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Thread Number: 62776
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
Pic of the Day - Thor Automagic Washer |
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Post# 853420 11/24/2015 at 07:42 (3,073 days old) by countryguy  (Astorville, ON, Canada) |
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Post# 853426 , Reply# 1 11/24/2015 at 08:10 (3,073 days old) by kenmore58 (Rhode Island) |
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Post# 853427 , Reply# 2 11/24/2015 at 08:19 (3,073 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Consumer Reports of the 1950's
Rated those Thor washers as pretty decent performance wise. However they did note a tendency to shake and or vibrate during spinning if load was unbalanced. If one has time later will look up the exact review and prices.
The dishwasher unit was sold separately and was not a universal hit with housewives. Even post-war households where seemingly every mother on the block had two or more kiddos in diapers, just couldn't get past the "ick" factor of washing them or any other laundry in same machine as dishes. Since laundry was often the larger dreaded chore if a household could only afford to spring for once appliance; Madame chose a washing machine. | ||
| Post# 853430 , Reply# 3 11/24/2015 at 08:57 (3,073 days old) by alr2903 (TN) | ||
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Gary IIRC, some of the Levittown houses came with the sink combo and both tubs. Art | ||
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Post# 853444 , Reply# 4 11/24/2015 at 10:36 (3,073 days old) by Frigidaireguy (Wiston-Salem, NC) |
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Have never seen A Thor with the selector like this one. This must have been one of the later model Thor machines. | ||
| Post# 853499 , Reply# 6 11/24/2015 at 16:29 (3,073 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
>Even post-war households where seemingly every mother on the block had two or more kiddos in diapers, just couldn't get past the "ick" factor of washing them or any other laundry in same machine as dishes.
That ick factor gets me, even though I don't have any any kids in diapers. Although supposedly, according to the ad, the dish parts are separate from the washer parts. Small clipping from the POD ad: 
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| Post# 853502 , Reply# 7 11/24/2015 at 16:41 (3,073 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room) | ||
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I suppose lack of sales/popularity of the DW attachment could also have been from other issues. How much did the dish attachment cost? If enough, people might "think about it for one day." And then never get around to it... Or else just decide to wait until the baby in diapers is big enough to wash dishes, thus saving the cost of any mechanical gadget. (Even in the 1980s, when I grew up, there were apparently parents who took that attitude: Why spend $$$ at Sears for something the kids can do for $0?)
Then another factor might have been the kitchen space. Is it big enough for doing the laundry? Or should the washer go to its accustomed home home in the cellar? If in the cellar, it would be less than convenient for doing the dishes. (Trust me: this idea came up for me, once. A dishwasher is My Big Dream, and someone suggested it'd be easier to install it in the laundry room. He made a good point as far as space and plumbing issues, but all I could think of was the pain of the long trips carrying dishes out and back again.) | ||
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Post# 854948 , Reply# 8 12/4/2015 at 05:30 (3,063 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Acceptable:
Semi-Automatic Washing Machines: Thor Automagic (Hurley Machine Div.....) Model 200C $199.50, NLA. Replaced by model #222 Tub for dishwashing available for an extra $69.95 Washing ability better than that of any automatic machine tested. Rated capacity 8 lb. Tub capacity 10 gal. Agitator-type washer. cleaning ability above average. Did not require bolting to floor. Machine finished in enamel. tumbler had porcelain finish; plastic agitator. Washing and spin drying in same tub, requiring no handling of clothes from start to finish. Number and length of washings, rinsings and spinning entirely optional, non-automatic. That was from the 1950 CR review. Will have to research further through the decade worth of issues on file to see if CR did an update. Clearly either one was mistaken about how CR felt about Thor washers or am recalling a different review.
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| Post# 854952 , Reply# 9 12/4/2015 at 06:16 (3,063 days old) by arbilab (Ft Worth TX (Ridglea)) | ||
inflation | ||
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Post# 854953 , Reply# 10 12/4/2015 at 06:33 (3,063 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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To put things into perspective...
See: www.mybudget360.com/cost-of-livin...
As one stated earlier if a family pushed was going between a washing machine and a dishwasher but could afford only one back then: the washing machine almost always won. Dishwashers didn't become a stable mod con far as one can tell until really fairly recently (like the 1980's or 1990's). Growing up in the 1970's plenty of homes in our street didn't have automatic dishwashers. They had several children per so guess it was the same thing....*LOL* I'd take doing lots of dishes by hand over a mountain of laundry via the same method any day of the week. | ||
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