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Thread Number: 72976
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
Most common brand of vintage washing machines |
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| Post# 964079 10/23/2017 at 21:58 (2,375 days old) by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
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| Post# 964080 , Reply# 1 10/23/2017 at 22:03 (2,375 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c ) | ||
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I would say Kenmore , at least in NC. | ||
Post# 964082 , Reply# 2 10/23/2017 at 22:24 (2,375 days old) by Washerlover  (The Big Island, Hawai’i) |
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Not sure what you mean by "most common." You mean back in the day, or now? I would venture to agree with Norgeway that Kenmore probably most common then. Back in the early-mid '70s in Northern California where I was raised, my little cul-de-sac had a glorious potpourri of household machines: we had a Wards Signature machine, neighbors around us had Whirlpool, GE, Kenmore, Frigidaire. Great fun hanging out with friends taking a sneak peek into each one!
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| Post# 964089 , Reply# 3 10/23/2017 at 23:23 (2,375 days old) by johnrk (BP TX) | ||
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Growing Up In the little city where I grew up in the sixties, the middle and upper middle class people bought either GE or Frigidaire because that's what our local appliance dealers sold. The less fortunate bought Kenmore because Sears let them buy on time. | ||
| Post# 964091 , Reply# 4 10/23/2017 at 23:27 (2,375 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c ) | ||
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In my home town The rich folks bought Frigidaire and Westinghouse. | ||
| Post# 964092 , Reply# 5 10/23/2017 at 23:31 (2,375 days old) by agiflow2 () | ||
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I saw mostly Kenmores in the 70s when I was a kid. Probably followed by GE and Hotpoint. Saw several Norge and Norge made machines also. Only saw a few Whirlpools but I would say overall Kenmore was king. | ||
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Post# 964102 , Reply# 6 10/24/2017 at 04:05 (2,375 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN) |
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Post# 964111 , Reply# 8 10/24/2017 at 06:44 (2,375 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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Vintage washer brands Popularity of brands seemed to be a highly regional thing, especially up here in Canada. In rural areas, it would depend on the brand carried by the nearest appliance dealer - there were catalog stores here but it wasn't common for a rural homeowner to buy a washer or dryer from the Simpson-Sears or Eatons catalog!
Inglis (Whirlpool machines built in Canada under license) were very popular in most rural locations here in La Belle Province; in the greater Montreal area, there were lots of Viking (sold by Eatons) or Kenmore (sold by Simpsons-Sears) because there were retail stores. This held true until the mid-70s when there seemed to be a surge in the popularity of Maytag laundry machines. But there were at least some Frigidaire, GE, and Westinghouse machines out there - I've found Canadian examples of all three brands over the years....
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Post# 964113 , Reply# 9 10/24/2017 at 06:49 (2,375 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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 Whirlpool was leader in my birth-town since that was the local dealer. Western Auto / Catalina probably was second for a while. There was Easy and Philco for a brief time, only ever saw one of each. Anything else had to be bought out-of-town, or came along with move-ins. The next town west (county seat) had Westinghouse & Frigidaire & Maytag dealers (and a Sears catalog store). I knew a couple local people with Westy SpaceMates (stacked) but never saw any Westy TLs or Frigidaires. The next big town west had a large Sears store. The next town east had Sears/Kenmore (small store, later reduced to a catalog store, now long-gone), GE, Maytag, & Frigidaire. Someone there handled Kelvinator for a brief time in the 1960s. | ||
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Post# 964114 , Reply# 10 10/24/2017 at 07:14 (2,375 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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many places had in-store credit for appliances....
and back in the day, 50's and 60's....it was reputation of sales and service....you could buy a Frigidaire, but if a dealer didn't stand behind it, that brand and the dealer was shot down.... the Gas and Electric Company used to finance appliances they sponsored.... for the price of most Maytag or Speed Queen washers alone, you could get a nicely featured Washer and Dryer from Sears/Kenmore/Whirlpool or a GE FilterFlo Maytag wringers were dominate in the field of washers.....yet when the Automatics came out, it was a gamble in the beginning to see if they lived up to the 'Dependable' name..... but that was with any machine.....who had the better built mouse trap! | ||
| Post# 964124 , Reply# 11 10/24/2017 at 08:09 (2,375 days old) by agiflow2 () | ||
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What would many here say . After Maytag, who would be the most dependable long lived washers ? | ||
| Post# 964128 , Reply# 12 10/24/2017 at 08:54 (2,375 days old) by classiccaprice (Hampton, Virginia) | ||
Gordon said to me once that he had an 80s Sears Catalog touting that Kenmore had been the top selling washer for over 30 years. I'm sure Sears, being the first to offer credit had something to do with this. It seems to me if you find an pre-80s washer/dryer around here it tends to be a Kenmore or a Maytag... at least around here.
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| Post# 964130 , Reply# 14 10/24/2017 at 09:07 (2,375 days old) by lesto (Atlanta) | ||
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Next to Kenmore and GE, there were also quite a few Maytags and Frigidaires around Atlanta because the Georgia Power appliance stores sold those two brands. | ||
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Post# 964132 , Reply# 15 10/24/2017 at 09:42 (2,375 days old) by dermacie (my forever home (Glenshaw, PA)) |
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Post# 964138 , Reply# 18 10/24/2017 at 11:14 (2,374 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut) |
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I'd be very surprised if it wasn't Kenmore | ||
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Post# 964205 , Reply# 23 10/24/2017 at 23:41 (2,374 days old) by losangeles (Muscle Shoals, AL 35661) |
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In Huntsville, AL I grew up in the 60's. My neighborhood was fairly middle class but no predominate washing machine brand. There were two unimatics, one Westinghouse FL, 2 Maytags, 1 Easy TL and a Philco-Bendix combo. My mother and a neighbor had the only Kenmores. My mothers first Kenmore that I cut my automatic teeth on finally gave up the ghost when I was 9. She ordered a new Kenmore but it was going to have to be ordered and she did not want to wait. She bought a Westinghouse Combo. BIG MISTAKE. She hated everything about it. When Sears started carrying Kenmores in house, the Westinghouse hit the street. I hated to see it go. I loved watching it. And since I was short for my age, I did not have to stand on a box to watch it go thru a cycle. | ||
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Post# 964222 , Reply# 25 10/25/2017 at 06:43 (2,374 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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Well, next to the "Big K", I have seen a lot of Whirlpools in my time--might I say, if it's not just "near the top" then it was the top", along w/ GE...
Along with a few odd-balls, such as Norge's, Westinghouse's and Frigidaire's... Even Maytags were still a bit of a minority... --But that very latter, up and coming... I would bet there had to be some time there had to a "Kenmore period of lull", just for the brand to be revived--and in the laundry room, at that... The early-to-mid-'70's would come to mind, not that I see a lot of those "underdogs" in use today... Just something those many Kenmores coming back--and Maytags replaced... -- Dave | ||
| Post# 964539 , Reply# 28 10/27/2017 at 13:59 (2,371 days old) by wft2800 (Leatherhead, Surrey) | ||
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Is this a North American-only thread, or are UK/European contributions welcomed too? | ||
| Post# 964572 , Reply# 29 10/27/2017 at 17:50 (2,371 days old) by agiflow2 () | ||
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We would love to hear what brands are most popular in UK/Europe ! Fire away ! | ||
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