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Betty Furness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Betty Furness
Elizabeth Mary Furness, better known as Betty Furness (born January 3, 1916; died April 2, 1994) was an American actress, consumer advocate and current affairs commentator.
Born in New York, New York, Furness began her professional career as a model before being signed to a film contract by RKO Studios. Her first film role was as the "Thirteenth Woman" in the 1932 film Thirteen Women but her scenes were deleted before the film's release. Over the next few years she appeared in several RKO films, and became a popular actress. Among her film successes were Magnificent Obsession (1935) and the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film Swing Time (1936). By the end of the decade she had appeared in over forty films, but during the 1940s found it difficult to secure acting roles.
In 1948 she was performing in the television series Studio One which was broadcast live. She filled in for an actor to promote Westinghouse products during the advertisement break, and impressed the company with her easy and professional manner. They offered her a contract to promote their products and she subsequently became closely associated with them. One of television's most recognizable (and occasionally parodied) series of commercials had Furness opening wide a refrigerator door, intoning, "You can be sure... if it's Westinghouse." (Ironically, Furness may be best known today for a commercial in which she did not appear: during a live spot for Westinghouse, a refrigerator door failed to open, creating one of the most infamous bloopers in TV history. This actually did not happen to Furness, as has often been claimed, but to another actress who was subbing for her.)
She was a regular panelist on What's My Line? in 1951, and that fall appeared in a series of live mysteries on ABC, under the weighty title Your Kaiser Dealer Presents Kaiser-Frazer "Adventures In Mystery" Starring Betty Furness In "Byline". In 1953 she appeared in her own television series Meet Betty Furness which was sponsored by Westinghouse and she remained a spokesperson for the company until 1960. She then attempted to move into a less commercialized role in television but found herself too closely associated with advertising to be taken seriously. During this time she worked on radio, and also on behalf of the Democratic Party.
In 1967 President Lyndon Baines Johnson, aware of her work for the Democrats contacted Furness and offered her a position as Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs. She accepted the assignment and continued in this role until the end of the Johnson administration in 1969. During her tenure she silenced her critics by applying herself studiously to her role and learning the issues relating to consumer rights. She headed the Consumer Affairs Departments of both New York City, and New York State from the late 1960s before returning to television.
Signed by WNBC in New York, Furness reported on consumer issues, and specifically targeted examples of consumer fraud. In 1976 she began an association with The Today Show filling in as anchor, and providing regular reports. In 1977 her program Buyline: Betty Furness won the Peabody Award.
In 1990 she was diagnosed with cancer. She continued working for The Today Show until she was released from her contract in 1992. Her dismissal was widely publicised and controversial and was viewed by many of Furness' supporters as ageism.
She had always expressed throughout her life that her philosophy was to never turn down a job, and she stated that it was this attitude that had allowed her to progress through such an unconventional series of professions. During her illness she stated that she wanted nothing more than to be able to work, but her health continued to deteriorate until her death in New York from stomach cancer.
Betty Furness has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution Motion Pictures, and to Television.
[edit]External links

Betty Furness at the Internet Movie Database
Categories: 1916 births | 1994 deaths | People from New York | People from Manhattan | American actors | American television personalities | Television journalists | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Consumer rights activists | New York television reporters | New York television anchors
Article

JUST LEARNING FRONT LOADING: WHAT IS A FLUsh DRAIN--if I've got it right; can't see the posts cause I'm in the Update&Preview mode. Sweet info on your generous post. You get what you give. : -D


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Post# 216881 6/19/2007 at 03:48 (6,156 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes See Agi-Tumble action live! See gleaming chrome! Learn why YOU need a Westinghouse Today! Jet CLICK HERE TO GO TO jetcone's LINK

Post# 216886 , Reply# 1 6/19/2007 at 06:01 (6,155 days old) by christfr (st louis mo)
Checkrate/Likes ahh what a fun morning vid.. thanks

Post# 216895 , Reply# 2 6/19/2007 at 07:08 (6,155 days old) by westyslantfront ()
Checkrate/Likes Hi Jon. Thank you for the commercial. It was fun. Ross

Post# 216896 , Reply# 3 6/19/2007 at 07:21 (6,155 days old) by mayken4now (Panama City, Florida)
Checkrate/Likes Yes, what fun is that. Good way to start a day with a vintage Westinghouse commercial. Steve

Post# 216900 , Reply# 4 6/19/2007 at 08:21 (6,155 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes I never noticed the tub tipping back to drain in real live Laundromat washers.

Post# 216903 , Reply# 5 6/19/2007 at 08:26 (6,155 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)
Checkrate/Likes *tipping tub* Neither have I, the tub does drop a bit when full of water, but when the water is pumped out, the tub returns to normal 28 degree angled position.

Post# 216906 , Reply# 6 6/19/2007 at 08:29 (6,155 days old) by unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes I thought the same thing, the water weight makes the entire assembly drop SLIGHTLY, but nothing like the video shows. I saw this commercial years ago and have been looking for it for a while. I'll capture it and add it to our permenant library.

Post# 216908 , Reply# 7 6/19/2007 at 08:32 (6,155 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)
Checkrate/Likes Westinghouse advertising frequently tried to lead prospective buyers to think it wasn't really a front-loader - Agi-Tumble; Revolving agitator, and this tub that moves back almost to a vertical position -- Just like a Maytag!

Post# 216911 , Reply# 8 6/19/2007 at 09:10 (6,155 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes *I saw the patent on this tilting tub* Westinghouse patented the tilting tub but the patent stated the reverse!It said the tub was to tilt downwards to cause all the wash to fall into the wash liquor. And on drain the tub was to tilt back to throw the clothes against the distributor dome at the back so they would end up in a circle around the dome before spin broke out! This would cause a nice balanced spin and as they spun they were to slide up the tub to the door for easy removal at the end of the cycle. But Betty mentions none of this in the commercial!

Post# 216967 , Reply# 9 6/19/2007 at 16:34 (6,155 days old) by danemodsandy (The Bramford, Apt. 7-E)
Checkrate/Likes *She Turned On Them, You Know...* Betty Furness got wise to Westinghouse later on, eventually testifying before Congress about fraudulent advertising practises in the consumer-goods industries. One point she made was that she had been unwittingly put in the position of misleading consumers; Westinghouse had never told her about the sharply increased power consumption of the futuristic frost-free refrigerators she'd been asked to pitch. They hadn't told consumers, either. I really miss her- Consumer Reports is a ghost of what it was under her leadership. For someone who began as a minor movie actress and then a TV pitchperson, she certainly became a powerhouse consumer advocate.

Post# 216981 , Reply# 10 6/19/2007 at 19:22 (6,155 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)
Checkrate/Likes *Hi Jon!-- nice show--Thank You* Does the machine really tllt back for draining. Seems to be a friendly dispute. Never heard of that before. What do you see in your Boston Westies? Hi Al, what's shaking?

Post# 216983 , Reply# 11 6/19/2007 at 19:35 (6,155 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes *Hi Mikey* No I cannot see any tilting unless I do a BoBLoad. It never tilts back beyond the empty position which that AD seems to point out. So even with a BObload it only tilts to upright position after drain. An interesting point I found out, in 1939 Westinghouse paid Bendix $125,000 dollars ($1.7 million dollars today!) for the use of the Flush Drain Patent it had!! So Bendix had most of the best front load technology all locked up by 1940! The tub in that machine has something like 13-20 different patents on it as Westinghouse was trying to protect itself from the powerhouse of Bendix at that time. They were the only two major front load players through the late 30's 40's and 50's. Westinghouse survived the 50's, Bendix did not as we all know. Alittle tidbit of history.

Post# 217104 , Reply# 15 6/20/2007 at 08:49 (6,154 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes *Tom the best way* to see this in action is with a load of white socks only. You will see the dome distribute the socks along the grove between the base of the dome and the tub wall. That was what W was trying to achive. The problem as we have all seen is that any article larger than a sock or undies will not be distributed by the dome and will fall willy nilly where it wants to. A slant front unbalanced is one of the nastiest washers out there! My L-8 literally flipped its lid, the whole top of the machine was flung off down to the floor! TALK ABOUT WASHER DRAMA! Mikey; Assured Rinse or Flush Drian is where the washer is drianing with the pump activated while the water valve is on and the clothes tumble in a stream of fresh water to rinse them off. TOM: I was doing aload last nite in the '56 Bendix when it hit me: Why did they never make a "spin-spray" in a front loader? I have never seen that have you?? Has anyone? Jon & AL

Post# 216984 , Reply# 12 6/19/2007 at 19:36 (6,155 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes *Sandy* I did not know Betty Furness headed up CR! Tell us more, I always thought she was a grade B actress making a living selling appliances. What did she do after the big W?

Post# 216994 , Reply# 13 6/19/2007 at 20:52 (6,155 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)
Checkrate/Likes *Here ya go, Buddy Boy* Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running! Betty Furness From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Betty Furness Elizabeth Mary Furness, better known as Betty Furness (born January 3, 1916; died April 2, 1994) was an American actress, consumer advocate and current affairs commentator. Born in New York, New York, Furness began her professional career as a model before being signed to a film contract by RKO Studios. Her first film role was as the "Thirteenth Woman" in the 1932 film Thirteen Women but her scenes were deleted before the film's release. Over the next few years she appeared in several RKO films, and became a popular actress. Among her film successes were Magnificent Obsession (1935) and the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film Swing Time (1936). By the end of the decade she had appeared in over forty films, but during the 1940s found it difficult to secure acting roles. In 1948 she was performing in the television series Studio One which was broadcast live. She filled in for an actor to promote Westinghouse products during the advertisement break, and impressed the company with her easy and professional manner. They offered her a contract to promote their products and she subsequently became closely associated with them. One of television's most recognizable (and occasionally parodied) series of commercials had Furness opening wide a refrigerator door, intoning, "You can be sure... if it's Westinghouse." (Ironically, Furness may be best known today for a commercial in which she did not appear: during a live spot for Westinghouse, a refrigerator door failed to open, creating one of the most infamous bloopers in TV history. This actually did not happen to Furness, as has often been claimed, but to another actress who was subbing for her.) She was a regular panelist on What's My Line? in 1951, and that fall appeared in a series of live mysteries on ABC, under the weighty title Your Kaiser Dealer Presents Kaiser-Frazer "Adventures In Mystery" Starring Betty Furness In "Byline". In 1953 she appeared in her own television series Meet Betty Furness which was sponsored by Westinghouse and she remained a spokesperson for the company until 1960. She then attempted to move into a less commercialized role in television but found herself too closely associated with advertising to be taken seriously. During this time she worked on radio, and also on behalf of the Democratic Party. In 1967 President Lyndon Baines Johnson, aware of her work for the Democrats contacted Furness and offered her a position as Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs. She accepted the assignment and continued in this role until the end of the Johnson administration in 1969. During her tenure she silenced her critics by applying herself studiously to her role and learning the issues relating to consumer rights. She headed the Consumer Affairs Departments of both New York City, and New York State from the late 1960s before returning to television. Signed by WNBC in New York, Furness reported on consumer issues, and specifically targeted examples of consumer fraud. In 1976 she began an association with The Today Show filling in as anchor, and providing regular reports. In 1977 her program Buyline: Betty Furness won the Peabody Award. In 1990 she was diagnosed with cancer. She continued working for The Today Show until she was released from her contract in 1992. Her dismissal was widely publicised and controversial and was viewed by many of Furness' supporters as ageism. She had always expressed throughout her life that her philosophy was to never turn down a job, and she stated that it was this attitude that had allowed her to progress through such an unconventional series of professions. During her illness she stated that she wanted nothing more than to be able to work, but her health continued to deteriorate until her death in New York from stomach cancer. Betty Furness has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution Motion Pictures, and to Television. [edit]External links Betty Furness at the Internet Movie Database Categories: 1916 births \| 1994 deaths \| People from New York \| People from Manhattan \| American actors \| American television personalities \| Television journalists \| Hollywood Walk of Fame \| Consumer rights activists \| New York television reporters \| New York television anchors Article JUST LEARNING FRONT LOADING: WHAT IS A FLUsh DRAIN--if I've got it right; can't see the posts cause I'm in the Update&Preview mode. Sweet info on your generous post. You get what you give. : -D

Post# 217090 , Reply# 14 6/20/2007 at 08:17 (6,154 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes Frankly, I would think that it would be harder to distribute the load with the tub slanted back than if it stayed in the wash position where the items are actually falling and might be more likely to be distributed more evenly around the tub when it snapped into spin, but I never saw the patented process and I realize that items in the tub did less falling and more sort of crawling over the dome. Moving the sump in the outer tub from the bottom to a position less vertically plumb makes me wonder if it might be less effective for carrying off the water spun out of the load. Given the shape of the cabinet, it would also seem that there would be less room to accommodate movement of the tub from less than well balanced loads during spin. Wouldn't tipping the whole assembly backward create terrible weight shifts for stability during spin with the motor no longer straight down but sticking out to the front during spin? Has anyone ever seen even a reference to a Laundromat door boot that seemed extra long or that had more material at the top to allow the tub to tilt back? Both Bendix and Wesinghouse went through revisions in their rinse sequences. If Westinghouse had gone from wash drain into the spray rinse or as Bendix called it "Assured Rinse" and then into a deep rinse like the Kenmore Dual Tumble does, they possibly could have followed each of their deep rinses with a spin, something they could not do by sticking so closely to the Bendix sequence.

Post# 217126 , Reply# 16 6/20/2007 at 10:27 (6,154 days old) by fa_f3_20 ()
Checkrate/Likes *Spin spray in a FL?* You're just talking about a spray rinse? I've seen it. Now, I don't associate with FL's much (might ruin my reputation :-), but I recall seeing this an a laundromat FL at a place where I used to do my wash in college, early '80s. I'm pretty sure they were White Westinghouse machines. The filler was a short copper pipe that came through the boot and stuck out a little ways into the machine at the front, right behind the door, at the upper left of the opening. It had a carved notch in the side of the pipe, sort of like the mouth of a flute, that sprayed the clothes.

Post# 217128 , Reply# 17 6/20/2007 at 10:38 (6,154 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes *No I'm talking about the spray in the Spin cycle* at high speed like in a Kenmore Top Loader. I have never seen that in a front loader. A spray wash'n'drain is common but never with the tub in spin.

Post# 217144 , Reply# 18 6/20/2007 at 12:34 (6,154 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes *no spin spray in a FL* too much danger of a suds lock for one thing. Then there's fear that the weight of additional water in the load would unbalance the spinning tub. Remember how most loads cause the tub to give a couple of lurches or swings when spin starts because of the sopping wet items that are not exactly balanced, but once the speed picks up and they have shed some water, the vibrations of the tub settle a bit? Finally, have you ever washed heavy items that held a lot of water? When the washer starts to spin, and again it's not perfectly balanced, a lot of water is spun into the space between the inner and outer tubs, but in a Westinghouse, with the baffle plate over the sump, maybe more so than in a Bendix with the strainer in the open sump, the water seems to have some difficulty getting pumped out with the tub shaking up and down and all of the aeration of the water lowering the pump's efficiency. There are just too many ways to screw up the stability of a front loader washer during spin to think about doing anything that might make the spin end in disaster. Plus, the original Bendix machines did not fill directly into the tub. Like the first WH Space Mates, the water entered the outer tub so a spray spin would have not caused the water to be pulled through the fabrics.

Post# 217192 , Reply# 19 6/20/2007 at 18:10 (6,154 days old) by brisnat81 (Brisbane Australia)
Checkrate/Likes *Spray rinse between the 3rd and 4th rinses* On my early Model Miele, you get a spin spray. The machine gets up to 900RPM for 2 minutes and then the fill valve opens which results in water spraying over the door and outside of the inner tub, (I assume to remove an build up of suds and/or soap scum from between the tubs) It maintains this for 30 seconds, and then cuts the pump and spin motor and coasts to a stop with the fill valve running the whole time. So Whilst its not spraying directly into the tub, there is a fair amount of water that makes in in there from the spray off the door glass back into the tub. Because it does 5 rinses getting rid of the foam is probably more important than spraying the clothes. The Miele can suds lock badly. By default, at the end of the wash, it fills with water halfway up the glass to do a suds cooldown. It then drains, high level Fills (1/3 of the way up the glass), and tumbles for 5 minutes. It then repeats the process. Its not until after the third rinse that the machine tries to spin for the first time. Smart me figured at one point, that after the wash pumpout, I'd advance it to spin to try and remove more soap and suds earlier in the wash sequence. Unfortunately all I acheived was a spin that got nowhere up near 900rpm, and a tub full of very creamy suds (Like stiff eggwhites) Since then I've respected its no spin rinses as definitely necessary. I hope this isnt too off topic. Nathan

Post# 217205 , Reply# 20 6/20/2007 at 19:09 (6,154 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes *No Nate that is fascinating* I have noticed the newer FL from after the 90's onward here and earlier in Europe have a very narrow gap between the inner tub and the outer tub. I get the impression designers felt the larger gap just used more water and made the machine bigger. But I also found Bendix did extensive testing of tub gap in the late 1930's! They found and patented a gap that by today's standards was large. They state their gap allowed a wash current to be created by the outer surface of the inner tub that lifted water and suds up from the sump to be redistributed down through the clothes as they tumbled inside the drum. They even set the maximum and minimum dimensions for this gap it was so important to them. It is about an inch or more between tubs! The Maytag Neptune had such a close gap that the tubs almost look like they touch and detergent was getting locked in an eddy current in the sump so clothes weren't getting as clean so later models introduced a sump pump to pump the detergent rich water from the sump up to the fill flume and back into the tub. I bet the larger gap would allow a spin spray, I'm going to try it in my Bendii. Nate do you know what the tub gap is in your Miele??

Post# 217802 , Reply# 21 6/23/2007 at 18:43 (6,151 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)
Checkrate/Likes *maybe Jaimie can* measure the tub gap in his NEW Honeycomb Miele for us??

Post# 217841 , Reply# 22 6/23/2007 at 20:47 (6,151 days old) by brisnat81 (Brisbane Australia)
Checkrate/Likes *Tub Gap* Hi Jon, The 70's model Miele has a distance between the inside surface of the wash tub to the outer tub of 3cm. My almost current model Honeycomb drummed Miele has a distance of 2cm between the inner and out tubs. The new machine does a 1200RPM spin between the wash and each rinse. The final spin is 1200 RPM for 6 minutes and an 1800RPM spin for 2 minutes.

Post# 217864 , Reply# 23 6/23/2007 at 22:25 (6,151 days old) by tlee618 ()
Checkrate/Likes Jon that was so neat!!! Aren't you so thankful that we aren't stumped by "double trouble" on washdays!! You just have to love the styling on those beautiful machines.