I Think it's a Youngstown Dishwasher

Heres a lin and thread about them from a past post..and information from Alistair (Vacbear58)

" Keith
I am unsure of the exact date when Colston first appeared, but it seems likely to be arouund 1958 or 1959. I have a thought that it may have been started by the former executive of Hoover UK (son of Sir Charles Colston who basically set up Hoover's UK operation) but I am not entirely sure.

Their first product was a countertop dishwasher, and indeed I have often wondered if this was an abandoned Hoover project. This machine was cheap and basic, with a horizontally aligned spining tube, mounted slightly off centre on the rear of the machine. Apart from the Swanmaid Select it was the only front loading, pullout rack dishwasher in the UK. Apart from the spinning tube, it was ahead of its time in that it would draw in water to the bottom of wash chamber, where it could be heated as the water circulated - basically how dishwashers operate nowadays. The other machines had integral tanks to heat the water and, apart from the Swanmaid, all other dishwashers were top loading. The operation of the Colston seems to have been similar to some 1950s US Fridgidaire models that have been recently featured in other threads, although the Colston was a much smaller scale machine.

It was designed to sit on the countertop or draining board, and could operate on hot or cold fill. The first models were esentially gravity draining. This first design continued into the 1970s largely unchanged although other and better looking models were added, all operating in the same manner except the 1970s 707 (I think that was the model number) which was bought in and "badged" from Europe.

As a DISHWASHER it actually worked quite well, although pans, casseroles and bowls were a problem as they could only be mounted in the top basket, facing down. Mind you if you could get them in, they were generally washed quite well too (my Mum had one)

It is not clear whether they manufactured the dishwashers themselves or whether they shared facilities with the Rolls company (all manufactured in the UK) but certainly one appeared fairly soon badged as a Rolls although they also were sold under the colston name. The Colston appeared in the December 1960 Which report of dishwashers. You may recall the Rolls name being mentioned here before. This was a UK company which was set up around 1959 and which sold a range of (initially at least) twin tubs - heavily marketed and quite cheap - the most basic model being about half the price of say a Hoovermatic. Their capacity was about 2/3s that of the Hoovermatic, Supermatic or Supertwin.

There is no evidence of any link between Rolls & Colston beyond the badged dishwasher. Rolls went bust in 1964 (sadly dragging Bylock with them - they bought out Bylock in 1963). The manufacturing capacity swiftly re-appeared as Tallent Limited who manufactured basically the same machines with some minor variations for the likes of English Electric and Goblin amongst others.

However, towards the end of the 1960s these machines, having had their styling updated a bit (squared up bodies and controls moved from the front to the top of the machine) where re-launched under the Colston name. There were a couple of models (Coronet is one that springs to mind) although none to my knowledge carrying the automatic rinse function that the TOL rolls had). These carried on right through to the end of the 1970s, more or less the same and still cheap (if not quite so cheap) as they ever were although the Indesit L5 auto came very close in price to it - and who wanted a twin tub when you could have an automatic as well, poorer spin or not.

As I mentioned earlier, the dishwashers carried on until at least the mid 1970s, although they seem to have petered out around then. However Colston launched themselves into the washer/drier market in around 1973 with an imported model. Other European members will probably be able to give the country of origin in a instant, but it was the first mainstream washer drier in that it was 60cm square and fitted under a counter. The 1960s Bendix washer driers could hardly be described as main stream and there were a few other italian models sold in very limited numbers. This washer drier had a great big door and I suspect the heater and blower were mounted in this. Later there was a washer only version (Rob and Paul got one a while back) and if memeory serves there was a later washer drier with a conventional door. Whether these were of Ariston origin I do not know.

In 1981, in a fit of utter lunacy, Ariston bought Colston and for a short while twin tubs appeared under the Ariston name, along with a single tub washing machine and spin drier. By this time the only full size single tub was the Hoover and what they were thinking bringing out this machine in a market that had virtually declined to nothing, is anybodys guess. Anyway, it was a short lived venture and, after a year or so the machines, and teh Colston name, disappeared forever. I have some more pictures on my computer at home that I can load later for you.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO chestermikeuk's LINK


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Post# 1054456 12/16/2019 at 13:17 (1,584 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes Look at this photo of someone's kitchen, it looks like a dishwasher that I've never seen before. It seems to have a horizontal spray tube, but certainly isn't a Frigidaire DW. Unless of course it's not an American made machine... CLICK HERE TO GO TO Unimatic1140's LINK View Full Size

Post# 1054459 , Reply# 1 12/16/2019 at 13:58 (1,584 days old) by turquoisedude (.)
Checkrate/Likes No, I don't think this is an American (or Canadian for that matter...LOL) machine. British, perhaps??

Post# 1054466 , Reply# 2 12/16/2019 at 15:35 (1,584 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill Home of the RailwayTrials Merseyside,UK)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *Its A Colston...* Its a British designed model by Colston, I have the tabletop version, the model in show was the same but placed in a square box cabinet to fit into a kitchen cabinet or housing. Quite a good action, plenty of cork seals on the pumps etc, simple one touch one programme on the first models... Photos... < > Photo 1 of 2 View Full Size

Post# 1054467 , Reply# 3 12/16/2019 at 15:36 (1,584 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill Home of the RailwayTrials Merseyside,UK)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *Colston Dishwasher* Inside and money shot... View Full Size

Post# 1054469 , Reply# 4 12/16/2019 at 15:38 (1,584 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill Home of the RailwayTrials Merseyside,UK)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *Colston Dishwasher* Inner tank View Full Size

Post# 1054470 , Reply# 5 12/16/2019 at 15:39 (1,584 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill Home of the RailwayTrials Merseyside,UK)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *Colston Dishwasher* Baskets Loaded View Full Size

Post# 1054472 , Reply# 6 12/16/2019 at 15:41 (1,584 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill Home of the RailwayTrials Merseyside,UK)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *Colston Dishwasher* Cutlery tray...RHS bottom you can see the long thin filter box View Full Size

Post# 1054473 , Reply# 7 12/16/2019 at 15:43 (1,584 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill Home of the RailwayTrials Merseyside,UK)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Colston Dishwasher* Motor & Pumps... Photos... < > Photo 1 of 2 View Full Size

Post# 1054474 , Reply# 8 12/16/2019 at 15:45 (1,584 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill Home of the RailwayTrials Merseyside,UK)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Colston Dishwasher* Sump & Heater, spintube & filter Photos... < > Photo 1 of 3 View Full Size

Post# 1054485 , Reply# 13 12/16/2019 at 17:36 (1,584 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Thank you Mike!!!! Fascinating!!!! When you first saw Robert's Frigidaire Spin Tube at the 2001 convention, I imagine you thought, hmm, that looks familiar.

Post# 1054771 , Reply# 15 12/19/2019 at 08:39 (1,582 days old) by vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield, East Midlands, UK)
Checkrate/Likes *Brochure* Thanks for posting the brochure Alan, I had not seen that one before Al

Post# 1054893 , Reply# 16 12/20/2019 at 03:38 (1,581 days old) by Alanlondon (London)
Checkrate/Likes *Most welcome Al* What I like and find amusing about these machines (except the last machine from Italy) is that it�s the same tub just in ever bigger cabinets! I had one of these in for repair once and marvelled at the complexity of pulleys and belts. Alas like so many other machines which came through my fingers early 80�s it went to the tip. If only I could turn back the years :-) Regards Alan

Post# 1055154 , Reply# 19 12/22/2019 at 15:16 (1,578 days old) by reversomatic (east anglia,england,u.k.)
Checkrate/Likes *Also sold as Rowenta* Found this whilst looking at interesting old European appliances. Shows in detail the workings. I like the videos of his other machines. Nigel. CLICK HERE TO GO TO reversomatic's LINK

Post# 1054476 , Reply# 9 12/16/2019 at 15:49 (1,584 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill Home of the RailwayTrials Merseyside,UK)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Colston Dishwasher* Produced by Colston Appliances (Who made the Colston Washer Dryer badged by Riber Italy) in the 1960`s..Sir Charles Colston was the Chairman of Hoover UK before being retired from the company after the Hoover family reshuffled the board, Hoover UK was at this point more successful in revenues than the parent US company !! View Full Size

Post# 1054478 , Reply# 10 12/16/2019 at 15:56 (1,584 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill Home of the RailwayTrials Merseyside,UK)
Checkrate/Likes *Colston Dishwasher* The kitchen design is by Hygena which was very popular in the 70`s, Ian (Triumphdolomite) has recently fitted his kitchen out with a different colourway !! Photos... < > Photo 1 of 2 View Full Size

Post# 1054480 , Reply# 11 12/16/2019 at 16:00 (1,584 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill Home of the RailwayTrials Merseyside,UK)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Colston Dishwasher* Heres a lin and thread about them from a past post..and information from Alistair (Vacbear58) " Keith I am unsure of the exact date when Colston first appeared, but it seems likely to be arouund 1958 or 1959. I have a thought that it may have been started by the former executive of Hoover UK (son of Sir Charles Colston who basically set up Hoover's UK operation) but I am not entirely sure. Their first product was a countertop dishwasher, and indeed I have often wondered if this was an abandoned Hoover project. This machine was cheap and basic, with a horizontally aligned spining tube, mounted slightly off centre on the rear of the machine. Apart from the Swanmaid Select it was the only front loading, pullout rack dishwasher in the UK. Apart from the spinning tube, it was ahead of its time in that it would draw in water to the bottom of wash chamber, where it could be heated as the water circulated - basically how dishwashers operate nowadays. The other machines had integral tanks to heat the water and, apart from the Swanmaid, all other dishwashers were top loading. The operation of the Colston seems to have been similar to some 1950s US Fridgidaire models that have been recently featured in other threads, although the Colston was a much smaller scale machine. It was designed to sit on the countertop or draining board, and could operate on hot or cold fill. The first models were esentially gravity draining. This first design continued into the 1970s largely unchanged although other and better looking models were added, all operating in the same manner except the 1970s 707 (I think that was the model number) which was bought in and "badged" from Europe. As a DISHWASHER it actually worked quite well, although pans, casseroles and bowls were a problem as they could only be mounted in the top basket, facing down. Mind you if you could get them in, they were generally washed quite well too (my Mum had one) It is not clear whether they manufactured the dishwashers themselves or whether they shared facilities with the Rolls company (all manufactured in the UK) but certainly one appeared fairly soon badged as a Rolls although they also were sold under the colston name. The Colston appeared in the December 1960 Which report of dishwashers. You may recall the Rolls name being mentioned here before. This was a UK company which was set up around 1959 and which sold a range of (initially at least) twin tubs - heavily marketed and quite cheap - the most basic model being about half the price of say a Hoovermatic. Their capacity was about 2/3s that of the Hoovermatic, Supermatic or Supertwin. There is no evidence of any link between Rolls & Colston beyond the badged dishwasher. Rolls went bust in 1964 (sadly dragging Bylock with them - they bought out Bylock in 1963). The manufacturing capacity swiftly re-appeared as Tallent Limited who manufactured basically the same machines with some minor variations for the likes of English Electric and Goblin amongst others. However, towards the end of the 1960s these machines, having had their styling updated a bit (squared up bodies and controls moved from the front to the top of the machine) where re-launched under the Colston name. There were a couple of models (Coronet is one that springs to mind) although none to my knowledge carrying the automatic rinse function that the TOL rolls had). These carried on right through to the end of the 1970s, more or less the same and still cheap (if not quite so cheap) as they ever were although the Indesit L5 auto came very close in price to it - and who wanted a twin tub when you could have an automatic as well, poorer spin or not. As I mentioned earlier, the dishwashers carried on until at least the mid 1970s, although they seem to have petered out around then. However Colston launched themselves into the washer/drier market in around 1973 with an imported model. Other European members will probably be able to give the country of origin in a instant, but it was the first mainstream washer drier in that it was 60cm square and fitted under a counter. The 1960s Bendix washer driers could hardly be described as main stream and there were a few other italian models sold in very limited numbers. This washer drier had a great big door and I suspect the heater and blower were mounted in this. Later there was a washer only version (Rob and Paul got one a while back) and if memeory serves there was a later washer drier with a conventional door. Whether these were of Ariston origin I do not know. In 1981, in a fit of utter lunacy, Ariston bought Colston and for a short while twin tubs appeared under the Ariston name, along with a single tub washing machine and spin drier. By this time the only full size single tub was the Hoover and what they were thinking bringing out this machine in a market that had virtually declined to nothing, is anybodys guess. Anyway, it was a short lived venture and, after a year or so the machines, and teh Colston name, disappeared forever. I have some more pictures on my computer at home that I can load later for you. CLICK HERE TO GO TO chestermikeuk's LINK

Post# 1054481 , Reply# 12 12/16/2019 at 16:11 (1,584 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill Home of the RailwayTrials Merseyside,UK)
Checkrate/Likes *Colston Dishwasher* Heres another good thread on it , later model you can see how the styling changes, we had a similar model that was used in filming the British classic "Endevour Morse" a few years ago - the housewife who was waiting patiently for her new dishwasher had......(I wont spoil it) !! CLICK HERE TO GO TO chestermikeuk's LINK View Full Size

Post# 1054736 , Reply# 14 12/19/2019 at 03:19 (1,582 days old) by Alanlondon (London)
Checkrate/Likes *And here�s the brochure with the full range* Photos... < > Photo 1 of 6 View Full Size

Post# 1054894 , Reply# 17 12/20/2019 at 03:56 (1,581 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill Home of the RailwayTrials Merseyside,UK)
Checkrate/Likes *Colston Dishwasher* Hi Bob I do remember seeing Roberts Spintube Frigidaire at the first convention and did indeed marvel at it, It was the first spintube dishwasher I had see working ever, had never seen a Colston spin tube at all until many years later when I found the model above...Interesting machine !!

Post# 1054896 , Reply# 18 12/20/2019 at 03:58 (1,581 days old) by chestermikeuk (Rainhill Home of the RailwayTrials Merseyside,UK)
Checkrate/Likes *Colston Dishwasher* Great brochure there Alan, like Al had never seen that one, very interesting designs over the years and total ingenuity as to how they used that one spintube tube in so many different style outer cabinets. !!

Post# 1055214 , Reply# 20 12/23/2019 at 06:54 (1,578 days old) by vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield, East Midlands, UK)
Checkrate/Likes *You learn something new every day* Thanks for pointing up the video Nigel, I had no idea this design of machine was sold anywhere than the UK, although I would not have been surprised if it cropped up in Australia or South Africa. I wonder if Colston produced it for Rowenta of if they manufactured it under licence to Colston. It differs in several respects from the UK machines that I am familiar with, notably the mains indicator light, the reset button on the side and the rotating timer control, although that appeared on the later 1970s machines. I am not familiar with the workings of the earlier machines but it certainly differs from the later UK version (this is the floor standing 505 model) as can be seen below - the chief difference being that the earlier version has the spin tube belt driven rather than a turbine from the pumped water. Fascinating indeed :) Al Photos... < > Photo 1 of 3 View Full Size

Post# 1055216 , Reply# 21 12/23/2019 at 07:13 (1,578 days old) by gizmo (Victoria, Australia)
Checkrate/Likes *overseas sales* I can confirm that these were sold in Australia. I have a vague memory that some were badged as Pye, or dual-branded Colston-Pye or Pye-Colston?? I had one of the early benchtop ones with the lever handle at the top, I rescued it from the hard rubbish collection in the 1990s. It worked OK but took up too much bench space, took ages and made a racket so I put it back out and a neighbour adopted it....

Post# 1055221 , Reply# 22 12/23/2019 at 07:56 (1,578 days old) by Vacbear58 (Sutton In Ashfield, East Midlands, UK)
Checkrate/Likes *Pye* That makes sense as various vacuums were exported under the Pye brand, I think I have seen the twin tubs under the Pye brand. My comment about Australia/South Africa arose from my understanding of what Hoover did post WW2 with the 0307 and later washing machines under Charles Colstin�s management. My conjecture several years ago, and it is still conjecture, that this dishwasher was initially a Hoover project stems from all the hallmarks it shares with the 0307 - cheap to produce, compact, no special install necessary, just the machine to expand a fledgling market.