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Frigidaire timeline
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Post# 743989   3/21/2014 at 20:38 (3,659 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)        

bajaespuma's profile picture

I'm doing a big group of Frigidaire illustrations and I've come to the end of my research material. Some questions for you Frigi-Dudes; any answers and pictures will be greatly appreciated.

 

1. How many and what years were the W0-65's in production?

2. Is it true that the fabulous "tower" Unimatics were only produced in 1957?

3. What did the 1961 TOL model look like? Examples? Were they clamshells?

4. I'm pretty sure that the "Clamshells" were offered in '62 and '63, correct?

5. Do any of you have any pictures of 1964 TOL models?





Post# 743992 , Reply# 1   3/21/2014 at 20:48 (3,659 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)        
Frigadaire Laundry Appliances

combo52's profile picture
#1 Aproxmatly 1951-1954

#2 Yes

#3 Yes

#4 No only 1961

#5 I do not, but hopefully some eles does.

Great questions Ken


Post# 744049 , Reply# 2   3/22/2014 at 03:00 (3,659 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada)        

philr's profile picture

Someone told me he sent to scrap a pair of 1964 Custom Imperial machines in Aztek Copper just a few years ago. When he saw I had some interest in Frigidaire appliances, he really did regret doing so. 

 

Here's a poor quality, colorized picture showing a 1964 CI set from Bewitched. 


Post# 744050 , Reply# 3   3/22/2014 at 03:20 (3,659 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada)        

philr's profile picture

About the Clamshells, the 1961, 1962 and 1963 Custom Imperial models had similar control panels (with variations of switches, knobs and colors) but as John said, only the 1961 closed.

 

Here's a 1961 Custom Imperial dryer with the control panel opened. I thought I had taken a picture of it with the panel closed but I can't find it... 


Post# 744107 , Reply# 4   3/22/2014 at 10:40 (3,658 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)        

kenmore71's profile picture

The WO-65 was produced from 1950 - 1951

The WO-65-2 was produced from 1952 - 1954

 

John is correct that the control-tower machines were only produced for the 1957 model year.  Collectors seem to love them.  

Women HATED them because it was so easy for things to fall behind the machines since it was wide open AND it was hard to read and operate the water temperature and load size selector on the washer since it was flush with the surface and located in the rear corner.  


Post# 744108 , Reply# 5   3/22/2014 at 10:45 (3,658 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)        

kenmore71's profile picture

Here are the "cover girls" for the 1961 washer Tech-Talk:


Post# 744111 , Reply# 6   3/22/2014 at 10:53 (3,658 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)        

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The 1961 filtrator dryer.  This was the first year of the re-designed filtrator system that included a lint filter and a separate blower to circulate drum air over the filtrator cartridge.


Post# 744112 , Reply# 7   3/22/2014 at 10:53 (3,658 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)        

kenmore71's profile picture

Console closed:


Post# 744115 , Reply# 8   3/22/2014 at 10:57 (3,658 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)        

kenmore71's profile picture

The 1961 custom imperial electric "flowing heat" dryer


Post# 744117 , Reply# 9   3/22/2014 at 11:00 (3,658 days old) by hydralique (Los Angeles)        

Thanks for posting those pics, I love the '61 washer ad, it is so very elegant!


Post# 744120 , Reply# 10   3/22/2014 at 11:03 (3,658 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)        

kenmore71's profile picture

1961 was also the first year that Frigidaire ventured into the gas dryer market.  There is no full console picture of this dryer in the Tech-Talk.  Presumably it looked exactly like the vented electric dryer above.  


Post# 744124 , Reply# 11   3/22/2014 at 11:11 (3,658 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)        

kenmore71's profile picture

On to 1964!


Post# 744126 , Reply# 12   3/22/2014 at 11:22 (3,658 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada)        

philr's profile picture

Here are the dryers from the Tech Talk


Post# 744127 , Reply# 13   3/22/2014 at 11:22 (3,658 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada)        

philr's profile picture

A closer view at the control panels. 


Post# 744128 , Reply# 14   3/22/2014 at 11:24 (3,658 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)        

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An interesting cut-away of the 1964 custom imperial machine.  This machine is actually the suds-saver version which is the purpose of the two small buttons located between the cycle selector buttons and the timer dial.  It is curious however, that while the console is the suds-saver console, the diagram shows NONE of the additional mechanism necessary for suds-saving! (Which would be be two-way drain valve and independent suds-return pump.)

 

Also, this is the ORIGINAL design of the 1964 with the Multi-Matic mechanism.  By the end of the model year SOME 1964s had the Rollermatic mechanism.  Full Rollermatic production did not begin until the summer of 1964 (which were all 1965 machines from a model year standpoint).  A handful of us are trying to untangle just WHICH 1964 machines got the Rollermatic mechanism and exactly when production began.  There is a Tech-talk supplement dated Dec. 1963 which introduced the Rollermatic mechanism and only vaguely explains that it is going to be used for "optional application in 1964 model washers." 


Post# 744133 , Reply# 15   3/22/2014 at 11:37 (3,658 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)        
Thank you all very much!

bajaespuma's profile picture

Phil, John, Mark everybody who responded so generously, I appreciate it!

 

So

'61, '62 and '63 all had the same basic shaped panel, but only '61 was truly a clamshell in that it opened and closed, yes?

 

And was the following style only produced in 1955?:


Post# 744134 , Reply# 16   3/22/2014 at 11:44 (3,658 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)        
...and furthermore,

bajaespuma's profile picture

I don't know about anybody else, and I'd be very curious about the sales numbers from 1961, but that clamshell panel, when it's closed looks like one of the bad aliens from a "B" space horror movie. To my eye, it's disorienting and a little scary.

 

Scary, like, before the little housewife does the laundry, she has to say, "Gort, Klaatu barratta nicto", or she could get disintegrated.

 


Post# 744142 , Reply# 17   3/22/2014 at 12:05 (3,658 days old) by joelippard (Hickory)        

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Yes, that style was 1955 only.  I have the dryer in white.


Post# 744146 , Reply# 18   3/22/2014 at 12:36 (3,658 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada)        

philr's profile picture

Ken, that's right about the clamshell. The 1961 model is the only one with the control panel that closed. 

 

About the 1964 Custom Imperial, it was the first Frigidaire model that had the optional "extra-rinse" feature.

 

The following year, the detergent and fabric softener dispensers allowed to dispense liquid detergent for the wash when the soak cycle and automatic advance to wash were selected and it also allowed to dispense fabric softener on the rinse cycle or on the extra rinse when the extra rinse cycle was specified. That's truly automatic washing!


Post# 744284 , Reply# 19   3/22/2014 at 23:12 (3,658 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)        
1961 Frigidaire Custom Imperial Washers & Dryers

combo52's profile picture
The clam-shell name is good, but before I heard them called this name they always reminded me of a knights helmet that was closed for battle, yes they are a little strange looking when closed. And while these three years look similar when the 61s are open, just about every part of the control panels were different, and I am sure that not only was the 61s panel parts different, but I am sure it was costly to build and added little benefit for users.

Post# 744351 , Reply# 20   3/23/2014 at 07:36 (3,657 days old) by jetcone (Schenectady-Home of Calrods,Monitor Tops,Toroid Transformers)        
Phil

jetcone's profile picture

isn't yours a Custom Imperial?? I don't remember ever seeing buttons like the bank of buttons on the 1963 models. On a 1964 machine I have only seen  just those flip toggles.

 

Anybody??

 

 


Post# 744423 , Reply# 21   3/23/2014 at 11:05 (3,657 days old) by golittlesport (California)        
1955

golittlesport's profile picture
Hi Ken, your graphics are fabulously awesome! I love your rendering of the 55 set...my personal favorites. However, the all-black pulsator was only a two-ring in 1955. The 1956 set, that you so wonderfully illustrated in your first post on this thread, was the first year for the three-ring agitator in the Imperial model.

1955 was the first year Frigidaire had more than one model. That was the year they introduced the pulsamatic, economy model. It had a faster wash action and slower spin speed and contained a different pulsator without a detergent dispenser.


Post# 744450 , Reply# 22   3/23/2014 at 12:00 (3,657 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada)        

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Jon, mine are Just plain Deluxe models.

1964 Frigidaire Multimatic washer and Filtrator dryer


Post# 744464 , Reply# 23   3/23/2014 at 12:47 (3,657 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)        

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They are still very pretty!  And that's a 2nd generation filtrator…..on my "bucket" list.


Post# 744539 , Reply# 24   3/23/2014 at 16:46 (3,657 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)        
OK, back to the 1964 models...

bajaespuma's profile picture

Did Frigidaire coordinate the colors on the control panels to go with whatever color the cabinet porcelain was?

 

In other words, is this illustration accurate, or were all the panels shades of green and yellow like the ones I've seen so far in photographs?


Post# 744603 , Reply# 25   3/23/2014 at 20:51 (3,657 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA)        

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As long as I've been poking around AW, I've never seen anyone post a 1964 Custom Imperial washer. I believe a dryer has shown up, but no washers.

The parts books do not indicate different colors for the buttons depending upon the cabinet color. I suspect they were the same colors as the 63 Custom Imperials.

Ben


Post# 744669 , Reply# 26   3/23/2014 at 23:41 (3,657 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada)        

philr's profile picture

I've seen a post about a 1964 CI dryer but no picture of it. 


Post# 744720 , Reply# 27   3/24/2014 at 07:02 (3,656 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)        
I would love to see a set of WCI-64s

combo52's profile picture
I suspect that for some reason these did not sell as well as earlier and later Custom Imperials, in all the years I have been around appliances I have never seen either in the flesh.

Post# 744751 , Reply# 28   3/24/2014 at 09:32 (3,656 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)        

bajaespuma's profile picture

Well, then I must assume that this is the default palette (although I think whoever colorized them for Bewitched didn't do a bad job):


Post# 744752 , Reply# 29   3/24/2014 at 09:34 (3,656 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)        

bajaespuma's profile picture

...but wouldn't it be nice if somebody found a pair that looked like this:


Post# 744757 , Reply# 30   3/24/2014 at 09:47 (3,656 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)        
Yes, I have WAY too much time on my hands these days...

bajaespuma's profile picture

...and, I suppose, if Endora had had a pair of her own home laundry appliances with her up on Cloud 8, they'd look like this:


Post# 744789 , Reply# 31   3/24/2014 at 14:34 (3,656 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c )        
Another Variation

Of 1964 models, When I was a kid we had some friends that had a 64 Custom Deluxe washer that was a Multimatic and had the Jet Action agitator???!

Post# 744793 , Reply# 32   3/24/2014 at 14:55 (3,656 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)        

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That is entirely possible.  The Jet-Action agitator was introduced DURING the 1964 model year.  Here is the permanent documentation from a 1965 Tech-talk Supplement.  This information was likely first printed in a tech-tips bulletin sometime in 1964. 


Post# 744794 , Reply# 33   3/24/2014 at 14:56 (3,656 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)        

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Next page:


Post# 744795 , Reply# 34   3/24/2014 at 15:00 (3,656 days old) by Kenmore71 (Minneapolis, MN)        

kenmore71's profile picture

And the last page.

Here are listed EXACTLY which serial number in production began incorporating the Jet Action agitator.

 

Also note that at the bottom are listed the 1964 models that had already incorporated the Rollermatic Drive mechanism.

 

Phil and Ben….perhaps this chart can help us with some reverse forensics?


Post# 744936 , Reply# 35   3/24/2014 at 22:46 (3,656 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada)        

philr's profile picture

Mark, I have the same and I think Ben has it too (if he doesn't, I did send a scan of the very same page to him). That's why we think some models were produced with the Multimatic and Rollermatic transmissions simultaneously. Ben has a document that I don't have that he told me says more about the transmission change. I hope he could scan it for us!

 

Also, if I understand correctly, not all models were available in all colors... The model I have (WDR-64) was made only in white. The Custom Imperial was made only in white and copper (that means the colorized green set on Bewitched would have been coppertone!). It also means the white-colored WIA-64 had the Rollermatic transmission while the other ones still had the Multimatic at the time of the change of agitator.

 

The documents I have are covering both US and Canadian models and there's no information about Canadian models ever having the Rollermatic transmission. I know that Canadian models were also a bit different in configuration. For example, there was no equivalent of my US-built WDR-64 or DDF-64 here. Instead, there was a WCDRC-64 and a DCDFC-64. 

 

 


Post# 745045 , Reply# 36   3/25/2014 at 12:20 (3,655 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)        

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Coppertone with a Jet-Action agitator, eh?

 

Even though I find these interesting, I'd rather have a 1965 TOL with the dispensers behind the door, the periwinkle blue tubs and the color coordinated panels. Frigidaires are amazing machines; I am looking forward to finding a Filtrator dryer. I am still regretting the 3 Frigidaires that we had throughout the late 20th that I wasn't able to keep.


Post# 745076 , Reply# 37   3/25/2014 at 15:09 (3,655 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada)        

philr's profile picture

Beautiful illustration Ken! The 1964 Coppertone wasn't shaded and a bit lighter.

 

Here's a 1964 range that I started parting out... 



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