contrariness of life.


Post# 675324 , Reply# 6   4/24/2013 at 20:57 (3,991 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)        
1960 Kenmore 80 Pair

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Great memories Eugene, the frist KM washer our family was a 1959 LKM that my Mons friend got rid of in 1966 and my brothers and I completely rebuilt it and we used it as our main washer for several years, I know all those sights and sounds well. [ the 59 LKM had the exact same control and timer system as your parents 1960 80 washer]. And at some point in the late 1960s I found the model 80 electric dryer that you had and we used it for awhile before I sold it and we converted to a gas dryer. The main reason for these dryers being on the noisy side was the very large fast blower, both great performing machines.


Post# 675435 , Reply# 7   4/25/2013 at 13:24 (3,990 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

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mickeyd-- I think it's hilarious that we grew up having "opposite brand envy"! The dominant dealer in the tiny town I grew up in (and returned to for a few years after college) sold Frigidaire appliances, so their washers were everywhere...except my house, LOL! And you're right: The Kenmore suds return is a joyous celebration of sound and vision.

combo52-- Back in the very early 1990s, when I lived in a warehouse apartment downtown, the appliance dealer directly across the street from me called and said, "You should come and see this washer." It was a never used 1959 Lady Kenmore, in yellow. With a suds-saver, even. He'd pulled it and the companion dryer (which definitely had been used) from a farmer's basement. The dealer was going to put it on the collection pile outside the back of his store, so I carted it across the street and put it in my laundry room. I used it for a year or so, then gave it to a young Hispanic couple I knew (with two little kids) who really needed a washer. This was long before AW.ORG came into my life. Adding insult to injury, I replaced the Lady K with a shiny new WCI (Gibson-branded) front-loader. And yes, since discovering AW, I've kicked myself at least a hundred times for letting it go. I also dragged home a mid-70's Frigidaire 1-18 that worked, and used it for a year or so before it began to leak. I wish I had even a thimble-ful of the appliance repair knowledge you possess!


Post# 675684 , Reply# 8   4/26/2013 at 17:59 (3,989 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)        
Another good side effect of your thread.

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Heretofore and long since bit by the combo bug, the only machine that has had any real appeal for me is the Whirlpool, very rare and out of reach. Yet, the POD shows clearly that the KM also has the upsurging water recirc just like the WP. I did not know about this. Suddenly, it doesn't have to be a Whirlpool. A Kenmore would do the trick, too. So now there is greater hope for achieving the dream.


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