Thread Number: 92956
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
The Vintage Laundry Room: Part One |
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Post# 1175324   3/20/2023 at 16:15 (725 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Welcome to The Vintage Laundry Room thread! Here, we'll be posting vintage magazine articles on smart and step saving designs for the laundry room. Vintage articles of tips and techniques for obtaining those dazzling laundry results that will make you the envy of The Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League.
Please, do not post any advertisements for laundry equipment or cleaning products. Laundry equipment advertisements can be accessed in the Vintage Appliance Advertisements thread series and for cleaning products please refer to the Modern Living thread series. Thank you and enjoy!
Equipping the Labor-Saving Laundry 1932 Part 00 https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?92879 |
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Post# 1175326 , Reply# 1   3/20/2023 at 16:24 (725 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1175327 , Reply# 2   3/20/2023 at 16:35 (725 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1175528 , Reply# 3   3/21/2023 at 23:46 (724 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1175691 , Reply# 4   3/22/2023 at 23:53 (723 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1176503 , Reply# 5   3/29/2023 at 22:48 (716 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1176513 , Reply# 6   3/30/2023 at 00:15 (716 days old) by CircleW ![]() |
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My dad's cousin Mary's house had a built-in ironing board in the kitchen. It was original to the house, which was built in the early 1920's. |
Post# 1176515 , Reply# 7   3/30/2023 at 00:38 (716 days old) by ea56 ![]() |
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The house that David and I lived in when we we first married was a Craftsman Bungalow that was built in the early 1920’s and it had a built in ironing board in the kitchen. I never used it because I like to watch TV when I’m ironing and the only TV we had then was in the living room. But the built in ironing board was a nice feature. There was also an old fashioned “cooler” built into the kitchen cabinets too. It was great for keeping potatoes, onions and anything else you wanted to stay cool but that didn’t need refrigeration.
Eddie |
Post# 1176520 , Reply# 8   3/30/2023 at 01:01 (716 days old) by Launderess ![]() |
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Laundry chutes along with dumb waiters were deemed fire hazards (both can act like chimneys in event of fire). Some local fire codes forbid or have restrictions on one or both.
Other worry was for potential harm to small children who might be tempted. www.bobvila.com/articles/... www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-x... www.inspectionnews.net/home_insp... When one was involved with nursing nearly all those big old barns of hospitals had laundry chutes in utility room or somewhere on floors. They were a boon in dealing with large number of bags filled with laundry. Old hotels, dorms and other building had them as well. Again now most have gone by wayside. Bags are placed on carts and transported on elevators. All this being said anyone considering buying an older home may very well find a laundry chute or dumb waiter is still there, just sealed over. In basements just look up towards ceiling. Besides seeing remains of pulleys and other contraptions that controlled coal fueled boilers or furnaces you may see opening for laundry chute. |
Post# 1176534 , Reply# 9   3/30/2023 at 05:20 (715 days old) by askolover ![]() |
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Post# 1176536 , Reply# 10   3/30/2023 at 06:09 (715 days old) by Launderess ![]() |
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Hospital laundries and linen supply have always fascinated me.
Can remember being deputized to be sent to accompany a supervisor (who held a huge set of keys) to unlock rooms were stored fresh linen from laundries were kept when floor or unit was assigned ran out. You'd think that RN was counting out heirloom pure Irish or French linens being so miserly. Interesting read about laundry chutes: www.theatlantic.com/techn... |
Post# 1176540 , Reply# 11   3/30/2023 at 08:37 (715 days old) by DADoES ![]() |
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Post# 1176550 , Reply# 13   3/30/2023 at 11:26 (715 days old) by ea56 ![]() |
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Tom, the cooler in this bungalow had a regular door on it that matched the rest of the cabinets. The bottom and top of the cooler had wooden in slats so the cool air from underneath the house could circulate thru the cooler. The house that we lived in from 1954-58 which was built in 1927 also had a cooler like this, as well as a built in ironing board and yes, a laundry chute too!
The laundry chute was in a closet at the end of the hall that the upstairs bathroom and the 3 bedrooms were off of. The laundry went into a closed cabinet downstairs between the two downstairs bedrooms near the basement. This cabinet had doors on it that were similar to the kind on old fashioned wooden Ice Boxes and they were painted white. I think that my Mom really liked the laundry chute. She had her hands full with 3 little kids under the age of 5. She was a tiny women only 4’9” tall. The Bendix Economat was in the basement, adjacent to the area where the laundry chute terminated. It made it much easier for her to haul the families dirty clothes into the basement to wash them. We didn’t have a dryer until after my sister was born in Aug ‘55. Before we got the dryer the laundry was hung on several clothes lines that were suspended from the basement ceiling. The first dryer we had was a ‘55 Norge Timeline. Shortly after we got the dryer the Bendix Economat was replaced with a Hamilton Automatic, also with the Timeline control on the back panel. Eddie This post was last edited 03/30/2023 at 12:12 |
Post# 1176563 , Reply# 14   3/30/2023 at 15:20 (715 days old) by rpms (ontario canada)   |   | |
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The house across the street has a laundry chute which might be still used.
The house was built in the 50's. The chute was located under the sink in the bathroom. Had a little door you opened. I was at a friend's house, a big old Edwardian monster with three floors. The chute was in the hall behind a little door. Clothes dropped down into the laundry tub. My friend said at Christmas when she was little and all the cousins were there it was great fun dropping the cat down the chute. |
Post# 1176567 , Reply# 15   3/30/2023 at 15:44 (715 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1176569 , Reply# 16   3/30/2023 at 15:57 (715 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1176577 , Reply# 17   3/30/2023 at 16:48 (715 days old) by DADoES ![]() |
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Post# 1176596 , Reply# 19   3/30/2023 at 18:30 (715 days old) by appnut ![]() |
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Post# 1176598 , Reply# 20   3/30/2023 at 18:41 (715 days old) by ea56 ![]() |
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Post# 1176612 , Reply# 21   3/30/2023 at 21:42 (715 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)   |   | |
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Post# 1176616 , Reply# 22   3/30/2023 at 22:56 (715 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1176953 , Reply# 23   4/2/2023 at 21:45 (712 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1176954 , Reply# 24   4/2/2023 at 22:08 (712 days old) by DADoES ![]() |
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Post# 1176986 , Reply# 25   4/3/2023 at 09:46 (711 days old) by kd12 (Arkansas)   |   | |
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That GE combination sink/washing machine must be a rare bird. I know GE did a lot of electric sink/kitchenette designs but this is a new one for me. |
Post# 1177003 , Reply# 26   4/3/2023 at 12:33 (711 days old) by appnut ![]() |
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Post# 1177131 , Reply# 27   4/4/2023 at 12:43 (710 days old) by Mickeyd (Hamburg NY)   |   | |
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In the fall, my niece and her new family bought a big old house in the once Tony section of North Buffalo with servants quarters and the whole 9 yards. I’ve been there a bunch of times but on the weekend Meegan had a party and called me into the old pantry to show me this relic and I said, “But this is not a washing machine ha ha ha.” For you Louie: next time I’ll examine that little control panel there was a lot going on and I forgot.
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Post# 1177132 , Reply# 28   4/4/2023 at 12:51 (710 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)   |   | |
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Post# 1177166 , Reply# 29   4/4/2023 at 17:43 (710 days old) by CircleW ![]() |
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Mike, I think that is one of the NuTone built-in ironing boards, with the light, timer and electric receptacle. We sold these when I worked at a plumbing supply company that was a NuTone distributor. That was in the early 90's. |
Post# 1177226 , Reply# 30   4/5/2023 at 10:49 (709 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)   |   | |
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Post# 1178989 , Reply# 31   4/24/2023 at 16:35 (690 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1199646 , Reply# 32   2/18/2024 at 18:26 (390 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1199687 , Reply# 33   2/19/2024 at 12:10 (389 days old) by bajaespuma ![]() |
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![]() I'd love to have a whole room for Laundry with a huge ironing table for sheets. Some of my favorite vintage machines:
properly ensconced: |
Post# 1199690 , Reply# 34   2/19/2024 at 13:09 (389 days old) by CircleW ![]() |
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When my cousins built their new house in Austin, TX in 1984 it had the valves recessed in the wall. The washer and dryer were Kenmore rather than GE. I've also been in many model homes (Homearama) where the plumbing was installed that way. |
Post# 1199778 , Reply# 35   2/20/2024 at 15:57 (388 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1199781 , Reply# 36   2/20/2024 at 16:25 (388 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1199786 , Reply# 37   2/20/2024 at 17:07 (388 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1200663 , Reply# 38   3/3/2024 at 07:17 (376 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1200956 , Reply# 39   3/6/2024 at 11:00 (373 days old) by Mickeyd (Hamburg NY)   |   | |
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The material starting at Reply #32 is so illuminating. We have known that timers arrived on Wringer Washers simultaneously with automatics' mass production, circa 1950, but what is HOLY COW HOMER, is the two-speed option on a '50 machine whose control configuration is Blackstone-like, but whose tub ribbing is early Apex. What a find!.
Also fun for Launderess who often calls wringers mangles, here are wringer washers with real mangles--IRONERS--that attach to the wringer column; that large one looks to be very serious business and beautiful. Mike and the UK lads will like their country's style of wringers that come off and store in the washer. Who knew we once had them here?! But the best thing of all is the rinsing wringer. We've seen them on the Visimatic and the Apex, but this one has a double wringer system where the laundry is wrung once, then rinsed, then wrung again, Maddddooonne. Great stuff, Louis, a real eye-opener and gasp;'D Much appreciated. |
Post# 1201060 , Reply# 40   3/7/2024 at 16:00 (372 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1201061 , Reply# 41   3/7/2024 at 16:01 (372 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1201062 , Reply# 42   3/7/2024 at 16:25 (372 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1201063 , Reply# 43   3/7/2024 at 16:28 (372 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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Post# 1202127 , Reply# 44   3/22/2024 at 22:31 (357 days old) by Ultramatic ![]() |
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