1950 Hamilton clothes dryer lasted to 1981

[freewestinghous]

When I was 13 years old in 1962 I worked at a used appliance store. My mother had always used clothes lines in the basement to hang clothes to dry and I wanted to buy her a dryer. The store owner told me that the old Hamilton dryers were very good and since our house did not have an outside vent for a dryer, the Hamilton would work fine as it did not need an outside vent. So I bought the dryer for my Mom and the store owner delivered it.
The Hamilton dryer was used till 1981 when the heating element coil sagged and grounded itself which made the dryer motor run unless the dryer was unplugged. So then it was traded in on a new dryer - new element available.
The Hamilton did make the basement humid but it was never a problem and was easy to live with.

Did Hamilton also make automatic washing machines ? Or was it just clothes dryers ?

Randy in PDX

 

[mixfinder]

Hamilton Wets

In addition to dryers, Hamilton did make matching washers.  For most of the run they shared a look and design with Norge washers at that time.  In later machines from the 60's and 70's the works looked a bit more like Westinghouse, Easy and Hoover.

 

[combo52]

HAMILTON WASHERS

Hamilton sold washers that were made first by Norge styled to match thier dryers and in the later 1960s they had Blackstone make thier washers. I believe that Hamilton was one of many companies that White Consolidated Industries ended up with and just disappeared.

 

[peteski50]

Hamilton!

Hi Randy - if you did not have a outside vent what did you utilize to vent the unit? I dont believe the hamilton dryers were condenser. I am curious.
Thanks Peter

 

[tomturbomatic]

The hot air along with a lot of the lint blew out of an upward angled opening at the front at the base of the machine. There is a lint filter, but it is far from very effective. I speak from personal use experience.

 

[circlew]

The later Hamilton washers & dryers were essentialy the same as Gibson and Kelvinator; all WCI.

 

[freewestinghous]

Hamilton vent - matching Washers

The dryer had a large screened metal slide in lint filter at the bottom right of the machine in a black bottom panel. The exhaust air exited the machine through the filter. If the machine was in an open basement like it always was - there was no condensation problem that I ever noticed over the decades. If it had been in a small laundry room, that would not have been very good.
The stamped in design of the front of the machine would have been very difficult to duplicate in a matching washer. I think matching washers came later when the dryer was restlyed.

Randy in PDX