1950 through 1952 whirlpool washer

[combo52]

Todd and I drove up to Pennsylvania today and picked up this beautiful condition. Whirlpool washer

A young couple bought the house that it was installed in 13 years ago and the story was at the old lady who had bought the washer originally was horrified by how much water it used and only use it for a few months, and then went back to her wringer washer. It’s too bad she didn’t spend $15 more and get the suds saver Option She might’ve actually used the machine however it would’ve been long ago worn out in discarded.

Thank you Louis for posting this and alerting AW members to it.

John

 

[mayfan69]

Looks great

Hi John,

That's a lovely looking Whirlpool.

I'm sure it will clean up very nicely.

Cheers
Leon

 

[qsd-dan]

was horrified by how much water it used 

 

Funny how that trend has come full circle...

 

Should clean up nicely.

 

[DADoES]

 
No Cold temperature choice ... scandalous!

 

[peteski50]

Whirlpool!

John this is a really great find. When I was a kid my neighbor had the same exact model. I used to love to watch it wash.
Best of Luck with it
Peter

 

[turquoisedude]

Wow!! Stellar find, John! Are you sure you know enough about how to fix Whirlpool washers, though?? (Ducks and runs...)

 

[repairguy]

Congrats John on saving such a great piece of automatic washer history.

 

[waterwitch]

Congratulations!

How cool is that?! Golly, I'm so happy for you John. I'll admit, the Water-Witch of the west (Southern California) was lusting for this one, I can tell you. I think I can speak for all of us here in saying we look forward to seeing the restoration process.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Love the red straight vane agitator John, congrats on a great new find! I'm surprised to hear there is no suds saver in there, I thought all the early WP/KN machines came with that standard.

 

[swestoyz]

Great save, John. Not only is it impressive that it was barely used, but also that the blue anodized center caps on the dials remain vibrant and blue. I don't think I've ever seen a set that looked this nice.

Congrats,

Ben

 

[DADoES]

 
I had an agitator like that (dad got it from the WP dealer) for play with a Kenmore Junior wringer which had no wringer or an agitator and functioning mechanicals.

 

[stan]

Wow

I’ll be looking forward for updates.
Very nice find.

 

[lesto]

What a great find. I love the red bakelite agitator. Why are the wires hanging from the temp knob?

I hope you will do a video of it washing once you get it cleaned up and running.

 

[washerlover]

Awesome score!!! Please keep us posted on the restoration!

 

[maytag85]

Nice find, John! It’s still amazing what’s out there, wish I had something like this but can’t complain with the machines I have at the moment.

Reply #13: It may need a restoration but since it was only used for a few years, probably just needs a new belt along with a few other small things. I believe these older Whirlpools has some sort of way to lubricate the bearings but I am not certain since I don’t have experience with the earlier Whirlpool built machines. Probably just needs a cosmetic restoration done to it since it a very low mileage machine.

 

[114jwh]

What a great find John - congrats. This must be one of the earliest WP belt drives out there and it looks like its in perfect condition. Are you going to retain all the original style mechanicals or update to the later style heavier duty components? Can't wait to see how you work your magic on it. Congratulations once again!

 

[gyrafoam]

I have one of those high-fashion red marbalized straight-vane agitators in minty condition. They are so beautiful. I always thought Whirlpool missed a sales opportunity by not making the marbalized red exclusive to the Surgilator, at least until the introduction of the Super Surgilator.
Those were rare machines in the deep-south back in the day and a delight to come across.
I'm sure when John gets through restoring it, it will be a showpiece!

 

[hydralique]

I love the cabinet on these, with the brightwork and little vertical crease down the front, it makes for a very classy looking appliance. And if the old gal uses a bit of water, well, she's old enough to drink!

 

[frigilux]

I’m very late to the party, but congratulations on this fantastic acquisition! Love that agitator.

There was probably more skepticism than we thought back when automatic washers first came into homes long dominated by wringer machines. My mom didn’t think an automatic could clean as well as a wringer washer, so she’d wash and wring a load, then transfer it to the 1960 Kenmore Model 80 and press the Rinse & Spin button. This went on for 2-3 years before she finally let the automatic do its thing.

 

[combo52]

The 1952. Whirlpool washer.

I have not had much time to play with it, it does clean up quite nicely. I started wiping it down. It’s amazing how good the finish is. Jason and I plugged it in the other day. It does run fine. It had a stuck spin plunger. A little shot of oil got that working properly. It has a bad flat spot in the belt and it’s going to need new drain hose as it’s hard and disintegrated.

I think the machine was used a little bit more often than the sellers thought I’m going to take it apart put a new belt in the hose from the base plate to the pump is hard as a rock I do have replacement parts for it. Also, I think I’m gonna end up putting a new spin tube and seals in the machine before trying to use it.

Some of you may remember that my former partner, and I repainted a pair of these machines, and John Eichinger in Saint Paul, restore the knobs and the nameplate to look like new.

I didn’t really need this washer, but it will probably end up at the museum the washer and gas dryer that I’ve already finished will probably reside here in the axillary laundry room in my basement.

John