1937 G.E. Electric Sink - I just brought it home

[dishwashercrazy]

1937 G.E. Electric Sink - Model KE15

I wanted to share my excitement with you about this 1937 G.E. Electric Sink/Dishwasher that I found on Craigslist on December 10, 2008. I just brought it home from Monticello, isconsin, yesterday, February 28. It came out of a home built in 1928, designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. The new young owners of the house had started a kitchen renovation.

This Electric is going to require a lot of cleaning up. Both the sink top and the cabinet had been painted sometime in the past. When the weather starts to warm here in central Illinois, I'll probably see about removing the paint. I'm anxious to see what shape the original sink top really is in. Yes, the inside is green!

The emblem on front of the dishwasher was damaged while the unit was being removed from the kitchen, and the control knobs are gone! Boo Hoo! Fortunately, I have a vintage ad showing what this machine looked like (I will attach a photo of the ad below). I am hopeful that I will be able to somehow duplicate those knobs. The bottom rack is gone too. And from what I can see in the vintage ad, there was some kind of water disperser, on top, in the center, above the impeller. There is no sign of that either except for a mounting of sorts above the top of the impeller.

Does anyone from the club have any knowledge of this machine?

 

[dishwashercrazy]

1937 G.E. Electric Sink - Model KE15

Photos of the Timer and Motor. I don't know much about this machine yet and how it worked. I think it has a pump on top of the motor too.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Home it came from and Vintage Ad

This is the home in Monticello, Wisconsin where this G.E. Electric came from. I was told that the designer of the home was a student of Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Vintage Ad shows the exact model. The ad came from a September 1937 National Geographic Magazine. See that chrome thing on top? Is it a water diverter to spray the tops of the glasses? Or was that where the detergent was placed?

 

[frontaloadotmy]

That is way

cool, Mike!!!! Too Bad about the breakege. Amazing that the impellar is still intact. Is the top rack unclad stainless?

 

[soberleaf]

why don't we find these in ohio!!!

I'se sure does like that machine!!!! i want one just like it baby!!!!

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Rack

Darrell: Yes, the rack is the uncoated stainless, but i only have the top rack. The bottom was gone. Yes, too bad about the loss of the knobs and the bent emblem - but we might be able to straighten it out. It was painted over too - I can read General Electric through the paint. Yes, I was amazed that the impeller was still in fairly good shape. Here is another photo of it.

Pete: We just have to keep looking!!

 

[Unimatic1140]

Yay, wonderful find!

Wow that is so SUPER cool, I did see one of these at an estate sale once. Many GE dishwashers of the 30's have the green speckled porcelain. Is the impeller aluminum?

 

[beadsobleach]

Servants

I bet Bridgett, the Irish washerwoman is jealous now!

 

[turquoisedude]

Dishwasher history!

That is a very cool machine you have there! It looks like it may take some work, but wow, what a great piece of vintage equipment.
Congratulations!!!

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Thanks...

Robert: The impeller is Bakelite. One fin has a big chip out of the top, and the other fin has some minor chips near the top. But I have a spare that should work just fine. I'll know more once I've spent some time cleaning it up.

Paul: I thought the same thing when I found it - just having a dishwasher this old is pretty awesome - 72 Years Old! - Wow! Yes, it's going to take a lot of work to restore it.

Now, if I could find one of the even older Kohler Electric Sinks from the 1920's!!!

Mike

 

[Unimatic1140]

Kohler Electric Sinks from the 1920's!!!

Do you mean Walker Electric Sink?

 

[gansky1]

Now that is cool!

There was a funnel in the top rack that helped to disperse the incoming fresh water through the tank and dishes to help warm it up and aid in rinsing after the wash. The tubing around the "dasher" in the bottom is the water inlet system and there is/was a spray nozzle at the top of the tubing to spray the incoming water all around the tub and up over the top of the load via that funnel.

Now you just need a box of skin-burning Calgonite to go with it!

 

[polkanut]

Kohler did introduce their electric sink in 1926. They discontinued it during the 1930's due to the Depression.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Gansky1: Wow, I had no idea about the spray tube above the impeller. Thanks for the explanation.

To follow up on Tim's (polkanut) comment, following is vintage ad that I recently bought on ebay.

Not only did this Electric Sink have a Dishwasher, but a Clothes Washer too!

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Another Ad for Kohler Electric Sink

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Photo that I found at www.wisconsinhistory.org

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Conover Electric Dishwasher Sink

And here is the front page of a brochure that I recently bought on ebay for the Conover Electric Dishwasher Sink. It's a little hard to read here in the thread. I had never heard of this brand at all.

There is a "copyright 1930" date on the brochure.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Conover Electric Dishwasher Sink

Back page of the brochure. There were holes in the brochure, so a couple of the photos are not good.

 

[jamman_98]

Suggestion

If you need to recreate a new metal rack for your dishwasher, locate a local welder. You could have him recreate one if you can find the right picture and dimentions. If that's too expensive contact your local high school and see if they offer a welding program. This could be an awesome challenge for a student to reproduce since it would involve some tricky spot welding.

Joe
jamman_98