Thread Number: 37116
U.S. Washer/Dryer combos: when was their arrival, demise and departure? |
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Post# 552089   10/26/2011 at 17:14 (4,564 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)   |   | |
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Post# 552096 , Reply# 1   10/26/2011 at 17:52 (4,564 days old) by peteski50 (New York)   |   | |
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I think Bendix built the 1st in 1953. Philco bought Bendix in 1957 than the stuff was call Philco Bendix. They came out with the slimline combo in 1959. From what I understand they were the best and especially for spinning. They went until about 1970 - Allied Chemicals bought them I think and the washer line was dropped in the USA.
The WP/Ken combo come out in 1957 I think. WP made them until about 1962 I think. But Sears kept them until about 1974. (What a Sin) they were dropped. I am not to sure about the Easy combo history. It is so sad they are not made today. Especially because all these FL machines have such stupid cycles and options plus WP tumbles the clothes for 6 hours after they are done - so why the Hell cant they dry them? I think a big factor they were dropped was the cost factor in building them. The cleaning was actually good and the drying was good because of 220 volt. Anyone please add on! Peter |
Post# 552098 , Reply# 2   10/26/2011 at 18:23 (4,564 days old) by appliguy (Oakton Va.)   |   | |
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General Electric made combos from 1955 to 1972. Whirlpool made Combos under their own name from 1957 to 1962 and made combos for Kenmore from 1957 to 1971 or 72. The first generation RCA Whirlpool Kenmore Combos were the huge monsters that were taller than a standard kitchen cabinet and counter and they were made from 1957 to 1960. In 1961 Whirlpool redesigned their and Kenmore's Combos so they were basically the same size as a standard clothes dryer. Whirlpool only made this version under their own name for about a year and then stopped but continued to make them for Kenmore until 1971 or 72. INMO the best person to ask about this would be John Lefever (aka Combo52) because of his long career in appliance repair and his experience he has had with these types of machines.....PAT COFFEY
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Post# 552136 , Reply# 4   10/26/2011 at 22:22 (4,564 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))   |   | |
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Post# 552142 , Reply# 5   10/26/2011 at 22:48 (4,564 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City)   |   | |
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Post# 552151 , Reply# 7   10/26/2011 at 23:41 (4,564 days old) by Northwesty (Renton, WA)   |   | |
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If I remember from conversations on this forum the Westinghouse Combo had so many issues that it was recalled. So it is pretty rare. This one was in Poulsbo a few years ago... |
Post# 552159 , Reply# 8   10/27/2011 at 00:43 (4,564 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))   |   | |
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Post# 552185 , Reply# 9   10/27/2011 at 03:12 (4,563 days old) by Jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)   |   | |
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Post# 552204 , Reply# 12   10/27/2011 at 07:47 (4,563 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)   |   | |
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There are many reasons that Combos didn't sell as well as manufactories would have liked. Tom detailed some such as home makers didn't see the nesscessity of even having a dryer in the first place. Then the early designs all had problems and like the first automatic washers all needed major redesigning and because sales were poor only two companies were able to do a complete redesign.
Only Bendix and Whirlpool completely redesigned thier machines, Bendix went from a very successful 36" machine to a down sized 27" model but the build quality did not improve and stayed stuck in the 1950s mode so the larger machine was a much better machine overall. They probably should have made the machine a little larger as the capacity became too small, around 6 lbs. capacity. Whirlpool-Kenmore went from a 33" wide machine that spun at only 200 RPMs to a completely redesigned 29" machine that still did a 10 pound load. This machine had a decent spin speed and was designed to be the same overall size as thier separate washers and dryers and to offer similar speed and performance.
Overall I feel that the original Bendix and the 29" WP built combos were by far the two most successful combos made. And as an every day driver the 29" WPs are the better machine overall. Although this comparison is a little unfair as it is like comparing driving a 1952 Plymouth to driving a 1962 Plymouth as a lot of progress had been made in all products over this time period.
The last combos made were the Philcos around 1969 and then KM got out in the fall of 1971 and finely GE stopped building in the spring of 1972. It is too bad they didn't keep building about 10 more years as the early 1970s were the start of the baby boom generation getting thier first homes and the start of the boom of condominiums where people wanted to have thier own washers and dryers in thier homes. And families got much smaller and this would have made combos much more attractive for thier greater overall convince.
I still believe the biggest thing that killed Combs was they quickly chalked up a bad reputation among service man and also sales people. As I said before there were plenty of problems with early combos and they were often shoehorned into tight spaces and servicemen had a terrible time trying to repair them. Early automatic washers were also very troublesome, but they sold in such great numbers that repair man had to get used to fixing them. I can remember that one of my mothers best friends who only had space for a washer in her kitchen telling me that she wanted to get a KM combo in the late 1960s. And I can't believe it now but I talked her out of getting it as I was repeating all the bad things I had heard about Combos.
I could go on at great length about some of the people that I have met who had once had a Combination washer-dryer and loved them, it was a life changing experience for some. This machine was such a fantastic work and space saver, some of these ladies went from a wringer washer to this machine that, FOREVER DID AWAY WITH WASHDAY. |
Post# 552471 , Reply# 14   10/28/2011 at 17:31 (4,562 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)   |   | |
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Post# 552517 , Reply# 16   10/28/2011 at 23:07 (4,562 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)   |   | |
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I Googled Lita Solis Cohen, the lady with whom I talked about her experience with the two Kenmore combos and found that she is senior editor of the Maine Antique Digest, not the title I misremembered. |
Post# 552604 , Reply# 17   10/29/2011 at 11:12 (4,561 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)   |   | |
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