1962 Maytag TOL Mismatched Pair: Why?

[frigilux]

Here's something I've never understood: Why would Maytag, certainly a prestige brand back in the day, roll out their new top-of-the-line washer with 'One Button Washing' only to pair it with a dryer that doesn't feature a matching console? They look odd together, don't they? Why the time lag before a dryer with a matching console appeared?

We had a 1960 Kenmore Model 80 with similar pushbutton cycle selection--although it couldn't claim "one button washing" because you had to select the water level---and it offered more cycle flexibility and special features.

Check out the next post.[this post was last edited: 1/15/2013-17:44]

 

[frigilux]

The Kenmore Model 80 offered Light and Heavy Soil versions of the main cycles (Cottons/Linens White; Cottons/Linens Colored; Delicate), plus sturdy and gentle variations of the Wash 'n' Wear cycle (the sturdy version used medium-temperature water and featured 4 minutes of fast followed by 4 minutes of slow agitation; the gentle version washed in warm water with slow agitation).

The Kenmore had timed bleach and fabric softener dispensers. Bleach was injected for the last 4 minutes of the wash period.

The Kenmore had a more effective lint filter (with that awesome waterfall).

The Kenmore featured an infinitely-variable water level control, and it offered a suds-saver model. Finally, it was paired with a dryer whose console matched the washer! This type of console first appeared on the 1959 Lady Kenmore, a full three years prior to Maytag's one-button machine.

I'd say the Model 80 takes the checkered flag on this one, and it wasn't even Kenmore's top-of-the-line.[this post was last edited: 1/15/2013-17:52]

 

[in2itdood]

AS several of my good southern belle buddies would say ...

Was there any real contest here? Ha! GO Kenmore ... though I do love some Maytags! hehe

 

[revvinkevin]

Kenmore had them... a full three years prior to Maytag's

 

 

Actually no.   Maytag offered this TOL push button washer in 1960 (I have one).   It may have come out in 1959, but I don't know for sure.

 

Question: When did Maytag bring out the matching push button dryer?   I agree it's interesting they didn't have one in '62, or at least didn't show it in the brochure (why?).   I know they had the matched push button pair in '64 (I have a set also).

 

Kevin

 

[frigilux]

Thanks for providing that information, Kevin. I had assumed it was new in the '62 brochure because it says "New Maytag All-Fabric Automatic With One-Button Washing."

Don't get me wrong; I love the Maytags from this period. I just wonder why they didn't throw all those wash cycle choices onto a dial that you'd push-to-start so the console would match the dryer?

[this post was last edited: 1/15/2013-18:13]

 

[bajaespuma]

A very good question; especially if you watched "The Bev

I wondered that myself. But one possible answer is that back then Maytag was still a small family-run company wasn't it? They didn't have the resources Sears and Roebuck had to redesign models so quickly.

 

[qsd-dan]

Question: When did Maytag bring out the matching push button

1964, DE/DG-750.

I belive you have a couple of those, lol ;>)

 

[combo52]

Push-Button Washers

Four large appliance makers all came out with all PB washers around the same time, I know that LKM and Westinghouse had them in 1959 and I also believe that MT did as well, Hotpoint got one in 1960, as far as I know that was the extent of all PBWs till electronic washers were introduced in the US by WP-KM in 1977.

 

The KM 80 pair that you pictured was Eugene was partly the left over design from the 1959 LKMs, the washer used the same PBs but the console was from the 1960 LKMs and the dryer used a cheapened PB bank as the 1959 LKM dryer had the same # of buttons as the washer.

 

But why did MT not have a matching dryer for their cool PB washer, who knows but I think that Kevin has the best guess, they simply didn't have or want to spend the money. Maytag never could compete with WP-KM in design and they surely never performed as well.

 

 

 

[cornutt]

The Kenmore dryer's timing is a purely electronic design, is it not? Is the Maytag PB dryer also all-electronic, or are the buttons tied to a rapid-advance timer?

 

[kenmore71]

The electronic part of the MT timer is purely electronic. Connectet to the "72 fingers" of the electronic control.

 

[wayupnorth]

They look almost exactly like the ones my sister had in the mid 60's and beyond. Washer with the dial and dryer with the push buttons Bought used and worked VERY well for many years and thru 3 kids. Her washer had the buttons on the left side for regular and modern fabrics (slow). They finally either sold them or whatever when they redid the house over in the 80's and bought one of the first all in one Maytag units that fit into a closet.

 

[appnut]

Personally, I think this was Maytag's most perfect electronic control dryer until the "new" panel design came out in 1980 or so.  This dryer had both auto/electronic dry as well as timed dry.  What followed between these "two" styles was very inflexible.

 

[tomturbomatic]

This dryer featured the more deluxe electronic control. The cheaper Highlander design just had the 4 buttons. The deluxe control not only had time and auto-dry settings, but you could select the time for air fluff. I heard reports that there were problems with the more complicated control so Maytag went to the Highlander-style control across the line and that enabled them to offer the pushbutton dryer to match the pushbutton washer.

 

[gansky1]

It is a more complicated timer & control assembly but I've never had trouble with any I've owned since I found my first turquoise set in 1990-91. It's a great dryer, not the largest capacity and rather pokey but for some things it's a go-to machine over the GE, Kenmore and Whirlpool machines also in use now.

This is the set I have now - just like the brochure!

 

[philr]

The brochure shows the dryer on the right. I guess they wanted to show that the dryer could be installed at the right of the washer like most other brands with right-hinged doors since the Maytag's small left-hinged door isn't too intrusive and the handle isn't too hard to reach from the left. Reversing the washer and the dryer is more problematic with full width dryer doors like those used on GE and Frigidaire 1-18 models.

 

[tomturbomatic]

If you have the dryer on the washer's right, you need to put an adhesive bandage on the front of the washer where the dryer door handle strikes it to prevent damage when loading and unloading the dryer.

 

[tomturbomatic]

So Greg, if they were not troublesome, maybe Maytag just eliminated the more expensive system that was only on one model in favor of the less expensive system on other models to avoid the expense of supporting two electronic dry systems and in the best Frank Lloyd Wright style told customers, "This is what we provide. You will use it and like it." It has worked out well for most people.

For what sorts of loads is the HOH the "go to" dryer?

 

[countryguy]

Why was the dryer so much wider than the washer?

Gary

 

[danemodsandy]

Maytag Matching:

I can't speak to this mismatch situation; other people here may well have it right when they say that Maytag didn't have the resources to do everything at once.

But later, with the "New Generation" machines, they really, really got savvy - with the sole exception of the 906s, every machine more or less "matched" every other.

In my opinion, what this did for Maytag was to squeeze extra dollars out of sales. Since any dryer matched any washer, a customer could be persuaded to go up or down the line for each machine. If a customer had a certain amount of money in mind and wasn't going to spend more, a really nice washer could be paired with a fairly basic dryer to bring the sale in at the customer's desired price point - and give them at least one feature-rich machine. Or vice versa - my first Maytag pair was an A208 paired with a DE608 dryer; that electronic control was obviously important to the original owner.

With other brands, you usually had to purchase a pair of the same series if you wanted a matched set. That meant customers with budget constraints had to settle for machines with the same level of features; they could not customize the mix to suit their needs and bank account. That lessened a salesperson's ability to get the most dollars out of the sale; $100 one way or the other was a lot of money in the '60s and '70s, so going up to a higher model for both machines wasn't always doable for every customer.