I've always liked Frigidaire's Honey Beige color. Those machines look good in it.
The most stylish "Cadillac of washers"?
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thatwasherguy
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Here’s the pictures. These are of my 1978 set. I posted my first reply right before I went to bed, so I didn’t even think to post pictures.
Thatwasherguy.
Thatwasherguy.
Robert, I've probably mentioned this before, but my neighbor across the street (that was also behind us in our 1948 house) got that Hotpoint Touch Command dryer (in the black) from her sister when the washer bit the dust. The dryer replaced her 1957/1958 Frog Eye kenmore with the sunburst timer dial. The control panel was hard for me to see in her laundry room so I never got to really understand it. She had the cycle button she always used pushed and I just pushed the start button.
And Chet, that Hotpoint washer did have the warm rinse option button you could select for any cycle. It was part of the slelect segment of the control panel right next to the Master On Off power buttons at the far right end.
And Chet, that Hotpoint washer did have the warm rinse option button you could select for any cycle. It was part of the slelect segment of the control panel right next to the Master On Off power buttons at the far right end.
Yes to panel lights!
Mid '60's Lady Kenmore laundry pair with all the piano keys. I'll try to find a photo.
I've always loved the Ladies. Lady Kenmores that is. I would have to go with the 1963 Lady Kenmore or the 1957 Lady Kenmore.
Robert, That 57 Frigidaire set is to die for. Those are definitely a top contender. I especially love their advertisements from back then.
Robert, That 57 Frigidaire set is to die for. Those are definitely a top contender. I especially love their advertisements from back then.
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It’s really tough to agree with the sentiment above. Just because a poster didn’t include a photo or photos does not discount their opinion from relevance, nor should they be excluded from discussion. Most members here should have an idea of what a center dial Maytag looks like, as well as many 1950s and 1960s Frigidaires. So no pics? So what….Both have been shared in photos on this site repeatedly for decades.
As to what we consider the most stylish of washers ——doesn’t that seem like a question with as many varied opinions, each as valid as the next, as were the opinions at the time regarding the Cadillacs?
Many will answer this, many with lifelong enthusiasm for one style or brand, but I wonder whether or not we could all agree upon a hierarchy of brands and models. Isn’t this what gives a hobby it’s energy? But in the meantime the discussion and banter is what makes this very personal hobby even more “personaler”
Gordon
My personal view lines up with Justin’s, especially regarding the 1963 Lady Kenmore. Had so many neighbors and even a family member with them growing up, that I thought they were absolutely awesome. I still feel that way about them today.
G
Gordon it's good to see you posting. I had a friend growing up whose mom had a 1963 Lady Kenmore. Remember that machine well. I don't think I ever saw it with the detergent cap off the agitator. In about 1981 I think it broke down and they replaced it with an electronic lady Kenmore. I just remember being about 14 at the time how big that tub was in the Lady compared to the 1963 Lady
When mentioning Cadillac, I'm assuming it's referred to cutting edge styling with glamourous touches.
I'd say Frigidaire had that down from 1958-late 1960's. Like their autos, GM had styling down to a perfection from 1959- mid 1960's era (appliance styling held through to 1969, a bit longer than their autos). Everything they built styling wise was just bloody magical. I hope those in the styling and engineering departments were handsomely compensated during that time.
Late 50's TOL Whirlpools had a very nice cutting edge, elegant look to them. Whirlpool also had many features that others didn't at the time.
Late 50's- early 60's TOL Norge and GE has some beautiful consoles, even with unique automatic dispensers.
For the running gear, I'd say Maytag had that one down pat. Smooth, quiet, elegant. A very good suspension when properly adjusted, lubed, and working as intended. Reliability wise, I'd put that into the late 90's era Toyota category. Much more reliable than any Cadillac!
I'd say Frigidaire had that down from 1958-late 1960's. Like their autos, GM had styling down to a perfection from 1959- mid 1960's era (appliance styling held through to 1969, a bit longer than their autos). Everything they built styling wise was just bloody magical. I hope those in the styling and engineering departments were handsomely compensated during that time.
Late 50's TOL Whirlpools had a very nice cutting edge, elegant look to them. Whirlpool also had many features that others didn't at the time.
Late 50's- early 60's TOL Norge and GE has some beautiful consoles, even with unique automatic dispensers.
For the running gear, I'd say Maytag had that one down pat. Smooth, quiet, elegant. A very good suspension when properly adjusted, lubed, and working as intended. Reliability wise, I'd put that into the late 90's era Toyota category. Much more reliable than any Cadillac!
The thing is Cadillacs can be fixed and keep running.... How many Toyotas are still on the road from the 1970s ?
The thing is Cadillacs can be fixed and keep running.... How many Toyotas are still on the road from the 1970s ?
Well, I mentioned 90's era Toyota, not 70's. I've seen more 70's Toyotas (mid and especially late 70's) on the road driving around (not at car shows, actually driving around) than mid-late 70's Cadillacs. The 70's, particularly mid and late 70's, were not good to GM and that definitely includes Cadillac. Things got significantly worse in the 1980's. Parts were already getting hard to find for 70's Cadillacs by the 90's, not sure how one is "fixing them up" besides really basic parts like tune-up and water pump/fuel pump/alternator etc. It's not a Chevy/Ford truck.
I'd say there's probably more 70's Toyotas on the road in saltless areas than 1-18's pulsing away in laundry rooms.
Well, I mentioned 90's era Toyota, not 70's. I've seen more 70's Toyotas (mid and especially late 70's) on the road driving around (not at car shows, actually driving around) than mid-late 70's Cadillacs. The 70's, particularly mid and late 70's, were not good to GM and that definitely includes Cadillac. Things got significantly worse in the 1980's. Parts were already getting hard to find for 70's Cadillacs by the 90's, not sure how one is "fixing them up" besides really basic parts like tune-up and water pump/fuel pump/alternator etc. It's not a Chevy/Ford truck.
I'd say there's probably more 70's Toyotas on the road in saltless areas than 1-18's pulsing away in laundry rooms.
The 1970’s were not a good era for GM or Chrysler. I’ve never seen a 1971 to 1976 Chevy Impala in person, let alone one from 1974/1975. Haven’t seen many Chrysler cars on the road from that era either. I’ve seen far more Fords from that time period on the road in the 2000’s and early 2010’s, my guess is it probably had to do with Ford putting their cars together with more care and stringent quality control around this time. Ford even had a commercial in the 1970’s that went along the lines of “The closer you look, the better we look” which pointed out how the body panels lined up and such.
Then again, the 1971 to 1976 GM cars weren’t very good since GM was cutting costs with that particular generation. A Ford LTD from 1972 essentially was a late 60’s car that was warmed over (that particular body shell dates back to 1969, easier to tell with Mercury Marquis made from 1969 to 1972), probably explains why they were still built pretty well around that time. In 1973, they were re-designed from the floor pan for the 5 mph bumpers but still were in the same mechanically.
Some Fords from the 1970’s are like cockroaches, they refuse to die and are impossible to kill.
Ford wasn't immune to obsolete parts. I had to scour the junkyards in 1996 or 1997 for a working choke pull off for my grandparents 1982 Lincoln Towncar 'cause Ford in their infinite wisdom discontinued it around 1995. That was kind of a high failure part, too. If I remember correctly, this design was used until 1985. It's kind of a big deal not having a choke and fast idle during the winter months in Reno, Nevada. Using a choke and fast idle setup on a EFI design was pretty laughable, I didn't belive until I saw it. Of course, I was laughing at GM still using throttle body EFI in 1995 when I rasied teh hood on a '95 Chevy truck. Everybody else was using multiport FI for around 10 years. Then there was GM still using a fucking carburetor on their TOL Cadillacs in 1989 
My buddy went to the Ford dealership in 1997 looking for a headlight vacuum motor for his 1979 Lincoln Continental. The parts department laughed him right out the door. Finding most of the gazillion vacuum motors for 70's GM or Ford luxury products hasn't been an easy task for nearly 30 years. Keeping 70's luxury cars on the road hasn't been a walk in the park for over 3 decades.
Edit: I forget to mention the Autolite 4300 and 4350 carbs. Those were definitely not good designs and angered many owners. The 4100 was a pretty good design though.
My buddy went to the Ford dealership in 1997 looking for a headlight vacuum motor for his 1979 Lincoln Continental. The parts department laughed him right out the door. Finding most of the gazillion vacuum motors for 70's GM or Ford luxury products hasn't been an easy task for nearly 30 years. Keeping 70's luxury cars on the road hasn't been a walk in the park for over 3 decades.
Edit: I forget to mention the Autolite 4300 and 4350 carbs. Those were definitely not good designs and angered many owners. The 4100 was a pretty good design though.
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If you’re talking about automobile longevity from the 60s through 2000 Chrysler would be a hands-down winner.
Chrysler had much more repairable automobiles and much more enthusiastic owners as a group and the other US makers.
Come to Carlisle Pennsylvania for the hundredth anniversary Chrysler show This July it’s being held on my birthday around July 11.
Normally, this show draws more than 10,000 people and thousands of Chrysler automobiles.
Throughout the 60s and 70s Chrysler made nearly all of the police cars in this region all of the taxi cabs from New York through Atlanta Their cars were just more rugged.
Even consumer reports found this out when they did an article many years ago about how to keep your car for over 100,000 miles and they commented that there was a disproportionately high percentage of Chrysler products among owners who had managed to keep their cars more than 10 years and over 100,000 miles.
John L
Chrysler had much more repairable automobiles and much more enthusiastic owners as a group and the other US makers.
Come to Carlisle Pennsylvania for the hundredth anniversary Chrysler show This July it’s being held on my birthday around July 11.
Normally, this show draws more than 10,000 people and thousands of Chrysler automobiles.
Throughout the 60s and 70s Chrysler made nearly all of the police cars in this region all of the taxi cabs from New York through Atlanta Their cars were just more rugged.
Even consumer reports found this out when they did an article many years ago about how to keep your car for over 100,000 miles and they commented that there was a disproportionately high percentage of Chrysler products among owners who had managed to keep their cars more than 10 years and over 100,000 miles.
John L
The GE timeline from the mid-60s is one of the more beautiful GE washers. Their top of the line machines weren't too shabby.
If the 1957 Frigidaire Imperial Control Towers aren't displayed in MOMA, somebody's asleep at the wheel.
One of my many choices for runners up would be the other Automobile company's Philco "juke-box" washing machine that I saw in the display window of Bloom and Krup in the late sixties. I understand that this wasn't a champ in either performance or reliability, but it was an attention-grabber. And its insides were as jazzy as its outside.
If the 1957 Frigidaire Imperial Control Towers deserve a display at MOMA, the Philcos deserve a nook at Graceland.
One of my many choices for runners up would be the other Automobile company's Philco "juke-box" washing machine that I saw in the display window of Bloom and Krup in the late sixties. I understand that this wasn't a champ in either performance or reliability, but it was an attention-grabber. And its insides were as jazzy as its outside.
If the 1957 Frigidaire Imperial Control Towers deserve a display at MOMA, the Philcos deserve a nook at Graceland.
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and thank you Greg! I'm glad somebody else said it... and that beautiful pink GE kitchen just screams Fred and Ethel Mertz.
*Some* 1971-1976 GM cars weren't very good, but the Cadillacs were an exception, in fact I'd put them up against a 90's Toyota any day (just ignore those panel gaps). While the rust-proofing was middling, they seemed to have outlasted the Corollas in the rust belt. The 1968-1979 drivetrains were right up there with 2JZ's. High nickel content & THM-400/425 trans', good for 200k-300k of abuse. Thirsty? You betcha. (How many gallons in that 806?) 5 MPH bumpers? Oh yeah. Dead reliable, but easy to service when the time came? Yes. Parts were (and still are) cheap. And there's still a ton out there for sale being passed down from 3rd, 4th, 5th owners being bought by folks who have no idea what they're doing. Sounds like a Maytag to me.
Now, are they as stylish as the 50's/60's models that this thread leans towards? Well, erm, not exactly. But then neither was an LTD II.
A '57 Frigidaire Control Tower set? That's a 1960 CdV all day long.
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Regards to Fords of the early to mid 1970s (I don't recall the specific year) ... we had an LTD station wagon. The transmission needed service at some lower-mileage point. Dad was not impressed.
I'm still looking at these in awe. Are they easy to work on? How often do these appear in the wild? Hard to acquire? Thank you.
Still not convinced about GM or Chrysler.
Made this back in 2023 as a way to roast GM, mainly Chevrolet
My own taste leans more toward the impeccable design of the Control Towers, but for bling those Hotpoints are hard to beat! How about the '58 Norge Dispensomat, that also had a huge panel with buttons galore.
As my friend who is a Ford guy likes to call GM=General Mess.... My current car is a Chevy Malibu and my last car was a 2013 Chevy Malibu. Sold it to my friend's daughter in 2022 and the car still looks like new and is running well.
My current 2020 Malibu hasn't had no major problems. I wish GM didn't stop making them. I'll take them over any Toyota Camry or Honda Accord or anything with a Hyundai nameplate if I can help it.
My current 2020 Malibu hasn't had no major problems. I wish GM didn't stop making them. I'll take them over any Toyota Camry or Honda Accord or anything with a Hyundai nameplate if I can help it.
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Now back to washers please.
My choice for the Cadillac of washers was the mid-1960's piano key Lady Kenmore. It was festooned with all the options, features, and styling that would appear decades later in other machines.
Norge through Montgomery Wards also made a very nice looking top of the line washer in the mid 70s. Would love to find one of those decked out machines .
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