Kenmore Washer and Dryer - $75 (Troy, Ohio outside Dayton)

And sure, I can mention some things about these.

The dryer is most interesting to me because it is lint filter-less. Yes! I have only seen pics of these in catalogs. Look at the top, there is no little filter door or filter under the timer. This is an entry level, 1965 single cycle 400-series dryer. A lint filter housing could be added to the back at the vent outlet, and it looks like one may have been bolted on already but removed. To empty the filter screen, you had to reach to the back of the machine behind the console. The filter itself was huge in comparison to the more common arrangement in the exhaust duct mounted on the top right. The dryer has the late '65 to 1971 chrome handle, so this is one of the later or last of the belt-drive blower dryers. To me this would be worth having just for its "unusual-ness".

When the fixed bulkhead dryer design took over production, these BOL models were adjusted to the new design, but they either had top mounted filters, OR they used a bulkhead mounted kidney shaped filter that you pulled out from inside the drum. This dryer was strangely re-invented by Sears in 1972 with a nearly identical warmed-over panel, but they had no washer to match. To this day I don't have a clue why they did that.

The washer is a 1981 Kenmore upper-line 70 series. There were four 70-series models that year, and this was the best of them. We don't see many of this particular model, in part because we don't see 1981 models all that often in general due to the recession of the time, but also because this one wasn't a great seller. It and the 80-series counterpart, which was the best machine Sears offered in 1981/1982 other than the electronic models, were over-priced, at $499+ for this and $550 for the 80-series. We saw many more of the lower end machines, which is probably common buyer behavior in tight economic times.

This model was re-designated an 80-series in 1983 and got an "80-Series" label above the 'Heavy Duty/Plus' slogan on the lower right of the control panel. With a lower price and a much more robust economy, this model sold like gangbusters in the 1983-1986 time period.

This particular machine has suffered from attack of the stain remover sprays. They seem to be very effective at deteriorating the finish on these panels. I have fixed a few of these with black paint pens, which works nicely, but the panels look to have bad acne scars, at best.

I would buy that pair for this price just to get that cool dryer.

Gordon


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Post# 875059 3/30/2016 at 22:33 (2,945 days old) by ovrphil (N.Atlanta / Georgia )
Checkrate/Likes Focus on Dryer - not sure what year - from the 60's? CLICK HERE TO GO TO ovrphil's LINK on Dayton Craigslist View Full Size

Post# 875062 , Reply# 1 3/30/2016 at 22:39 (2,945 days old) by Revvinkevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land)
Checkrate/Likes Yes the dryer is early 60s and the washer is a belt drive also. But I'm sure Gordon can tell us exactly what model and year it is.

Post# 875068 , Reply# 2 3/30/2016 at 23:12 (2,945 days old) by Kenmoreguy64 (Charlotte, NC)
Checkrate/Likes 3 *Well that's a very interesting ad...* And sure, I can mention some things about these. The dryer is most interesting to me because it is lint filter-less. Yes! I have only seen pics of these in catalogs. Look at the top, there is no little filter door or filter under the timer. This is an entry level, 1965 single cycle 400-series dryer. A lint filter housing could be added to the back at the vent outlet, and it looks like one may have been bolted on already but removed. To empty the filter screen, you had to reach to the back of the machine behind the console. The filter itself was huge in comparison to the more common arrangement in the exhaust duct mounted on the top right. The dryer has the late '65 to 1971 chrome handle, so this is one of the later or last of the belt-drive blower dryers. To me this would be worth having just for its "unusual-ness". When the fixed bulkhead dryer design took over production, these BOL models were adjusted to the new design, but they either had top mounted filters, OR they used a bulkhead mounted kidney shaped filter that you pulled out from inside the drum. This dryer was strangely re-invented by Sears in 1972 with a nearly identical warmed-over panel, but they had no washer to match. To this day I don't have a clue why they did that. The washer is a 1981 Kenmore upper-line 70 series. There were four 70-series models that year, and this was the best of them. We don't see many of this particular model, in part because we don't see 1981 models all that often in general due to the recession of the time, but also because this one wasn't a great seller. It and the 80-series counterpart, which was the best machine Sears offered in 1981/1982 other than the electronic models, were over-priced, at $499+ for this and $550 for the 80-series. We saw many more of the lower end machines, which is probably common buyer behavior in tight economic times. This model was re-designated an 80-series in 1983 and got an "80-Series" label above the 'Heavy Duty/Plus' slogan on the lower right of the control panel. With a lower price and a much more robust economy, this model sold like gangbusters in the 1983-1986 time period. This particular machine has suffered from attack of the stain remover sprays. They seem to be very effective at deteriorating the finish on these panels. I have fixed a few of these with black paint pens, which works nicely, but the panels look to have bad acne scars, at best. I would buy that pair for this price just to get that cool dryer. Gordon