What are your earliest and favorite appliance memories?
I spent extended periods of time with my paternal grandmother from the time I was born.
My earliest appliance memories were of her washing clothes in a Maytag E2L wringer washer on the back porch. It had a compliment of 2 rinse tubs.
I had been raised from an early age to be careful of the wringer because I knew that I did not want my fingers and hand to look like the clothes that came out of the wringer.
I only recently found out that the lineage of my grandmothers Maytag E2L.
When my parents got settled in their first home, my father could not afford a new automatic washing machine. He went to a second hand store and found the Maytag E2L for a good price because the washer was stuck. He was told a gear was stripped.
Being a resourceful person, he took it apart, found the damaged gear, went to the Maytag appliance store, bought the part and installed it himself.
It worked reliably for my mother. One day while her father was visiting, he noticed her working to wash all of our familys clothes.
He decided that his daughter did not need to mess with a wringer washer and promptly went to the local appliance store, bought a new automatic washing machine for her.
My father thought of his own mother going to the laundromat to do her wash and gave it to her. His mother was so grateful to have any washing machine at her house and did not mind the wringer washer.
All of the preceding story occurred before I had any memory.
My memory begins with my grandmother washing clothes in that same Maytag E2L.
As a side note, the automatic washers electric motor froze up with my mothers hard use of the washer.
(It was a Maytag washer)
The appliance store serviceman told my father that the electric motor required regular 3 month lubrication. When the serviceman showed my father that the washer had to be pulled away from the wall and the back panel removed to lubricate the motor, he fussed about the design of the washer.
At my fathers suggestion, the serviceman rigged a copper pipe from the lubrication point to the top of the back panel. Every few months, my father lubricated the motor from that pipe and the motor lasted for many more years.
In the meantime, the Maytag E2L wringer washer at his mothers house faithfully worked on for many years with minimal maintenance by my father.
My father was very partial to Maytag because his experiences with that Maytag E2L wringer washer.
What is the history of appliances you have owned?
Maytag Model 30 wringer washer was bought from a local man who had no idea of its lineage.
Have you ever worked on, repaired and/or restored any major appliances?
I have been restoring and maintaining lawn equipment, cars, sewing machines and untold machines from 10 years old.
My father seemed to be able to fix anything he put his mind to and that mindset has rubbed off on me.
I can relate to the Dilbert cartoon episode, "The Knack".
I have always looked at things and wanted to know how it works, how to take it apart to see how it works and if broken how to fix it.
When I was 10 years old, I had a small engine repair business where the local small engine shop sublet work to me.
I used the profits of the business to buy the best tools I could afford and I am glad because I still use many of those tools in my restoration projects.
