Thread Number: 49849
I must really be old and out of the loop. |
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Post# 720070 , Reply# 2   12/9/2013 at 08:29 (3,762 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)   |   | |
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...there are cut-sheets and fold-out brochures of the Hotpoint "Duo-Load" in the Ephemera library.
And as Tom said, I posted an extract from some Appliance Journal many years ago describing the mechanics of the Duo-Load in great detail. I forget where it is but you can use the Searchalator to find it. It was, in my opinion, the ultimate in Rube Goldberg appliance engineering, but, alas, it was short-lived. CU condemned the machine for overall poor performance and I think it was a machine designed to impress the geek husbands; most wives that I know hand-washed their delicates in the bathroom sink instead of going to all the trouble of setting-up the Duo-Load with its large bulky mini-tub and the complicated tub lid that had to be fitted carefully on top. I would be in vintage heaven if I ever found one. It is truly a holy grail. I only ever saw one of these and it was in the Gimbel's Herald Square appliance department on the 8th floor, surrounded by crusty old salesguys who were soon to be on the unemployment line so they weren't very tolerant of strange little 11 year-olds wandering through their sales-floor opening washing machine lids. |
Post# 720289 , Reply# 3   12/10/2013 at 04:53 (3,762 days old) by brucelucenta ()   |   | |
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Wow, if you actually have seen one even back in the day it is more than I have seen. I have only read about it in an old consumer's reports. Quite a machine I'd say. |
Post# 720302 , Reply# 4   12/10/2013 at 05:51 (3,762 days old) by danemodsandy (The Bramford, Apt. 7-E)   |   | |
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The late '60s/early '70s were a rough era for those who value beauty in fashion, but that model's top is especially bad - a top-seeded candidate for Ugliest Panel Print Ever. And she's wearing orange shoes, which is always Just. So. Wrong.
I could see how women looking at this ad would shudder and turn the page. |
Post# 720327 , Reply# 5   12/10/2013 at 08:58 (3,761 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)   |   | |
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My Mother was a fashion illustrator who worked for Simplicity sewing patterns. I remember designs like this coming through around that time. If you look at her clothes and shoes from another perspective the outfit looks like that Frigidaire Rollermatic ad that we've all seen on this site.
Mom was appalled at this stuff but explained that a lot of these colors and styles were the misinterpretations of fashion icons of the time(Peter Maxx, Pucci)that trickled-down(badly) from the runways to the corporate market who thought they knew what Middle-American women wanted to wear. The model in the Hotpoint ad was very similar in size and shape to the women Mom paid to model in her studio. That was the style of print woman of that time--tall, thin and a little androgynous. |
Post# 720417 , Reply# 9   12/10/2013 at 17:27 (3,761 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)   |   | |
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Tom is right though.....Maytag machines were 'Dependable'....reliability of the machine was more important than the machine actually washing clothes effectively...
the belt/springs, not only used as a clutching mechanism, was also designed to give into a load, it sacrificed cleaning for the relief of the mechanisms.... why do you think they had that lid switch turn off the machine when the lid was raised, so you would not truely see what was going on inside.....consumers presumed it was the same gyro action as the wringers, but not so!... |
Post# 720484 , Reply# 10   12/11/2013 at 00:03 (3,761 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))   |   | |
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My avocado (clue to the year) Tag worked fine as long as I didn't throw my entire wardrobe in it at the same time. Lid switch? Bypassed. I ALWAYS knew exactly what it was doing.
Bought it used in 1988, ran it for 10 years until I bought the Electrofrigiwhite frontloader I still have. Gave it to a co-worker who got another year out of it before the motor quit. The only goosey thing it did was below 50F in the garage, the belt slipped such that high and low speed were the same until the trans oil warmed up. I accomodated that. After all, it was older in washer years than I was in people years. Gotta respect yer elders. |
Post# 720486 , Reply# 11   12/11/2013 at 00:06 (3,761 days old) by NYCWriter ()   |   | |
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... the lady in the ad looks like MY mom. Right down to the orange shoes. Got a problem with that??? |
Post# 720523 , Reply# 13   12/11/2013 at 07:57 (3,760 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)   |   | |
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I love Maytags and I've loved the Maytags I've actually owned and used but I have to admit that I was shocked, shocked I say, when I first owned a Maytag and realized how ineffective the final rinse was. It was only about 2 minutes long and the agitator started up so slowly that by the time the rinse was over, the load hadn't turned over completely. I always wondered how CU missed that. |
Post# 720554 , Reply# 14   12/11/2013 at 10:41 (3,760 days old) by alr2903 (TN)   |   | |
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Someday a Duo-Load will surface. If the upper tub and that complex lid are present it would be a miracle. |
Post# 720588 , Reply# 16   12/11/2013 at 13:50 (3,760 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)   |   | |
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Post# 720717 , Reply# 17   12/12/2013 at 00:33 (3,760 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea))   |   | |
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Parents used to park me in the appliance department and knew I'd still be there when they were done. Back in those days they had those transparent washers full of poker chips. It's been said (can't verify) that Robert Kinoshita who designed Robby for Forbidden Planet and B-9 for Lost in Space at one time designed transparent demo washers.
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Post# 720797 , Reply# 18   12/12/2013 at 11:24 (3,759 days old) by firedome (Binghamton NY & Lake Champlain VT)   |   | |
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Hoffman Homes was right off US Rt 30 just W of Abbottstown PA, about 5 mi N of Hanover PA. Lived about a mile away in the early '90s, and the population was shrinking, it was more of a mostly special ed day facility, not sure if it's still active but the buildings are there. Son had his scout meetings there sometimes.
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