Thread Number: 10429
Frigidaire Custom Imperial WCIR-59 AD
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Post# 190998   2/14/2007 at 12:38 (6,251 days old) by mobilemaid (Huntsville, AL)        

mobilemaid's profile picture
New member here from Lake Guntersville, AL. I wanted to share this one-page ad from a 1959 Better Homes and Gardens magazine I had saved.

Shawn





Post# 191015 , Reply# 1   2/14/2007 at 14:23 (6,251 days old) by frigidaireguy (Wiston-Salem, NC)        

I wish there was a way to make the article larger so we could read it.


Post# 191019 , Reply# 2   2/14/2007 at 14:44 (6,251 days old) by davy1063 (Pennsylvania)        

What's the difference between the WCIR-59 and the WCI-59, beings that I own a WCI-59?

Dave


Post# 191023 , Reply# 3   2/14/2007 at 14:58 (6,251 days old) by westytoploader ()        

I believe WCIR-59 means it is equipped with suds return...hence the "R" at the end.

Post# 191024 , Reply# 4   2/14/2007 at 15:01 (6,251 days old) by davy1063 (Pennsylvania)        

YEAH, I'd like to see the full-sizd ad also. Does anyone have it?

Post# 191034 , Reply# 5   2/14/2007 at 15:47 (6,251 days old) by mobilemaid (Huntsville, AL)        

mobilemaid's profile picture
I tried to post the full-size ad, but the bit size was too big. Send me an email at shawn35769@yahoo.com and I'll attach the full-size jpg and send back to you!



Post# 191048 , Reply# 6   2/14/2007 at 16:18 (6,251 days old) by sambootoo (Moody, AL)        

Hey new member from Alabama! Welcome to the club from another Alabamian.

Post# 191062 , Reply# 7   2/14/2007 at 17:05 (6,251 days old) by dadoes (TX, U.S. of A.)        
Ad Resized

dadoes's profile picture


Post# 191090 , Reply# 8   2/14/2007 at 21:23 (6,251 days old) by davy1063 (Pennsylvania)        
awesome!

so I guess mine is Snowcrest White.

Post# 191092 , Reply# 9   2/14/2007 at 21:28 (6,251 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)        
I love the byline

jetcone's profile picture
"Proved best by United States Testing Co. Inc."
If I recall correctly the US Testing Co. was in holding to General Motors!!

I LOVE THAT!



Post# 191100 , Reply# 10   2/14/2007 at 22:00 (6,251 days old) by mayken4now (Panama City, Florida)        

mayken4now's profile picture
If it were so wondeful and the best, why did it go away? The later years, Rollermatic, then the 1-18, then STOP, DONE, FINISHED, GO AWAY.?





Post# 191114 , Reply# 11   2/14/2007 at 22:18 (6,251 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        
Multi-Tragic!

gansky1's profile picture
One of the prettiest machines of the late 50's, the 1959 Frigidaire was the first to offer two speed selections for agitation and spin.


Post# 191133 , Reply# 12   2/14/2007 at 23:18 (6,251 days old) by danemodsandy (The Bramford, Apt. 7-E)        
Steve in Pensacola:

danemodsandy's profile picture
"If it were so wondeful and the best, why did it go away? The later years, Rollermatic, then the 1-18, then STOP, DONE, FINISHED, GO AWAY.?"

Steve:

I think GM was trying to raise some fast cash by selling off Frigidaire. The late '60s / early '70s weren't all roses for the company, even though auto sales were strong. There were a bunch of lawsuits over the Corvair (Ralph Nader's book, "Unsafe At Any Speed" made Corvair-based injury/wrongful death suits very winnable), there were very high development costs over front-wheel-drive (Toronado, Eldorado) and a new generation of compact and subcompact cars (Vega, Chevette, Astre). New emissions and safety regulations were increasing their costs, as well. And the marketplace was demanding more. The difference between a 1960 Chevrolet and a 1970 model was nearly unbelievable by today's standards, where the same car sometimes gets made for ten or twelve years without major change. A '60 Chevy had cheap nylon-and-vinyl seat covers, a heater was extra, and so was carpet. Ten years later, Chevys had real upholstery, like more expensive cars, and niceties like carpet and fan-forced flow-through ventilation (called "Astro Ventilation") were standard. That kind of stuff cost GM a lot of money to do, cutting into profit margins that had formerly been so high the Mafia might have envied them.

So, I think they just saw Frigidaire as a ready source of cash.


Post# 191142 , Reply# 13   2/14/2007 at 23:44 (6,251 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas)        

I still remember being crushed when we went shopping for a washer back in the 80's and specifically asked for a Frigidaire Jet Action washer, only to be told that they were no longer being made.


Post# 191155 , Reply# 14   2/15/2007 at 01:31 (6,251 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        

gansky1's profile picture
A ready source of cash, or chewing off the foot caught in the trap?



Post# 191423 , Reply# 15   2/15/2007 at 23:43 (6,250 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains)        
sale to WW

panthera's profile picture
"If it were so wondeful and the best, why did it go away? The later years, Rollermatic, then the 1-18, then STOP, DONE, FINISHED, GO AWAY.?"

I've read various stories through the years. Yeah, cash strapped makes sense to me, too. But I think it was also a bit of generational change. The newer thinking was, no need to build this stuff, we have the lines running full-time anyway. Of course, those were the managers who then did GM in over the last 30 years, so go figure.
The thumpers could not be continued by the new owner - GM kept the tooling and it would have cost a fortune to recreate. I have always assumed (don't know) there were also patent issues involved, too. White did have some good engineerig at one time, but by then they were caught up in the malaise from which none of the US white good manufacturers ever really recovered. Except for the rollermatic's fascinating little ways, these were the best and gentlest cleaners for the money ever built.
Not that I'm prejudiced or anything.


Post# 191426 , Reply# 16   2/15/2007 at 23:59 (6,250 days old) by wannapinkset ()        

I cannot even say how badly I want a pair of those. You cant see it, but theres drool running down my face in copious amounts.


*deep deep sigh* darn.


Post# 191681 , Reply# 17   2/16/2007 at 20:37 (6,249 days old) by hydralique (Los Angeles)        
GM and the bean counters . . .

Once upon a time, in particular before 1960, GM spent a lot of money on research and development and some of that obviously filtered down to Frigidaire. The '60s were pretty profitable for GM, but they started to spend less on the engineering and more on making cars bigger and with more features but not necessarily better. By 1970 their quality was slipping too in an effort to make more and more for less money. My guess is they just decided that the potential profits from Frigidaire weren't worth the trouble of competing in a crowded appliance market. Sad . . .

Post# 191838 , Reply# 18   2/17/2007 at 09:18 (6,248 days old) by mayken4now (Panama City, Florida)        

mayken4now's profile picture
All of that could be said about AMC (kelvinator)

and Ford (Philco).

Gyrafoam put it well to me one time saying: "He could go buy his GM car and she could go buy her GM appliances".

Of course this would hold true for AMC and Ford.

Steve



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