Thread Number: 65891  /  Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
POD 6/10/19 Pearl Bailey White-Westinghouse Ad
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Post# 884363   6/10/2016 at 02:35 (2,849 days old) by Maytagbear (N.E. Ohio)        

Were there more of these print ads? I only remember two, this one for the Laundromat and matching dryer, and an ad for room/window air conditioners.


The copy for the air conditioners was along the line of "why cool the whole house, if you're just sitting in the living room?"


I do love Pearl Bailey's music....there's a fun video at YouTube of Pearl and Dinah Shore tearing up "Mack The Knife."


Lawrence/Maytagbear





Post# 884373 , Reply# 1   6/10/2016 at 04:42 (2,849 days old) by brucelucenta ()        

As far as the Westinghouse front load washer of this vintage, it wasn't much. Didn't wash very well, didn't spin very well, didn't hold much. They were adequate at best. The one good thing about them, is that they had much less linting. Only turned in one direction, so things would roll up into a ball.

Post# 884375 , Reply# 2   6/10/2016 at 05:01 (2,849 days old) by moparwash (Pittsburgh,PA )        
Here's the vid

moparwash's profile picture
From the Dinah Shore Chevy Show... one of the earliest uses of color videotape
.


CLICK HERE TO GO TO moparwash's LINK


Post# 884382 , Reply# 3   6/10/2016 at 06:57 (2,848 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        
Great minds think alike!

launderess's profile picture
Discovered that Bailey/Shore video on Youtube a few years ago and have played it to death!.

Miss. Bailey has a great strong voice, and her comic skills are A #1

"Death strikes again, but he's not dead yet"

"It's searching time.. down by the river don't you know".


"It's getting to high for me to sing, it's too high for you too"!


Post# 884389 , Reply# 4   6/10/2016 at 08:08 (2,848 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)        
3 Belt Westinghouse FL Washers

combo52's profile picture

When these came out in 1959 they were a huge breakthrough in performace for American FL Washers, only American combos washed any better with their huge 4+ cubic foot size drums.

 

The 3BWH FLWs had a 2 CF capacity and could easily wash 8-10 pairs of my jeans with NO TANGLING, I owned and rebuilt and used nearly 100 of these fun washers over the years, even used one as my only washer for over a year back in the 80s and performance was never a problem.

 

Cleaning was top notch for even really dirty clothing as was the lack of lint and any grit left in laundry, yes spin performance was a little worse than WP BD washer, but with a WP Gas dryer the cost and speed of turning out clean and dry loads of laundry was excellent.

 

Overall these are one of the best performing classic AWs from the 60s through the early 90s that you can own if you want a classic machine, performance wise these are certainly better than any MT, GE, or WCI TL washer built in the same time period.

 

 

Please note I did not say anything about reliability, LOL.

 


Post# 884392 , Reply# 5   6/10/2016 at 08:47 (2,848 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)        
Pearl also

was in another magazine add for 70's Westy Kitchen appliances.
Let's Make a Deal from the 80's featured lot's of Gibson items, but that was about the time White Consolidated was going to sell to AB Electrolux.
I was going to invest in Electrolux back in the early new millennium, but I learned the Wallenberg family owned about 80% of the shares, so the return dividends were not very good.


Post# 884394 , Reply# 6   6/10/2016 at 08:53 (2,848 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

We had the baskets out of a WH and a GE V-12 in the shop at the same time. They were almost the same size when you consider that the GE does not fill up all the way and has to have room for the agitator so the volumes were very similar. I am sure that the WH FLs could have been made better, but a lot of them went a long time on their original bearings. There was that run of bad seals in the 80s, I think, that caused a lot of early bearing failures, but most of the machines made it to the end of their expected 5 year life and could last longer with reasonable care to prevent rusting. WH gets points for persevering and keeping the production of front loaders going in this country. BTW: She made an ad for their ranges, also.

Were any front loaders produced in Canada or imported in the mid to latter part of the 20th century?

BTW:


Post# 884409 , Reply# 7   6/10/2016 at 09:40 (2,848 days old) by moparwash (Pittsburgh,PA )        

moparwash's profile picture
The few loads I did in this came out great...its faster than my Neptune FL and the window and tub light provide great entertainment..'Christina' was to be the star at this years wash in..scrub scrub scrub!...She and 'Christopher' will wait till next year for their close-up!

  View Full Size
Post# 884411 , Reply# 8   6/10/2016 at 09:53 (2,848 days old) by RE563 (Fort Worth, Texas)        

re563's profile picture
I had one of these in the '80s. I never had a lick of problem with my unit. It held just as much as a standard capacity top load washer. Everything got very clean. Water extraction was a little worse than a top loader by nothing to really note or complain about. I truly miss that machine.

Post# 884413 , Reply# 9   6/10/2016 at 10:11 (2,848 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture
I had one of these WH that we bought new in 1987. It was really one of the best washers I ever owned, and my favorite automatic washer. It was really fast, never any lint, large capacity (the dealer told me to pack it to the top), I could wash our kingsize down comforter in it with no problem. We owned it for 7 yrs., sold it with the house and the new owner used it for several more trouble free yrs. In fact it was one of the thing she especially liked when she looked at the home to buy it. I don't recall that the spin left too much water, in fact the dealer told us that it would spin better that a TL.
Eddie


Post# 884552 , Reply# 10   6/11/2016 at 08:56 (2,847 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)        

yogitunes's profile picture
for one thing, the front control models offered so many installation configurations than any other machine out there....

compact enough to fit in the same footprint as a washer alone, plus the stacking dryer on top......people could have the option to add both when space was an issue..







Post# 884553 , Reply# 11   6/11/2016 at 08:57 (2,847 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)        

frigilux's profile picture
A 1987 Frigidaire-branded machine was my first front-loader and I loved it! I noticed that grimy short white socks were cleaner/whiter and that it handled large things like blankets, comforters and pillows well. I lowered the water level quite a bit and found it cleaned even better and wasn't so prone to oversudsing in softened water. Westinghouse--and subsequently, WCI--was the only game in town for quite awhile if you wanted a front-loader.

Having said all that, I agree with Bruce that new HE front-loaders are a great improvement over this vintage Westinghouse in nearly every respect: Reverse tumbling; capacity; spin speed (by orders of magnitude); water/energy usage; cleaning power, and as John mentioned, reliability.

Still, I have a soft spot in my heart for the old Westys. It sold me on the front-load format and made the cat jump every time the solenoid clanked loudly when it kicked into a spin. There was no balancing protocol, either. I remember seeing the machine levitate a few times when loads were badly unbalanced. Ah, nostalgia.

And place me firmly in the fan-of-Pearl Bailey column, as well.


Post# 884554 , Reply# 12   6/11/2016 at 08:58 (2,847 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)        

yogitunes's profile picture
I found it interesting that they were available as a portable that would roll up to your sink.......major advances for that time period....







Post# 884568 , Reply# 13   6/11/2016 at 09:42 (2,847 days old) by brucelucenta ()        

To each his own I guess. I used several of these in the past in a commercial setting. They were quite good for smaller loads of dark colored items and left nearly no lint. They were bad about letting stuff like change or things in the pockets get under the tub and then you had to clean it all out periodically. I washed and starched jeans in them too, but NEVER 8-10 pair of them. The only way that many would fit in there and actually wash without completely rolling into a ball would be if they were child jeans no bigger than for a 10 year old. I used to wash no more than 6 pair of jeans in one. So that is absurd. They DID tangle with larger loads especially because they rotated in just one direction. To say that never happened is ridiculous and I can't imagine why anyone would. As far as a king size comforter washing in one, NO WAY that would be possible without tearing up the comforter and the machine unless it was tissue paper thin. The entire reason I bought the super capacity set I did was to wash a king size down filled comforter. This machine would NEVER have been able to do it. They were good for getting rid of lint and not creating any more, but were not all that great at getting really grimy clothes clean. They got rid of sand and sediment really well and had nearly no redeposition on clothing, but so say they were the best choice back then is simply not right. If they were so terrific why did Westinghouse design a top loading machine that replaced the larger capacity machines back then and make only the space savers ones? There were many better choices for cleaning and spinning out the water in clothes and more reliable machines than these. I never found them to be all that reliable, but then some will tell you how reliable the speed queen top loader is now too. Sorry, but some of the stuff that has been said on here is certainly not been my experience at all.



This post was last edited 06/11/2016 at 11:23
Post# 884576 , Reply# 14   6/11/2016 at 11:35 (2,847 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture
Well I can absolutely attest that you could wash a kingsize comforter in a 1987 Westinghouse FL, I did so several times. In fact we are still using that same comforter that we bought in 1983, and it is still almost like new, so it didn't get all torn up like Bruce above said it would have. This is not a lie! Granted, the tub was packed full, but the door shut without any difficulty. I used this machine just how the dealer we bought it from told us to. He said pack it full and I did. Once the tub started to fill with water the comforter compressed down and there was adequete movement for thorough cleaning to take place.
Now when it would go into a spin with a load like this there would sometimes be some jumping like Eugene described in his post above. I would stop the machine, rearrange the load and we were off to the races again. And in the 7 yrs we used that machine there was never one service call. Once the soleniod got stuck and made a loud noise. I just shut off the machine and restarted it, all was OK.
Someone that used a machine like this day in and day out for 7 yrs. in my opinion has a better knowledge of just how they worked than someone that used them in a commercial setting.
Eddie




This post was last edited 06/11/2016 at 15:29
Post# 884591 , Reply# 15   6/11/2016 at 14:21 (2,847 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)        

yogitunes's profile picture
Oh, I agree Eddie.....when I had one, basically nothing you couldn't wash in there....

comforters(yes, king size), pillows, stuffed animals, dog beds, sneakers, chair cushions.....just about anything you could not wash in a TLer, you could in one of these....

our dealer only recommendation was to wash similar items together, like all towel, or 10 pairs of jeans...there was minimal tangling, if any....full loads washed best...but nice to know you could wash one item with minimal attention....not to mention water and detergent savings!

the "weigh to save" feature was unique.....but found if you left the water level set to LOW, it added enough water for any size load....

the only down side to the front control version was no dispensers.....and you couldn't exactly use a Downy ball....


Post# 884597 , Reply# 16   6/11/2016 at 15:26 (2,847 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)        

lordkenmore's profile picture
I'm not very familiar with Pearl Bailey's music, although I am interested because of one song: "Five Pound Box of Money", which is a Christmas-themed song. Enjoy Christmas in June:






Post# 884600 , Reply# 17   6/11/2016 at 15:48 (2,847 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture
My Mom had a Pearl Bailey album that must have been from around 1961 or 62 and one of the songs I particularly remember was titled "Legalize My Name". It was a hoot! It started out, "All you wanna do is bill and coo, but you're never ready when the bill is due", but I can't remember much more of the lyrics. I used to play this album when I would be home by myself. Check out the You Tube link.

Thanks Martin for the validation! What I really liked about this WH FL was that it always did what it was supposed to do. When it was time to spin it didn't hunt around for a "sweet" spot, then eventually decide it couldn't find one, it spun damn the torpedos, full speed ahead. So if I knew that I was washing a heavy load I stayed around and kept an eye on it. As far as the lack of dispensers that wasn't a problem for me at the time. I didn't use liquid fabric softener then, and just put the detergent in machine before loading. And if I was using bleach I just added it to the tub before the clothes, no problem since I only use LBC with whites anyway.

Granted, the newer FL's have many improvements, but I prefer the simplicity of these old school Westies. Actually, my Aunt Imogene's 53' slant front was what made me a lifelong fan of washers. In the 1950's it was almost like watching TV for a kid, at least for me it was. I still think that the 53' slant front Westie is the most beautiful washer ever made, mostly due to it's pristine simplicity. Thats why I bought the WH FL in 1987, because of the memory of that 53' slant front, And thats why I have always liked FL's better than TL's.
Eddie


CLICK HERE TO GO TO ea56's LINK




This post was last edited 06/11/2016 at 16:30
Post# 884629 , Reply# 18   6/11/2016 at 22:46 (2,847 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)        
Westhinghouse FL Washers

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Hi Eddie, and Martin, thanks for all the memories of these fun and effective washers.

 

First of all new FL washers are vastly refined machines compared to these older WH [and Bendix for matter] FL washers.

But I totally agree Eddie with these WH FLers there was no fooling around waiting for it to do what it was supposed to do, I couldn't begin to estimate all the time I have wasted waiting and watching modern FL washers trying to get them to do something so I could diagnose what was wrong with them. Even though these WH FL washers were not the most reliable washers by a long shot they were easy to diagnose and repair.

 

In 1993 I worked with a developer who took a 1982 apartment building in NW Washington DC and he converted the apartments to Condos and was selling them. We fixed [ where necessary ] every single orignal appliance in that building [ 167 apartments ] they all had an almond WH stack pair, electric dryer. The kitchens had a GE SXS with Ice&Water disp, GE GSD1200 DW, GE wall-oven with attached MW above. We not only fixed every single already 11 year old appliance, but had to give the new owners a one year warranty on all the appliances and we did all that for a little over $25,000.

 

Back to the 3 belt WH washers, first of all, all WH FL washers from 1959-1994 have the same tub capacity. They are around 2 CF capacity and yes I usually washed 8-10 pairs of my jeans in it, yes as many of you know I am not a really heavy guy, but what I lack in girth I make up for in length [ jean size W32 I36 ] so they still take up a lot of room.

 

These washers do not tangle to any appreciable degree, whether a FL washer tangles has little to do with whether it reverses or not during the cycle. It has more to do with the tub design and if it tilts it is very likley to tangle whether it reverses or not, MT Neptunes and WP slanted tub Duets both have some problems with tangling, and none of my old classic combos tangle at all even none of them reverse tumble.


Post# 884635 , Reply# 19   6/11/2016 at 23:27 (2,847 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.)        

ea56's profile picture
John my WH FL set was a stacked set in almond, probably very similar to the ones you refurbished on that job. It was in a narrow closet. When it was installed the installer was about 5'7" and 130 lbs. He had to literally hang upside down from on top of the dryer top make the connection for the vent. Anyone that was larger would have been hard pressed to have done this installation.

I guess I must have been lucky to have never had any repair problems. I know at the time Consumer Reports always gave them a low rating for reliability and I could never understand it since our set was trouble free. But we always were careful to follow the insturctions and not abuse it either.
Eddie


Post# 884637 , Reply# 20   6/12/2016 at 00:24 (2,847 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c )        
I WANT a WH

When they make a new frontloader that dosent stop and reverse every little bit. and make a new one that has as much water in it as a Westinghouse or a Bendix...then I will buy it!

Post# 884658 , Reply# 21   6/12/2016 at 06:13 (2,846 days old) by brucelucenta ()        

Like I said before, "to each his own". Far be it from me to try and convince anyone that these westinghouse machines were not the greatest thing since sliced bread. I just did not have that experience with them. I really just never have liked front load machines much, up until recently. I imagine that using them in a commercial setting would account for some of the problems I had too, along with not checking the pockets of clothing before washing it. When the new style reversing drum machines came out at the end of the 90's I had about three of those. They worked much better for me and were much easier to load and unload, held a bigger load and spun the clothes out dry enough to wet press them. They were also less trouble prone for the first few years. I really cannot imagine ever washing a king size comforter in either one. I don't see how it could possibly move around enough to get clean at all. Even with the huge capacity LG made one I have now it completely fills the drum and has barely enough room to wash well. I can only imagine that it must be much thinner in thickness. I do admit that the old westinghouse machines washed much quicker without all the delays the new ones have now in balancing and such. I would never have been able to wait like that when trying to get stuff done quickly so it could be pressed for customers. Even the reversing ones were much quicker when they first came out. Sorry to have offended anyone. The old ones I had certainly served their purpose and were a help back then, I just never found them to be exceptionally good machines. I also used several Frigidaire 1-18 machines to wash and starch shirts that were wet pressed too. They worked quite well for white shirts. Not so well for dark colors. That was where the westinghouse machines came in.

Post# 884731 , Reply# 22   6/12/2016 at 14:11 (2,846 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

One other WONDERFUL thing about the 3 belters was that the pump was attached directly to the sump of the tub and it was driven by the main drive motor of the machine. When those babies went into spin, it mattered little how heavy the load was or how much water had to be spun out. It was all sucked away. The pump was so powerful that the drain hoses usually had to be taped to the drain pipe to keep them from jumping out when that surge of water shot out. If over-sudsed, it might take half a minute or so and there was lots of visual drama with water streaming down the window, but that pump was pushing water out of the drain hose. There was none of this sad-ass tripping of flood switches and all action coming to a halt while toy pumps with little motors ran and suds-locked trying to empty the machine. If the motor on the 3 belter stopped, either the cycle was through or it was out on thermal overload. The one minute spray rinse did a lot to kill suds that might have developed that HE washer cannot possibly waste water doing now and that sump had a plate over the strainer that trapped water and sent it out. Only in cases of very heavy or over-sudsed loads did you have water racing around between the basket and outer tub during the start of the spin. Suds could delay the draining, but the machine soldiered on and if you insisted on over-sudsing it, you could expect to burn up belts and possibly a motor, but only in cases of extreme and long-time abuse from terminal stupidity.

I have to say from our two machines, when they went from the cast iron tub weights to the cast cement tub weights, the machines' suspended mechanism lost stability. They could jump high enough at the start of spin to pull the snubbers off the plates and, if the machine was operated after that, you created major problems.

If it were not for CU's prejudice against all front loaders, there would have been a lot more sold. FL owners were repeat customers with almost no complaints. I knew the washers on my paper routes and would ask FL owners how they liked them and they all did. When possible, I always went to the kitchen door to collect so that I had time to scope out the appliances while they wrote the check or got the money.


Post# 884833 , Reply# 23   6/13/2016 at 04:25 (2,846 days old) by brucelucenta ()        
turbomatic

Yes, I do remember now that another problem I had was with them jumping high enough to pull the snubbers off the plates a few times. LOL That was always a pain to take care of too. But like you pointed out, it was with the later ones without the cast iron weights that would happen. I do remember that it was difficult to get things in and out of them because of the small opening and the plastic ring there. I even had the plastic ring come off once and rub streaks on a pair of jeans I had to pay for. I guess I liked, but hated them at the same time.

Post# 884872 , Reply# 24   6/13/2016 at 10:26 (2,845 days old) by delaneymeegan (Midwest)        

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I love the front loaders.  I still don't get what was the big shift to top loaders in the 60s/early 70s.

 

That 25" wide portable Westy must have been a dream come true, at the time. I wonder how they held up.

 

Interesting picture of a basement washer/dryer.  A White paneled washer?  Did Westy make that, or was it painted for the commercial?  I don't ever remember that.

And that plumbing drain .  Ee-GAWD.  No elbow and all that sewer gas coming into the house.  Can't tell you how many times I've seen that.



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