1949 BLACKSTONE CONVENTIONAL

[mickeyd]

The man came, and he asked if I would put up his washer for him, and I said sure. Would you send me some pix, and he said he'd be glad to.

 

[mickeyd]

He said he didn't live far away....

.....Near Rochester, in Henrietta NY

 

[mickeyd]

And I told him how we love shots of the agitator

Little did I know what the 49 Blackstone had under her hood. We've seen the Apex Dasher before, but If we've had the pleasure of the Blackstone Wedger, I don't remember. What fun it will be to see what this can do. Will the turnover be an eye-popper or ho-hum?

 

[mickeyd]

In the first pic, did you spy a faucet on the left in the da

Indeed you did: A curved drain faucet reminiscent of the Easy Spin's drain mode. How cool.

 

[mickeyd]

So then I asked him if we could see a close-up of the timer.

But the warm 70 dregee weekend came, and I didn't hear back. Today biking in beautful warm weather, I ran into the coldfront coming in from the Northwest. It was really something, as if I had ridden into a cold spray rinse. In a matter of seconds, approaching Lake Erie on US 5, the temperature dropped from 68 to 53.
I had never virtually walked into a cold front before. Amazing! I was in awe of Mother Nature as usual, and when I got home Michael Smith was waiting with his close-up.

 

[mickeyd]

The part you can't see, whited-out after minute 26...

.....it reads WRING. Most machines of this type say, HOLD. What's illuminating is that this is an automatic shut-off timer, which I hadn't seen, heretofore, until 1955. Incredible.

Mike said he'd like "20-40 bucks" for it and asked me to put his phone number up if you're interested ~ 716-523-3119

 

[mickeyd]

For the fastidious and the particular

If you use your magnifier, you can see the word WRING for yourself in this photo.

 

[turquoisedude]

A 'wedger'?

Well, better than a 'wedgie' I suppose...

Seriously, I have never seen an agitator like this before. At the price the seller is looking for, this is definitely a machine that should be saved!

 

[mickeyd]

I'm smiling, Paul

Wedgie is fine. I don't know what it's called. I've seen this agitator before in abandonned cottages at Chrystal Beach, Ontario in the 60's in very, very old machines. From the unavailable side-view, you can see three panels going from top to bottom making three wedges or sideways plows. Again, I'd love to see one in action.

Mike, if you're watching, please take one last pic of the Agitator. Just unscrew the cap and pull it out for its beauty shot. Thanks.

 

[mr-maytag]

There's one like this available in St. Paul right now, too.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ram/atq/3389563999.html

 

[mickeyd]

Thanks, Ted.

Nice shot of the drain faucet in the neutral or resting position. So well-designed and styled, it almost looks like a handle.

 

[mr-maytag]

Oh! That's what that is! I thought it was some sort of handle to move it around or something, Mickey! Now I see that it's the same thing as in your picture, just in a different position. It looks to be in pretty good shape.

 

[mickeyd]

Even more answers, Ted!

If you look at the faucet pic in your link, there appears to be a pump control just below the edge of the skirt, just like on the Maytags. That's good because there is no other control visible anywhere to get that faucet gushing.

 

[mr-maytag]

What is the lever...

below the timer knob for? I was thinking that was maybe the pump control...?? Is the thing you're thinking is the pump control a cord wrap?

 

[mr-maytag]

here is a pic, just for the record...

 

[mr-maytag]

...and another

 

[mickeyd]

Interesting.

That's the agitator control, I'm pretty sure. To the left of the leg that holds the faucet you'll see a white handle. Can you see it?

 

I could be completely wrong, of course. Some of these early birds had the agitator control along the wringer column; this could well be one of them, and then the handle under the timer would be for the drain, as you say.

 

The good thing is we'll be able to find out when Michael Smith takes a look for us.

 

EDIT: Great ~ you got the pix up; they wouldn't take for me before. The lever is right above "Interesting."

 

 

 

[mr-maytag]

Yeah...I'm curious about all that now. Guess we'll know soon enough. I hope someone will save the washer here - it's pretty rare, I'd say...not something I'm interested in, but it's cool.

PS - I had a hard time getting the pictures to save, too.

 

[gansky1]

Sta-Puft Marshmallow Washer

Blackstone Hydractor agitator

They're very puffy

 

[bradross]

Cool machine!

That's a cool one! If only I had the room! (and the money for shipping across the country!)

 

[combo52]

Cool Blackstone Wringer Washer

I have had one of those neat cast aluminum agitators laying around for years and have never seen it in the machine, very cool thanks Michael for all the pictures.

 

I dough it would be real effective at turning over large loads but would probably be fairly gentle on clothing. And with a wringer washer where the water was going to be used for the full days wash it was not necessary to pack the washer full anyway, so it probably was an effective design in this washer.

 

[mickeyd]

Stay Puffed, indeed, Gregory! .... as the Freudian slips. LOL. So many of the washers, refrigerators and stoves had that swollen, rounded look. Wouldn't it be illuminating and fun to read an architectural interpretation of this unique styling?

 

Here's the thing: John. I've seen a Blackstone Conventional in operation, but not this one. You can always tell by the signature criss-cross on the cap. It had very brisk agitation, long stroke with GE-like swiftness, a lot like the speed and stroke in Kenmoreguy's videos of the Miele TL' s, further down the board.

 

Along with your thinking, look at how long the suggested wash times are for work clothes. I'm going to guess that the turnover is probably slow, too. It will be exciting to find out though, won't it?

 

Brad, I wish you had the room. What a restore you could do with this rare old gal.

 

[laundromat]

this is the washer my great-aunt, Karey who was Pensylvania Dutch, had in her barn for decades. When shr died, my Uncle Sam took the washer to use for mixing paint. When he past away, my second cousin, Dusty, took it apart keeping the motor for parts.The ring on the agitator was to keep from overloaded.

 

[mickeyd]

Hi Chuck

The scoops DO suggest a small cement mixer. Too bad you didn't get to see it wash--or did you? You may be our only potential witness.

 

[peterh770]

Seems to me the Blackstone Hydractor was just 3 straight vertical paddles... Probably no turnover, beat the stuff against it to lint, left everything else just floating around...

 

[mickeyd]

That bad, huh?

I really doubt it, but we'll see.

 

I can't stop thinking that someone out there has reported on this plow mouth agitator and I have simply forgotten.

 

[mickeyd]

Just heard from Mike ~

He's getting a kick out of the thread, but says it's way over his head, with "wedges and such." He said he'd pull the agi tomorrow, and take pix of it and all the levers.

 

[mickeyd]

Mike is funny; here's what he wrote:

"Anyway, I plugged the machine in, turned the timer, and it started to spin.
Sounded real nice, too. I couldn't get the agitator out, but I took a
couple of pictures from the inside."

I knew that the agitator was not really 3 paddles, but it was too hard to explain as you'll see from the pic, and why I struggled with cement mixer, scoop, plow, wedge, etc. I really need to see this apparatus in action. Here is one-third of the Hydractor. Now, it looks like the mouth on the back of the trash truck tipped sideways; and considering the high speed of the Blackstone transmission, I'm starting to think it might move the load faster than first presumed. Time will tell.

 

[peterh770]

3 offset paddles... There may be some hope, but I'm dubious...

 

[mickeyd]

I know.

We live on hope. Cool-lookin' huh! Maybe that offset angle makes some magic.