This must be a Canadian Immigrant

I apologize for the mini-dissertation...

I can't say for certain, but I think that machine may have been made in Brazil for the Canadian market. Initially I thought that was a dumb hunch on my part since the BD factories were in Michigan and Ohio (therefore why import from Brazil with sources of supply so close to the Canadian border), but if Inglis continued on in Canada in Belt-drive form until the mid 90s as mentioned above, they'd have had to come from somewhere else.

Back around 1995 or so I rememember calling Whirlpool's toll-free number and asking the attendant when belt-drive production ended. She put me on hold a moment and then came back and said "Fall 1986 for home models, and we built commerial machines about another year. We just dismantled the tooling a few months ago, but we still make them in Brazil". The fall 1986 date makes sense as the model I bought in August of 1986 was one of the last that Kenmore had and it was off the sales floor by October.

I know that Brazil continued to make BDs for a good while into the 90s, so if for whatever reason the Canadian market didn't go 100% DD, the machines could have come from there.

Interestingly, some of the parts available to this day for BDs are made in Brazil, including the current two and four port pumps, which are now made with royal blue bodies vs. the old tan color. The last replacement transmissions were made in Brazil too.

There are some odd things about that Canadian Kenmore....the gray lid, the apparently gray basket, and the funny indent on the lower cabinet front....they all to me anyway suggest that the machine came from a plant with different ways of doing things. I could be wrong, but I suspect it would have been too expensive to manufacture those differences for a smaller market alongside the US versions if this machine was made in America. Porcelain coating is costly to make - I think we'd have seen gray on other US washers at the time if the US plants were doing that at all.

Interesting note - the BD plant in Michigan, which was one of Whirlpool's oldest plants, was in St. Joseph, near the WP headquarters. That plant was closed in the early 80s and the Clyde Ohio plant was expanded to accomodate. Clyde has been one of, if not THE largest washer plants in the world ever since.

I have always wondered how WP decided what would be built in St. Joe and what was made in Clyde, but I'm starting to see a pattern....every washer I've ever seen that was made in St. Joe (they have a "J" in the serial number vs. Clyde's "C") was a standard capacity, at least if it was from the 70s and 80s. The more I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen a St. Joe - J large capacity machine. If anyone knows more, I'd be interested to learn. That means for this special washer, it was either made in Clyde Ohio before 1987, or it came from outside the US.

Let me know what you think folks - I am not fully certain on the Brazilian source idea, but it's just a strong hunch. Sorry again for the lengthy note.


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Post# 278030 5/2/2008 at 23:28 (5,828 days old) by unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes Check out the gray colored lid underside, and the unusual control panel... CLICK HERE TO GO TO unimatic1140's LINK on Minneapolis Craigslist

Post# 278032 , Reply# 1 5/2/2008 at 23:55 (5,828 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )
Checkrate/Likes My eyes aren't that good,, can you see French on the under lid instructions? Dead giveaway if so.

Post# 278048 , Reply# 2 5/3/2008 at 05:32 (5,828 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions)
Checkrate/Likes Canadian for sure. I had one several years ago. The model # began C110.xxxxxxx. Nice machine, with English, and French directions on the console. kennyGF

Post# 278066 , Reply# 3 5/3/2008 at 08:46 (5,828 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes *Canook bargains?* Was that something people near the border could do to save money on exchange rates? Could you (with the help of a cooperative salesman) skip on sales taxes and at the same time end up with a better appliance? Do any of you remember the year in the mid-70's when Consumers Reports included tons of Canadian washers in their report(most of them where Whirlpools).

Post# 278083 , Reply# 4 5/3/2008 at 11:45 (5,828 days old) by rpm ()
Checkrate/Likes *Lady Kenmore Vs Sears best.* If you look to the far right on the top of the machine there is a gold oval, an in it will say Sears Best. Was that a Canadian thing vs an American thing? I have the Lady Kenmore dishwasher and my aunt has the Sears Best. Exact same machine from the 70's Is Lady Kenmore still available in the States? I can't recall many Lady's here,whether it was dishwashers or washers and dryers. What was the story or is there one about Lady Kenmore? I know here there was a Lady Flora Eaton of the Eaton's Department store dynasty here in Canada.

Post# 278146 , Reply# 5 5/3/2008 at 20:15 (5,827 days old) by 70series ( Connecticut.)
Checkrate/Likes Interesting washer with lots of features. rpm: The last washers branded Lady Kenmore, were sold anywhere from the late 80s to early 90s. I do not know whether the Canadian versions of Kenmore contained the brand "Lady", but I do know that the US featured the Sears Best label on Lady Kenmores, and possibly the 2nd washers down from them in the 60s and 70s. The washer above is a belt drive, at least as far back as 1985. This assumes that Canadian manufacturers of Kenmore switched from BD to DD when their American counterparts did. I don't know when the US stopped using the Sears Best label. It is possible that Canada continued to use them after the US had stopped. I doubt that the "Sears Best" label was used as a Canadian version of "Lady Kenmore". One of the Kenmore experts will answer this better. Now that you have asked, I am interested in knowing more about it. Have a good one, James

Post# 278194 , Reply# 6 5/4/2008 at 00:46 (5,827 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)
Checkrate/Likes Cool - with the extremely rare "Glide-To-You" dispenser funnels.

Post# 278210 , Reply# 7 5/4/2008 at 08:03 (5,827 days old) by magic clean ()
Checkrate/Likes *The Inglis Belt drive* continued into the mid 90's in Canada. Its possible that this Kenmore is from that era.

Post# 278227 , Reply# 8 5/4/2008 at 10:33 (5,827 days old) by kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)
Checkrate/Likes *I'm wondering if that is a Brazilian built machine* I apologize for the mini-dissertation... I can't say for certain, but I think that machine may have been made in Brazil for the Canadian market. Initially I thought that was a dumb hunch on my part since the BD factories were in Michigan and Ohio (therefore why import from Brazil with sources of supply so close to the Canadian border), but if Inglis continued on in Canada in Belt-drive form until the mid 90s as mentioned above, they'd have had to come from somewhere else. Back around 1995 or so I rememember calling Whirlpool's toll-free number and asking the attendant when belt-drive production ended. She put me on hold a moment and then came back and said "Fall 1986 for home models, and we built commerial machines about another year. We just dismantled the tooling a few months ago, but we still make them in Brazil". The fall 1986 date makes sense as the model I bought in August of 1986 was one of the last that Kenmore had and it was off the sales floor by October. I know that Brazil continued to make BDs for a good while into the 90s, so if for whatever reason the Canadian market didn't go 100% DD, the machines could have come from there. Interestingly, some of the parts available to this day for BDs are made in Brazil, including the current two and four port pumps, which are now made with royal blue bodies vs. the old tan color. The last replacement transmissions were made in Brazil too. There are some odd things about that Canadian Kenmore....the gray lid, the apparently gray basket, and the funny indent on the lower cabinet front....they all to me anyway suggest that the machine came from a plant with different ways of doing things. I could be wrong, but I suspect it would have been too expensive to manufacture those differences for a smaller market alongside the US versions if this machine was made in America. Porcelain coating is costly to make - I think we'd have seen gray on other US washers at the time if the US plants were doing that at all. Interesting note - the BD plant in Michigan, which was one of Whirlpool's oldest plants, was in St. Joseph, near the WP headquarters. That plant was closed in the early 80s and the Clyde Ohio plant was expanded to accomodate. Clyde has been one of, if not THE largest washer plants in the world ever since. I have always wondered how WP decided what would be built in St. Joe and what was made in Clyde, but I'm starting to see a pattern....every washer I've ever seen that was made in St. Joe (they have a "J" in the serial number vs. Clyde's "C") was a standard capacity, at least if it was from the 70s and 80s. The more I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen a St. Joe - J large capacity machine. If anyone knows more, I'd be interested to learn. That means for this special washer, it was either made in Clyde Ohio before 1987, or it came from outside the US. Let me know what you think folks - I am not fully certain on the Brazilian source idea, but it's just a strong hunch. Sorry again for the lengthy note.

Post# 278230 , Reply# 9 5/4/2008 at 11:20 (5,827 days old) by rickr (.)
Checkrate/Likes I purchased an original type spin tube and clutch for my 56 Kenmore about a year ago, and it was manufactured in Brazil. I was impressed with the quality of the part. I did not want the newer style FSP "quick brake" spin tube and clutch with the "three buttons" type clutch lining. This Brazil made spin tube and clutch feature the old style disk type full clutch lining. It is much better design than the three button clutch type. I wonder if the belt drives may still be in production in Brazil??

Post# 278231 , Reply# 10 5/4/2008 at 11:21 (5,827 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions)
Checkrate/Likes Interesting take, Gordon. I didn't know about the Brazilian connection, but it makes sense. I made a delivery years ago to the WP plant, in St Joseph. Huge place, remember seeing the washers on the line ready to continue assembly.It was about 4PM or so, and the line wasn't running. I thought they made dishwashers in St Joseph, too, at one time.

Post# 278234 , Reply# 11 5/4/2008 at 13:09 (5,827 days old) by kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)
Checkrate/Likes *more on Brazilian production* Rickr - I don't think belt drives are made in Brazil anymore, but only because the transmission is no longer available as a replacement part. I think if it were still in production line use, we'd still have access to replacements like we once did. I bought one replacement transmission at a time when I didn't feel like blending several used ones into one, part 362901, and it was made in Brazil, I think sometime in 1995. It was identical to what we'd pull out of any domestic machine and was perfect. VERY interesting comments on the Brazilian clutch....I imagine that's why of the three common WP belt drive pumps, the three port, is now NLA while the old two and four ports are still in available. It seems that Brazil didn't switch over to the U.S. "new fangled" ideas in clutches and pumps. The three port was the most common late 70s and 1980s pump so why whould WP drop that when we can still buy the much lower volume (later anyway) four port? I suppose that's because Brazil used the older pumps and not the newer one. Supco still offers those pumps (aka old Gemline) but I don't like aftermarket parts. I bought a Supco basket drive recently on ebay just to see what it was like - I was shocked to see the old full disk clutch pad design on a new part. If you like Gemline/Supco parts and need another clutch for a machine one day, you may want to check them out.

Post# 278236 , Reply# 12 5/4/2008 at 13:17 (5,827 days old) by kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)
Checkrate/Likes *About St. Joseph* Goatfarmer - I don't know much about the St. Joe plant and they very well may have made dishwashers there. I think most WP production stemmed from that plant in the early days, however I think Clyde has been there at least since the early 60s. You could have seen my Dad that day at St. Joe...when I was growing up in Detroit (1967 to 1977) my dad sold WP hydrochloric acid to use to etch metal parts for porcelain application. He has said that plant was a behive of activity at times, but we had moved to Denver by the time it was closed. I think in the later parts of St. Joe's years, standard capacity production seems to have been centered there, and the big tubs were coming out of Clyde. I always look at a washer's production date/serial number, and whenever I see a "J" it stands out. The newest I'd have to guess was from late 1981 or early 1982.