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Thread Number: 97715
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
Whirlpool Open House 1953 - 16mm |
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Post# 1226462 3/13/2025 at 14:45 by cadman  (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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Set your wayback machine for October, 1953, and come along for a tour and open house at Whirlpool Corp, St. Joe, MI.
If the 16mm Kodachrome isn't enough, there's also the still photos taken by WP's PR Dept, uploaded in Part 2. If you like these vids, please subscribe to The Laundry Archive. My hope is to upload something new each week. | ||
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Post# 1226467 , Reply# 1 3/13/2025 at 15:54 by Maytagmike (Burlington, Vt) |
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16 MM films back to life | ||
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Post# 1226474 , Reply# 2 3/13/2025 at 18:55 by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions) |
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Love it! | ||
| Post# 1226480 , Reply# 3 3/13/2025 at 20:48 by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas) | ||
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Post# 1226505 , Reply# 4 3/14/2025 at 09:37 by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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Post# 1226535 , Reply# 5 3/14/2025 at 18:04 by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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Totally impressed Cory, and I've subscribed to your channel! I assume these 16mm films that you've digitized don't have a sound track?
Look how freaking cool this demonstration '52/'53 Whirlpool is, now this would be a find for sure.
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| Post# 1226536 , Reply# 6 3/14/2025 at 18:25 by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
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| Post# 1226540 , Reply# 7 3/14/2025 at 20:19 by Agiflow (Toms River) | ||
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Totally cool Cory. Thank you for these. | ||
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Post# 1226544 , Reply# 8 3/14/2025 at 23:24 by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA (considering moving to Temple, Texas)) |
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factory size I bet that factory was huge. I know today it would take forever to walk through it with Maytag involved. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Whirlpool was the world leader of laundry in the world especially after coming out with the dual action agitator and direct drive unlike everybody else before them. | ||
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Post# 1226551 , Reply# 9 3/15/2025 at 10:37 by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area) |
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Evidently at that time both washers and dryers were produced in that location. To the best of my knowledge, all washers are now made in the Clyde, OH plant, and dryers in Marion, OH. Both of those are huge facilities, as is their dishwasher factory in Findlay, OH. | ||
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Post# 1226590 , Reply# 10 3/15/2025 at 17:24 by cadman (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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Re#5: Isn't that demo washer great?! And of course there was the matching dryer. And you're correct, these are silent films, often the only copy made. But I do have some commercially produced films with soundtracks in the pipeline.
Re#8: The Benton Harbor / St. Joe facility was absolutely massive. When the highway was realigned in the mid-50's to avoid driving through the factory campus, they actually built the new road as a straight shot -over the top- of the facility (top left corner of the pic below). The 1953 film captures this mid-way through construction, where they had finished the first elevated portion (in Part 2 there's a still image of a firetruck, and in the background is the elevated road and staircase employees would use). But you can see in Part 1 (where the "day's production" of all the boxes lined up) that the road ends in dirt. Don't bother google-mapping any of this. It's all gone.
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Post# 1226592 , Reply# 11 3/15/2025 at 18:22 by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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Post# 1226615 , Reply# 12 3/16/2025 at 07:19 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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1953 whirlpool Saint Joseph Michigan open house
Thank you, Corey for posting this really enjoyed that, over the last few months. I’ve been going through boxes of literature from a friend that died who was in collector of anything whirlpool or KitchenAid. We haven’t scratched the surface of it yet finding lots of cool stuff some of which I’ll post.
I think the neatest thing about this huge factory in United States is the exact same company is still building the largest number of automatic washers in the United States in union plants here in Clyde, Ohio. We can still buy high-quality American made appliances at a competitive price appliances that are easy to repair and have long lifespans. The average new whirlpool built washing machine will not require nearly as many service calls as these early machines and many of them will last in excess of 30 years when they’re in lighter use situations, in fact, I’m sure the average life expectancy of the machines coming out of the factory Today is probably nearly twice as long as 1953 washers, which were lucky to last 10 years in spite of their high cost. Keep up the great post Cory. I’ll try to post some pictures of some of the stuff. I’m uncovering. John L | ||
| Post# 1226628 , Reply# 13 3/16/2025 at 14:18 by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
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I highly doubt that today’s modern Whirlpool washers will be around in 30 years time. Quite a few of the Whirlpool VMW machines from around 2011 have already been crushed, some were less than 10 years old when they were junked.
If newer Whirlpools and machines, appliances, cars etc were REALLY that better, appliance technicians and mechanics would be out of a job, period. When you have something that’s essentially a glorified compact washer thrown inside a full sized cabinet, won’t last for very long. | ||
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Post# 1226636 , Reply# 15 3/16/2025 at 16:51 by Chetlaham (United States) |
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| Post# 1226638 , Reply# 16 3/16/2025 at 17:11 by qsd-dan (West) | ||
"The average new whirlpool built washing machine will not require nearly as many service calls as these early machines and many of them will last in excess of 30 years when they’re in lighter use situations, in fact, I’m sure the average life expectancy of the machines coming out of the factory Today is probably nearly twice as long as 1953 washers, which were lucky to last 10 years in spite of their high cost."
This has GOT to be a joke! The VMW washers are a disaster for owners but a gold mine for repairmen and parts warehouses. Dead control boards, mode shifters failures, stripped splutches, transmission failures, center seal leaks (getting better at those, I'll admit that), suspension rods failures, dead pumps, and the list goes on. These are not rare failures but very common ones. Because Whirlpool likes to obsolete parts in 15 years or less, NONE of these will make it anywhere near 30 years. I personally think these are a bigger disaster than the Calypso and most of those were crushed and recycled many years ago. There's almost none of those left and ALL parts are NLA. The Maytag Neptune top load FAV's are another example of a disaster. Almost none of those exist, either, and for a good reason. Todays appliances are disposable junk with short lifespans and parts that are obesoleted rathery quickly, there's no arguing that anymore. | ||
| Post# 1226640 , Reply# 17 3/16/2025 at 17:34 by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
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“Because Whirlpool likes to obsolete parts in 15 years or less”
Oh, tell me about it. Even back in the day Whirlpool made parts obsolete after 15 years or less, timers for my Whirlpool were already NLA by the late 70’s. Whirlpool from day one even back then wanted to the average lifespan to be 15 years or less. On the other hand, Maytag made machines for life, let the word of mouth be their advertising for them. | ||
| Post# 1226643 , Reply# 18 3/16/2025 at 18:33 by Agiflow (Toms River) | ||
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No Chet. The KitchenAid I showed in the picture is the one I'm going to be getting tomorrow | ||
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Post# 1226654 , Reply# 19 3/16/2025 at 20:13 by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis) |
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The average new whirlpool built washing machine will not require nearly as many service calls as these early machines and many of them will last in excess of 30 years when they’re in lighter use situations, in fact, I’m sure the average life expectancy of the machines coming out of the factory Today is probably nearly twice as long as 1953 washers, which were lucky to last 10 years in spite of their high cost.
My grandmother's sister (my great aunt) had that exact 1952/1953 model Whirlpool washer in her kitchen in Bayside Queens, NY. She raised two kids and her husband with that washer. I last saw it in 1978 right before we moved to south Florida and that washer was still going strong. That washer was then 25 years old. My grandmother who had a 1958 Frigidaire Pulsamatic in her kitchen in NJ was still using and it worked perfectly when she sold it in 1973 as they were moving to south Florida. She put a classified ad in the local newspaper and it sold in a day or two. I was so very sad to see it gone. That machine was 15 years old when it was sold. My other grandmother had a 1959 Kenmore washer that she left in her NJ apartment kitchen when she moved to Florida in 1977. That machine was also still working perfectly when she moved at the rip old age of 18. I always talked about these machines with these ladies and not one of them mention needing any repairs to me at any time. That's not to say they weren't repaired at some time but not to the point of needing to be replace. I very well remember with my own eyes how long these early machines lasted within my own family. | ||
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Post# 1226658 , Reply# 20 3/16/2025 at 20:52 by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA (considering moving to Temple, Texas)) |
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vmw Another thing I hate about the VMW is the poor wash action especially with dirty construction clothes and the machines will goo out of balance. | ||
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Post# 1226659 , Reply# 21 3/16/2025 at 20:58 by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA (considering moving to Temple, Texas)) |
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whirlpool huge plant I never knew that plant at whirlpool was huge back then. I know about today. | ||
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Post# 1226663 , Reply# 22 3/16/2025 at 21:24 by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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 I'll cite again our 1962 WP that had numerous repairs through its 15 years. Mercury lid switch bracket rusted off. Wigwag. Pump. Belt. Water valve hung, flood (in the garage). Bearings. Centrifugal motor start switch went flaky ... would hang in run-mode, not reset to engage the start winding, particularly on low speed after the first spin so rinse agitation wouldn't start immediately. The bakelite agitator cracked, although that presumably was related to some sort of problem with the threads in the agitator shaft that may have occurred during the bearing replacement, which had the servicer replace the chrome cap with a stack of washers of graduated size (larger on the bottom, smaller toward the top) and a bolt. Bearings bad a second time led to its replacement. It had very heavy use in a family of 5, to be fair, including cloth diapers for three kids and dad owning/operating a service station, sometimes showering/changing at noon-time. | ||
| Post# 1226664 , Reply# 23 3/16/2025 at 21:59 by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
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I’ll side with Robert in reply #19. The only repair I’ve had to do to my 1973 Maytag A606 was a inlet valve back in 2023, only repair my Maytag DE806 needed was one of the wires to be re-spaded to the cycling thermostat, that’s about it. The 1979 Maytag A806 hasn’t needed a repair in nearly the 3 years I’ve owned it, that’s with it doing on average 1 to 2 loads a day, only work it will need in the near future is a re-paint of the cabinet and some cosmetic work, that’s literally it for that machine.
All in all, can’t really complain too much. I’d say the average lifespan of machines back then was a good 15 to 20 years, could get 30 to 40 if you babied the machine and were diligent with loading practices and washing items with like items, turning the timer slowly to prevent wearing out the cam assembly. | ||
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Post# 1226676 , Reply# 24 3/16/2025 at 23:24 by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA (considering moving to Temple, Texas)) |
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rapid growth of whirlpool I remember reading something about the rapid growth of whirlpool when they came out with their design 2000 in 1985 or that's when the New York Times article was posted when they took a dozen years to develop this design. | ||
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Post# 1226680 , Reply# 26 3/17/2025 at 00:08 by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Jerome, direct-drive introduced under the Kenmore brand in late 1981. WP's first was 1982 model-year LB5500XK, as I recall and per the hardcopy service manual I have which references it and is dated 1981. | ||
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Post# 1226736 , Reply# 27 3/17/2025 at 23:44 by GELaundry4ever (Nacogdoches, TX, USA (considering moving to Temple, Texas)) |
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kenmore I've never had anything shredded in a direct drive Kenmore. I never knew that the same agitator would be found in a maytag until years later. | ||
| Post# 1226851 , Reply# 29 3/19/2025 at 21:47 by qsd-dan (West) | ||
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| Post# 1226852 , Reply# 30 3/19/2025 at 22:03 by Agiflow (Toms River) | ||
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Sounds like a plausible scenario. Big difference between the quality of those old hanging suspensions compared to what WP produces now. | ||
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Post# 1226853 , Reply# 31 3/19/2025 at 22:07 by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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| Post# 1226854 , Reply# 32 3/19/2025 at 23:22 by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
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Since I took mine apart last year, there’s 3 suspension rods with a rubber ball at each end (6 in total), there’s a snubber which puts pressure on the tub ring to create some resistance so it can’t move around as easily in either agitate or spin. Without the snubber, it would go off balance fairly easily which can hit the off balance switch (if it has one), or could bump the off balance switch during agitation which would get annoying fairly quickly, though I imagine that wasn’t entirely common either.
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| Post# 1226856 , Reply# 33 3/20/2025 at 00:02 by qsd-dan (West) | ||
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Seems you've not examined a classic belt-drive Whirlpool | ||
| Post# 1226859 , Reply# 34 3/20/2025 at 00:41 by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
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Crazy as this sounds, I’m probably the only one or very few people in my age demographic who has more experience with the belt drives than I do with the direct drives despite growing up with them back in the 2000’s.
While the belt drives aren’t entirely perfect, at least they don’t have transmission issues like the direct drives with neutral drain pack which can fail putting more stress on the spin clutch wearing it out prematurely. Once I get the consoles transplanted on, shouldn’t have to worry about anything for a long, long time. Packed the center post full of grease to make the bearings last a bit longer. | ||
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Post# 1226863 , Reply# 35 3/20/2025 at 06:47 by Combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Whirlpool belt drive hanging suspension system
Was probably about the most rugged suspension system any suspended washer ever used, however, I have seen a failure twice one time the front left rod rusted so badly at the bottom from a leaky bleach dispenser that it broke and let the unit fall a little bit the other time, the little steel tab at the end of the rod broke at the top That was the right rear of the machine. The machine where the weld failed was easy to fix the other machine was so rusty down at the base plate area. That machine was just recycled.
The suspension system in the belt drive machine was very rugged and simple. It was not good at reducing vibration so they couldn’t get the spin speed very fast, it’s generally not a good idea to only have three suspension points. You’re not gonna get very good even damping and control. This was one of the big problems with dependable Care Maytag. They should’ve had four or maybe six springs they always went out of balance too easily and could not control an off balance load, which is why they had to stick with an unbalanced switch to keep the machines from being uncontrollable. Hi Sean, whirlpool belt drive washer transmissions had plenty of failures and they were much harder to remove and repair than the direct drive transmissions so most times the machines were just junked when you had a transmission problem. Packing more grease in the bearings of a belt drive machine will not make the bearings last any longer keeping water out will, the only reason the bearings ever fail on just about any washing machine is when water gets into them. John L | ||
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Post# 1226867 , Reply# 37 3/20/2025 at 10:10 by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Belt-drive snubber ... IMO doesn't have as much effect as may be perceived. Service literature of the 1950s/1960s vintage that I've seen states that it should prevent tub/cabinet impact when spinning a (whopping) 4-pound weight, although the tension may have later been strengthened. The old-style porcelain tub cover without a splash guard flange would have the snubber inundated with slippery/soapy splashes of water at lower fill levels which greatly reduced the friction. | ||
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Post# 1226868 , Reply# 38 3/20/2025 at 10:11 by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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| Post# 1226922 , Reply# 39 3/20/2025 at 23:31 by Maytag85 (Sean A806) | ||
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“Were much harder to remove and repair than the direct drive transmissions”
Since I’ve removed and installed mine quite a few times, it’s not all that bad. Even rebuilt the transmission about 4 years ago, was fairly straightforward. My Whirlpool according to Strictlybojack who I bought the machine from was in service from 1963 to 2005, only repairs it had from what I could tell was general things like the belt and pump, a few other odds and ends. | ||
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