Thread Number: 64863  /  Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
1950s and 60s abandoned appliances found in old building
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Post# 875058   3/30/2016 at 22:31 (2,948 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest)        

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Post# 875092 , Reply# 1   3/31/2016 at 06:49 (2,947 days old) by turquoisedude (.)        

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Geez,  I wonder where this is...  It's definitely somewhere in the Canadian West. 

 

Anyone else spot the low-profile console automatic washer around 14 minutes into the video?  It may be the OTHER surviving Dominion washer... LOL


Post# 875099 , Reply# 2   3/31/2016 at 08:12 (2,947 days old) by revvinkevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)        
A fun video?

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This video isn't about the appliances, it's about the dilapidated old building and the mess that's inside it, at lease that's what I got out of it.   She hardly shows the appliances, other than as the camera pans by them.

 

Paul, in the description of the video she mentions Manitoba, but doesn't specify the location of this old railroad building.

 

Kevin


Post# 875111 , Reply# 3   3/31/2016 at 10:24 (2,947 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest)        

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Why Kevin, you sound ungrateful and disappointed to the extreme, that the appliances aren't polished and packaged neatly, to feed your visual appetite. frown

 

Because antique appliances are rare in the first place, and most people dismiss them as something to be crushed and recycled, we need to appreciate WHAT WE CAN GET.  

You, and I, and a handful of others here, may be lucky to have an abundant collection, but most people do not.

 

Also, the setting that one finds something, has an interesting story. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, and even into the 1980s, old appliances were typically abandoned as the newer models were pursued.  There was no Craigslist, Ebay, or municipal recycling programs.  It was not unusual to find old appliances simply left at the side of the road, thrown into rivers, or left behind in an old building or barn.  These details are part of appliances history.  

 

 


Post# 875117 , Reply# 4   3/31/2016 at 10:44 (2,947 days old) by pierreandreply4 (St-Bruno de montarville (province of quebec) canada)        

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revinkein if well taken care of old appliance can have a second life and be reusable sure right now i may have in my home a 2004 duet whirlpool washer dryer set but if because of budget cost i would have to buy a vintage washer dryer even if its harvest gold avocado green buy something in the vintage line i would go vintage for sure no matter the year even if the washer dryer set would look like this model by inglis or any vintage brands like white westinghouse

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Post# 875122 , Reply# 5   3/31/2016 at 11:52 (2,947 days old) by RevvinKevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)        

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Delaney, apologies if my comments bruised your feelings.  I am very down to earth and not at all pretentious.  As such I enjoy seeing old appliances, REGARDLESS of condition, in spite if your snide comment.

 

MY POINT was simply, the videographer did not care there were old appliances in and around the building as she didn't focus on them AT ALL.   It would be nice if she did and spent more time showing what the various appliances where, but she didn't.

 

I did see a gas powered refrigerator(!) among everything.    Interesting how someone turned that old railway depot into a dumping ground, but as you point out, they had to go somehere.

 

 


Post# 875129 , Reply# 6   3/31/2016 at 13:13 (2,947 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest)        
It's no problem Kevin

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Your comments did not hurt me.  They hurt you, if anything.  

 

I work to share my experiences and information about appliances, just as others have shared theirs.  I give back to a community that I have received from because I feel indebted and thankful.   As in other arenas in life, some people will appreciate it, some people not.  None of us can, nor need to worry about appeasing all the people all the time.

 

As for the videographer and her subject matter: she does abandoned buildings.  In this particular case, there happen to be a plethora of appliances.  

 

Frankly, I was half wondering if someone had operated a used appliance store there, though that would have had to be back in the 60s or 70s.  

 

There was a Servel gas frig which looks likes its in good condition.

 

 

 


Post# 875132 , Reply# 7   3/31/2016 at 13:26 (2,947 days old) by Stricklybojack (South Hams Devon UK)        

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.
In the comment section, if I recall correctly, the person who made the video, "wished a scrapper would come by and clear out the appliances so the building would be more viewable." Or words to the effect.


Post# 875135 , Reply# 8   3/31/2016 at 14:00 (2,947 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest)        

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Yes, she's concerned about the buildings.  That's why I say, most people view old appliances as something to be recycled.  

 

Of course, most people would also see the buildings she's drooling over as mere junk to be torn down, so she's really in the same league.

 

And for that matter, if I had a garage full of old 1950s car parts, I would be like 'get this junk out of here, so i have room for my washers'. lol.  


Post# 875297 , Reply# 9   4/2/2016 at 02:52 (2,945 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc)        

Not actually a dump ground for dead appliances,TVs,Radios-but must of been a repair-swap shop type place.You could go there when it was operating and buy used,repaired machines.There are such shops my way.Best way to "recycle" old appliances-fix them and find new homes for them!Same with the TV's and radios.The videographers camera pans showed at least 2 Serval fridges-the one with the Coke label on it looked just like the one that was in my Moms camp cottage on Lake Winnepesaki in New Hampshire.Remember having to start the fridge-ran off propane-same with the range.The small homes made me think of the small houses at live-on transmitter sites-Directional AM or TV.You would live "on site" for a week-then have sev eral days off-and work a week at the studio plant-not live on.Interesting video.She like other Urbex explorers don't give out the locations of these places so they don't get vandalized or looted.Good thing.

Post# 875327 , Reply# 10   4/2/2016 at 11:00 (2,945 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains)        
I never cease to be amazed at the passion

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we feel for various vintage objects. I have a passionate love for GE 'mint green' (a shade of turquoise) and a hatred which includes happily watching the crusher grind away for anything avocado green. A hatred of bottomless passion, matched only by my willingness to spend hundreds of hours fixing a Thumper in PANK!

Come to think of it, a Thumper is the only appliance I'd rescue if she were wearing an avocado green skirt.

The main thing is that we not descend into the level of nastiness to be found all too frequently on some collectors' sites. 


Post# 875365 , Reply# 11   4/2/2016 at 17:46 (2,945 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest)        
Oh, I don't know....

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Well, we need the "nastiness" when it's heart-felt.  It proves the involvement and commitment and passion people have for their interests.  It adds humanness to an otherwise staid subject.



CLICK HERE TO GO TO delaneymeegan's LINK

Post# 875395 , Reply# 12   4/2/2016 at 21:49 (2,945 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains)        
Nah, we don't need the nastiness

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I watched a collector's group nearly destroyed by a witch-hunt for a 'member' who had said some things on a totally different collector's site which upset some princesses who fancied themselves the ruling queens of that site.

Had it not been so destructive, it would have been funny - the person wasn't even a member of that site.

I know we will all occasionally have our disagreements - I love PANK! and Sunny Yellow and Turquoise and think avocado green is an abomination beyond even harvest gold, worse, yet, than stainless steel. There are some here who love those three colors as passionately as I dislike them.

That's cool. Heck, having just repaired our Tragimatic (again) I can understand why not everyone loves two-belt Thumpers. Sort of. Well, at least accept it.

I just don't want us to lose the special feeling which makes us, us.


Post# 875402 , Reply# 13   4/2/2016 at 23:21 (2,945 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest)        

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It sounds like this other group had ruthless trolls making trouble.   These people aren't genuine, as I mentioned.  

 

Those are just dime a dozen throw-a-way people one can find taking paychecks from corrupt organizations for creating problems.

 

 

What, my dearest one, is a "Tragimatic" and a " two-belt Thumper"?

 

 


Post# 875404 , Reply# 14   4/3/2016 at 00:36 (2,945 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains)        
one of the three Frigidaire drive systems

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Frigidaire desperately wanted to produce a less expensive washer than the Unimatic series. Their first attempt was a two-belt, extraordinarily complex to service drive called the Multimatic by the marketers and 'tragimatic' by those of us who have one and occasionally have to service them.

This drive was replaced by the 'rollermatic' which was easier to fix.

Thumper is as old name from the Yahoo days for the real Frigidaire washers.

 

Nothing washes as clean as a Thumper. Nor tangles sheets as well.


Post# 875448 , Reply# 15   4/3/2016 at 09:59 (2,944 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest)        
Ahhhh yes.

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I picked up a Frigidaire washer once, around 1995.  It was a mid to late 60s model.  

 

It was H-E-A-V-Y.  I remember flipping the small, lower, back panel off, looking inside,  and thinking that it was certainly not a belt-drive Whirlpool, or a GE FF, and I wasn't going in.  It was scary in there.  All those roller looked like a newspaper printing press.

 

It didn't work, it just buzzed when put into spin.  That was good enough for me.

 

It got carted to the scrap pile and the next machine brought in. 


Post# 875450 , Reply# 16   4/3/2016 at 10:20 (2,944 days old) by brucelucenta ()        

What a shame! The rollermatic series from the early 60's through the end of the 60's were great machines! They washed and spun quite well and were quite easy to work on. Much easier and less messy than Kenmore/Whirlpool or GE. I think that most appliance repair places hated Frigidaire because they kept changing their design of the mechanism and it was difficult for them to keep up with it. Kenmore/Whirlpool and GE changed very little from the 60's onward. Only major change GE had was from solid tub to perforated one. Frigidaire was pretty innovative in the field, but then they were own by GM too. I loved working on Frigidaire rollermatic machines from the 60's. The 70's, not so much. They had many problems with tub seals and such on those machines. If a tub seal failed, it ruined the bearings and required a great deal of work to replace everything. Usually people just got another machine when that happened. The dryers were problematic too, with the drum rollers mostly and sometimes lint build up which would cause poor air flow and warping or melting of the plastic housing where the lint filter was.

Post# 875454 , Reply# 17   4/3/2016 at 10:59 (2,944 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest)        

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Back in 1995, I didn't know there was other people in the world who collected old appliances.  Had I known, I would have offered it to someone here.  Likewise, if I found similar type machines.  


Post# 875457 , Reply# 18   4/3/2016 at 11:24 (2,944 days old) by panthera (Rocky Mountains)        
Delaneymeegan,

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Don't feel bad - if you aren't in love with them, working on a rollermatic is too intimidating - and they're 100000000000000x easier to work on than a tragimatic.

Me - I love anything less complicated than I am and even tragimatics qualify.

 

When we see something cool - a FilterFlo or a Thumper and don't have room (unless they're PANK!, in which case we make room) we try to let fellow collectors in the area know.

 

Sometimes, though, it just doesn't work out.

 

What really frosts my cookies around here, though, is the local Habitat manager is a Vollidiot who purposefully metals anything not built in the last five years.



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