Thread Number: 58638
/ Tag: Vintage Dryers
Antique Clothes Dryer |
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Post# 811988 , Reply# 1   3/2/2015 at 15:17 (3,341 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)   |   | |
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Post# 811990 , Reply# 2   3/2/2015 at 15:36 (3,341 days old) by eronie (Flushing Michigan)   |   | |
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I think it's for drying table cloths. |
Post# 812005 , Reply# 3   3/2/2015 at 16:51 (3,341 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)   |   | |
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That is kind of drying rack clothes dryer. These were made by a number of manufacturers and this was the only kind of clothes dryer available until the tumble dryer became commercially available in 1936. They could be heated with wood, coal, oil, steam, gas or electricity.
They were usually only found in upper class homes. I know that the Glensheen mansion in Duluth has one that is steam heated.
They remained popular to some extent after the 1930s as an easy way to dry flatwork such as sheets and tablecloths with fewer wrinkles than a tumble dryer. Martha Stewart has one at one of her estates expressly for drying flatwork and delicate items.
In terms of monetary value I would say little or nothing. In terms of historic value there may be a smaller history museum or historical society that would take it as part of an antique laundry collection. Depending on it's condition and how it's heated (gas or electric being the most sensible), you might even find a member here or a buyer on CL that would take it off your hands.
The company still exists and specializes in commercial flatwork laundry equipment.
Here is some information from 1920 about them:
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Post# 812048 , Reply# 5   3/2/2015 at 20:54 (3,340 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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As well as the niffy drying cabinet in basement. Now you can look Martha Stewart and the Vanderbilt Estate in North Carolina in the eye.
www.themarthablog.com/2013/12/... Have a brochure form Chicago Dryer Company showing these appliances. As for value sadly little to none I should think beyond scrap. Problem is these units were built into the home/assembled on site. That probably means you'd have to take it apart to get it out which limits resale value. The museums who most often have such units it is normally because as with the Biltmore estate they were original to the house www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/biltm... If it were me unless they are taking up too much space and or interfering with renovation plans I'd leave them where they are. When spare time is plentiful give the thing a good cleaning and testing for hopeful use. You can dry heavy blankets and other items in those things. Not to mention being able to "line" dry even when outside weather isn't that great. |
Post# 812092 , Reply# 6   3/3/2015 at 03:17 (3,340 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN)   |   | |
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Post# 812110 , Reply# 7   3/3/2015 at 06:50 (3,340 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)   |   | |
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Post# 812145 , Reply# 8   3/3/2015 at 10:54 (3,340 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)   |   | |
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"you can have the flatest tableclothes & bedsheets in your neighborhood -hands down !" IF it can still be heated. It might have been disconnected from the hydronic heating system long ago. |
Post# 812161 , Reply# 10   3/3/2015 at 13:25 (3,340 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)   |   | |
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Except the drying cabinet, not to be confused with the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, does not have a fan. They go through a whole word salad to describe the ventilation, which includes natural circulation, minimal loss of heat etc, but it's sort of a bake oven for laundry. |
Post# 812185 , Reply# 11   3/3/2015 at 18:00 (3,339 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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Best of my knowledge these drying cabinets had several forms of heating (stoves, steam, steam and gas, etc..) but none used hot water. In fact do not even think they were connected to the home's main heating supply which back in the late 1800's early 1900's could have been any of several various methods.
Things dried in these contraptions are the same as hung on a line or rack indoors. Stiff, and often lacking the sweetness you get from outdoor line drying. As with modern condenser dryers the purpose was to solve a problem; how to dry laundry independent of outdoor weather and or more quickly than anything else. Smaller versions of these drying cabinets could be had in Britain and other parts of Europe. They were nothing more than a hamper sized metal container with suspended racks and a heating element at the bottom. If the latter was exposed and or your laundry hung to low there was risk of scorching and or things going on fire. Yes, the idea was same as hanging laundry in a heated room and using a fan/other method of ventilation. That had been done for years (well without the fans until electricity came along), but caused many problems. First and mainly having to deal with wet dripping laundry hanging all over one's home or kitchen. This often created dame and moist indoor conditions. That plus often one's washing took on a whiff of whatever air was indoors. So if the laundry was hanging in the kitchen or near it would be scented with whatever cooking went on. Nothing like Kipper scented undergarments and linens. As mentioned upthread until vented tumble dryers became smaller and installed in homes, these drying cabinets were state of the art. Commercial laundries by the early 1900's could get steam heated tumble dryers, but these were large affairs not suitable for even great estate homes. Commercial laundries grew to prefer tumble dryers where possible for the reasons we do so today; things dry more softer and often smoother than simply hanging and being baked dry. With all these methods one worry was constant in the days when soaps were the main detergent for wash day. If washing was not totally rinsed free of soap the residue could and often did turn brown when exposed to heat. Normally this would occur when ironing, but using any sort of heated drying (cabinet, tumble or even too close to a fireplace/range) produced the same result. In fact laundry manuals of the period warned that things dried in these cabinets often came out with a yellow cast. |
Post# 812193 , Reply# 13   3/3/2015 at 18:45 (3,339 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)   |   | |
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I have seen pictures of European kitchen with high ceilings and a movable drying rack that was mounted over the AGA. It was lowered for loading and raised out of the way and up into the heat for drying. |
Post# 812195 , Reply# 14   3/3/2015 at 19:03 (3,339 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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Those hoists on pulleys (Laundrymaid, PulleyMaid, etc...) have been around Europe/Britain for hundreds of years in one version or another. They pretty much were standard in Victorian kitchens/sculleries. In large estates they had huge ones running up and down the length of a room.
These contraptions take advantage of the fact heat rises so the air near ceilings will be warmer. So while you get the washing out of the way again you had to live with water dripping all over the place while things dried. Imagine eating a meal under such conditions. Modern washing machines remove more water than wringers or hand wringing so there will be less of that now. Also since smoke/fumes rise with currents of air your freshly laundered items could be fouled. Several companies will ship these driers all over the world. However installation must be done properly. That is you have to really secure them into the joists or studs. If not the weight of heavy wet laundry can yank the entire thing down. www.pulleymaid.com/deluxe_clothes... |
Post# 812231 , Reply# 15   3/4/2015 at 01:59 (3,339 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN)   |   | |
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click on the link below and go forward to 17:22 to see the laundry in Biltmore...they show the dryers briefly. Pretty swanky for pre 1900.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO askolover's LINK |
Post# 812232 , Reply# 16   3/4/2015 at 02:27 (3,339 days old) by jkbff (Happy Rock, ND)   |   | |
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Post# 812249 , Reply# 17   3/4/2015 at 06:04 (3,339 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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Makes Downton Abbey look like a two up and two down in Bayswater. *LOL*
While great country houses in Britain still mainly used fire places with perhaps some central heating, Biltmore had full central heating via steam convector radiators. Biltmore's boilers also supplied full hot water for indoor plumbing at (IIRC) three temperatures; hot, very hot and near boiling. This was achieved by tempering water as it came from the boilers depending upon use. For laundry and cleaning you could get |
Post# 812272 , Reply# 19   3/4/2015 at 09:14 (3,339 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)   |   | |
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I used one of those back in '81 out in Perth at a motel on Scarborough Beach! I was flabbergasted ! Id' done my load in a Maytag and didn't even think to look for a dryer like we knew them. I had to go back to the desk and the manager showed me how this worked- IT TOOK ALL DAY !!
And then my underwear was nice and crunchy hard !! I was underwhelmed to say the least !!
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Post# 812295 , Reply# 20   3/4/2015 at 12:53 (3,339 days old) by rpms (ontario canada)   |   | |
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Would a place like Biltmore still hang laundry outside? Would it have a hidden area or were clothes lines a no no? I think it was the mini series,Edwardian House, and it should the clothes lines up on the roof and hidden by the gables.
It would be quite a hike from the basements up to the roof with wet laundry. |
Post# 812305 , Reply# 21   3/4/2015 at 14:48 (3,339 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
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"Laundress, why do you insist on saying that laundry hug up to dry will be dripping?"
Because every vintage laundry manual one owns says so in several languages. Also because owning two hand wringers and or having wrung out garments by hand. Is this good enough for you? Clothing and linens except finer things were made from much heavier cotton or linen fabric than today. As such they held much more water. Suppose you *could* wring them out by hand to something approaching nearly dry; however that not only would get old really fast with a large amount of wash to do it also is hard on fabric. There is also only so far you can tighten a wringer or mangle before possibly damaging textiles as they went through. That and or creating more work for later by making heavy creases that will take more effort to iron out. Simply test to my ranting is to wash but not spin a load of heavy laundry; wring it out by hand then hang dry indoors. |
Post# 812391 , Reply# 23   3/5/2015 at 06:56 (3,338 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)   |   | |
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20+ years ago, a friend of mine lived in an apartment building here in town that had a drying cabinet like these pictured. Concrete set tubs back to back in the center of the room and one wall lined with storage lockers for machines and supplies. None of my friends knew what the cabinet was for and once explained, were amazed that civilization survived such hardship. Everyone gained a new appreciation for the coin-op Maytags haphazardly installed in that dark and dusty room.
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Post# 813279 , Reply# 25   3/10/2015 at 16:06 (3,333 days old) by rpms (ontario canada)   |   | |
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Post# 813550 , Reply# 27   3/12/2015 at 02:59 (3,331 days old) by jkbff (Happy Rock, ND)   |   | |
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