Here are 8 very cool photos with descriptions of some of the operations in the Blackstone automatic washer factory...
1960 Blackstone Washer Factory
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I want this job!
repairguy
Well-known member
Very cool. Thanks for posting Robert.
Thank you, Robert. I don't remember seeing a Blackstone agitator like the one in the background of picture #5. I wonder if ALL of the washers were tested at the end of the assembly lime. I would have liked to have had that job.
Thanks for this
Wonderful!
Wonderful!
Wonderful pictures Robert! The man on the right in the first picture is holding a dispenser in his hand, would that go onto the agitator?
Blackstone!
Robert thanks for posting this great information. When I was a kid all the stores I went to didnt carry Blackstone. One place a lumber co carried Blackstone and nothing else. I had got a brochure and mailed away for a gyro spinning top. The advertisement was to acknowledge Blackstone had a perfect balance. They also mailed me a small cardboard figure of their washer. I wish I had those things now. That was in 1965 when I was 11 years old. It was a solid SS tub on display. Looked to have a filter flow setup. I saw a youtube video years later of the way it washed. It seemed to have good turnover and washed well. I never saw one when they made a bigger tub. Only pictures. I wonder why it wasnt carried in a lot of stores?
Peter
Robert thanks for posting this great information. When I was a kid all the stores I went to didnt carry Blackstone. One place a lumber co carried Blackstone and nothing else. I had got a brochure and mailed away for a gyro spinning top. The advertisement was to acknowledge Blackstone had a perfect balance. They also mailed me a small cardboard figure of their washer. I wish I had those things now. That was in 1965 when I was 11 years old. It was a solid SS tub on display. Looked to have a filter flow setup. I saw a youtube video years later of the way it washed. It seemed to have good turnover and washed well. I never saw one when they made a bigger tub. Only pictures. I wonder why it wasnt carried in a lot of stores?
Peter
Thank you Robert for posting these.
Great pictures!
bradfordwhite
Well-known member
Thank-you Robert. So much history there.
I wonder if they sold off the designs or if they just stopped making the washers.
It see they had the water valves installed in the control panel I always thought that was an efficient idea and wondered why no one did it. Now I know someone did.
I wonder if they sold off the designs or if they just stopped making the washers.
It see they had the water valves installed in the control panel I always thought that was an efficient idea and wondered why no one did it. Now I know someone did.
Blackstone automatic, washer, factory
Very neat history. Thanks for posting Robert
So much of this interesting history has been lost but it’s neat when it shows up.
Many automatic washers have had water valves in the control panel. Speed Queen did it back in the 60s and many new washers the world over inlet valve in the control panel,
John
Very neat history. Thanks for posting Robert
So much of this interesting history has been lost but it’s neat when it shows up.
Many automatic washers have had water valves in the control panel. Speed Queen did it back in the 60s and many new washers the world over inlet valve in the control panel,
John
When did Blackstone stop making washing machines?
Australian Hoover automatic top loaders were a Blackstone design, I have often wondered if the tooling from Blackstone was sold to Hoover Australia when production stopped in USA? I don't know when production of the Blackstone-technology Hoovers stopped in Australia, I think mid 1980s? Maybe early 1990s? Leon or Nathan will probably know.
They were great machines for sure, dependable no-fuss machines that washed really well and lasted for years. There are still a few around.
Australian Hoover automatic top loaders were a Blackstone design, I have often wondered if the tooling from Blackstone was sold to Hoover Australia when production stopped in USA? I don't know when production of the Blackstone-technology Hoovers stopped in Australia, I think mid 1980s? Maybe early 1990s? Leon or Nathan will probably know.
They were great machines for sure, dependable no-fuss machines that washed really well and lasted for years. There are still a few around.
Oh to travel back in time...
And go on a shopping spree. Thanks for posting Robert!
And go on a shopping spree. Thanks for posting Robert!
brisnat81
Well-known member
Hi Chris,
I think it was the late 80s, very early 90s, Hoover had three seperate mechanisms by that stage. The small, medium and large units. I don’t know when they all homogenized though.
What year did Blackstone/Hoover build the Hoover autos in the US with the green control panel? That launched here as the Hoover in 69/70 with the same but blue coloured panel, so I’d the last model run in the US was 68/98, it’d make sense that the whole lot was shipped to Australia.
Cheers
Nathan
I think it was the late 80s, very early 90s, Hoover had three seperate mechanisms by that stage. The small, medium and large units. I don’t know when they all homogenized though.
What year did Blackstone/Hoover build the Hoover autos in the US with the green control panel? That launched here as the Hoover in 69/70 with the same but blue coloured panel, so I’d the last model run in the US was 68/98, it’d make sense that the whole lot was shipped to Australia.
Cheers
Nathan
Last Blackstone desgined Hoover's
Hi Chris,
Nathan is pretty much correct.
The last Blackstone designed Hoover's were the 940/950/955 series of about 1989/90. The Hoover 960 and subsequent 1000 and 1200 series dispensed with the gearbox altogether.
From my discussions with 'Meadowbank' who was in the engineering department of Hoover at the time, the decision was purely cost driven.
Here's my 1986 Elite 920 in action:
Hi Chris,
Nathan is pretty much correct.
The last Blackstone designed Hoover's were the 940/950/955 series of about 1989/90. The Hoover 960 and subsequent 1000 and 1200 series dispensed with the gearbox altogether.
From my discussions with 'Meadowbank' who was in the engineering department of Hoover at the time, the decision was purely cost driven.
Here's my 1986 Elite 920 in action:
blackstone
Well-known member
I might have that publication, or one similar to it.
Those models did have the fill valve in the control panel. One annoying feature about that design was the difficulty of replacing the control panel & top, while making sure that the water valve fit into the opening. The valve had a paper/fiber wraparound cover, held by a rubber band, which you had to make sure stayed in place. If not, water would spray where it shouldn't spray.
Blackstone stopped appliance production in the mid-1970s. I have a letter from Blackstone, in which they offered my father leftover machines at reduced prices. Letter was dated 1978, give or take.
I also have a gyroscope, packaged in a box looking like a washing machine.
Those models did have the fill valve in the control panel. One annoying feature about that design was the difficulty of replacing the control panel & top, while making sure that the water valve fit into the opening. The valve had a paper/fiber wraparound cover, held by a rubber band, which you had to make sure stayed in place. If not, water would spray where it shouldn't spray.
Blackstone stopped appliance production in the mid-1970s. I have a letter from Blackstone, in which they offered my father leftover machines at reduced prices. Letter was dated 1978, give or take.
I also have a gyroscope, packaged in a box looking like a washing machine.
Blackstone!
My gyroscope came in a box that looked like picture #3
My gyroscope came in a box that looked like picture #3
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