Magic Minutes with Kelvinators
I remember a neighbor who had an ABC-0-Matic with that washing action...and it was every bit as splashy as the '56 Kelvy in the Hillary Brooke ad. His, if I recall, was built around 1953 or 1954...
My mom's first automatic was a 1963 Kelvinator...no window in the lid...it had a lint filter that attached to the agitator (which probably eliminated the overflow rinse action), and the agitator was black plastic without the soft fins. It had the holes for the "water-jet action" and it splashed the way a Kelvy should!
I remember the MAGIC MINUTE feature, but not too fondly, because Kelvys of that era had timed fill cycles. If your water pressure was too low, you didn't get enough water in the tub when the timer clicked off. If it was too high, you got too much water.
I also remember the red unbalance button that popped up every time the washer shook more than a little...very annoying! Also the black agitators eventually began smudging the clothes after several years use--we ended up getting a turquoise agitator from the dealer where we bought the washer...that ended the smudges...
Interesting how all the washers made by automobile manufacturers had off-beat washing actions...Frigidaire's "jet cone agitator", Philco's "blades of water," and Kelvinator's "Deep Turbulent Washing Action" (what they called it in 1963; you supposedly could wash a paper napkin in a Kelvy without tearing it...I never tried it myself!
By the way, ZaSu Pitts starred with Gale Storm on "Oh! Susanna!", not "My Little Margie." The role was similar: "Nugey" was to Susanna Pomeroy what Mrs. Odetts was to Margie Albright...
