A most curious thing followed us home from the estate sale

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The schematic was still stuck underneath. Note the white line of crud--more on that in a bit.

Signature is sold ONLY by Montgomery Ward. Don't be fooled by imposters. :-)

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Wide-angle

Cuuuute. Love the handle that keeps the oval theme going, even if it's a little counterintuitive at first to operate.

It's so light, and tiny, and easily maneuvered. The KitchenAid feels like a Lincoln and moves like one too.

Our propensities to pile crap on top of stuff (see toolkit on top of the KA to the left) are handily thwarted by having a top-loading machine. It's a growth thing, I tell myself.

The paint on the cabinet is typically Westinghousian--which is to say, crappy. The primer and top coat appear to be mildly incompatible, so millions of tiny paint flecks flocked the inside of the car and our hands as we carried it. A repaint's in order, and that's on the to-do list. (We just got her up and running.)

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Say "ahh"

Of the impellers I have used, this one has the best racking by far. The seals and such on this machine are in okay shape; things that leak tend to re-settle with use. There's no rust.

I can see where those lid hinges can be bastards if they break on you. The lid is very heavy, and feels fragile and precarious when open.

The interior porcelain is very nice, and the sculpted lid has the bonus of acting like a water deflector to help shower water down the periphery. It's no Power Shower, though.

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Going in

The inside of this machine is just mint. It was at an estate sale for a home out in the northwest that was absolutely frozen in the early sixties. The swag lamps, pass-through fireplace, and Tappan Gallery range--all there, all lovely.

When I saw the pics for the sale, I thought to myself, "No dishwasher in the kitchen? No self-respecting woman would stand for that!" So I knew there had to be a roving portable somewhere. Eventually, we found it, sitting on the back porch with a ho-hum DD Whirlpool set.

At first, I vowed to eschew it if it was an impeller machine, since I've had a few of those and learned to hate them all. But I'd never had a Westinghouse, and I remembered that they scored pretty well for washability. So, we were intrigued, and subsequently guilted--due to its minty nature and glam sheer-look timer dial and control panel--into taking it home.

It's evident that it was reserved for once- or twice-a-year use, at Christmas and Thanksgiving, or parties. I also suspect that a mishap resulted in its long-term storage--when I opened it, I found four (four!) baskets of Jet Dry hanging from the top rack. I suspect that the excessive amount of rinse agent caused the machine to froth, and the chunky white spray along the bottom is evidence of the overly foamy results. The leak forced its way down the motor shaft, and was flung off the motor fan (which sits atop the motor, directly underneath the tub), coating the perimeter of the tub in a white spray.

At first, I thought, "Crap, I bet this leaks," but it doesn't. Whatever catastrophe unfolded is only recorded by the circumstantial evidence, or perhaps it was repaired and just not cleaned.

Regarding the house, every room was wallpapered to the hilt--sometimes with willow-bud patterns, sometimes blue, black, and teal stripes, sometimes gold pattern overlay. All present, perfect, clean, and floor-to-ceiling. It was absolutely wild. I wish I could keep a place pristine for fifty years.

It's evident that this was a home where they saved everything forever. It's also apparent that they were Wards fans, as we found Signature appliances (including a nifty pushbutton space heater) everywhere.

Here's a link to the full spread of pics. It's so...groovy!

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Nice rack

I LOVE the top rack. Unlike some impellers, it makes efficient use of space. Cups and utensils go around the edge (there's a dedicated set of slots for long-handled things), the silverware basket can be moved around as needed (it's best to put it to the edge for maximum action), and items can be placed in the removable middle section as well. We loaded the KitchenAid up, then I transferred the contents, and the MW held it, pots, pans, and all, minus two sports bottles that have no earthly place in an impeller machine. (And I don't feel like washing yibbles and slop out of them at the end of the cycle, thanks.)

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Picture of perfection

The impeller has Not. A. Chip. out of it. It's perfect. As a result, you can hardly hear the machine running. It's as quiet as our spin-tube was, and David was amazed when I fired it up.

The process of getting her going was incremental. When I first connected the unicouple, it peed water all over the floor. I removed a (fiberboard--a la GE Filter Flo) back panel, and discovered that the collar at the end of the unicouple hose that connects to the water valve was dripping. I tightened it up a hair, and all was good.

I then started the machine. It filled with nice, hot water and started washing without issue. So quiet! I love the genuine Westinghouse motor underneath.

That's when it went to pot, because during the drain segment, nothing happened. I couldn't tell initially if the secondary drain pump was bad, or even getting power from the timer. Upon shining the Mag-Lite on the pump shaft, it was apparent that it was trying to turn--but not turning over. You could see the shaft twitch when the machine was connected to power.

I took a slotted screwdriver and gently turned the pump--it spun easily, but was unable to get itself started. I let it sit for a bit, full of warm water, and then started unplugging/plugging the cord in second increments to coax, coax, coax the pump to start turning. Finally it did--at about 60 RPM, which was not enough to generate even a dribble at the sink.

After about thirty seconds of slow-motion futility, something freed in the pump and it made a "bbbrRRRRR!" sound, and took off to full speed. A gush of water shot out of the unicouple, and the machine drained itself with no issue. Subsequent cycles have been just fine.

God, I love easy fixes.

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Optimistic loading

The manual shows placing a pile of bowls in the corner, each in front of the next, all the same size.

I cannot fathom how you could possibly get them clean that way.

The good news is that this bottom rack swallows casseroles, fry pans, deep pots, and other items easily. That's a real plus.

The bad news is that our plates are too big to fit comfortably. That's okay; the next time we find some nine-inchers (ha!), we'll get a set. We could stand to have smaller plates anyway, if you know what I mean.

The big plates make loading the bottom rack about as much fun as playing Jenga with cinder blocks, while hanging upside down from a bungee cord.

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Double your pleasure

The honest-to-God, double wash dispenser is worth its weight in gold. Every impeller machine (or, for that matter, BOL/MOL spray-arm machine of appropriate vintage to have one) that had a free-balling, uncovered mesh dispenser was, I thought, pissing in the wind and hoping for the best. You need fresh detergent in the wash, and this is a great way to do it, magnetic dispensers notwithstanding.

We'll see how this works in the next post. It's extremely cute.

Detergent is flushed out of the bins and into the fill stream, not just dumped into the tank. The small holes at the bottom empty out whatever liquid's left. The system works just as well with liquids as with powder.

Apologies for the yitka at the lower-left of the #1 well; that's residue from the former owner that is still in the process of dissolving.

This machine does have plugs for a rinse-agent dispenser, but I don't see that it's wired to connect to one, like a KitchenAid. Maybe with the addition of a wire from the timer, which likely has the contacts/connectors. You'd need a dispenser appropriate for a top-loader so that you can pour the fluid in easily from above.

Obviously, based on its experiences in the past, you do not necessarily want hanging baskets of solid Jet-Dry.

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Double dispensation

Here's how the dispenser works. The water valve opens, and water flows through a gooseneck into a small metal nozzle (above, top center). A loooooong S-shaped hook runs between the timer and the nozzle, and follows the motion of the timer mechanism, kind of like how some older GE dishwashers use a disc attached to the timer shaft to swing around and trip the detergent dispenser.

During the first wash, the nozzle points down into a flume that leads to bin I. As the cycle progresses to the second wash, the mechanism shifts, pointing the nozzle down into the flume for bin II.

The contents of either bin are flushed by the flumes. The nozzle doesn't point down into the bin. This helps minimize splashing (there is a little, you can see the effects on the valve and surrounding metals) and avoids catastrophe if the bin cannot, for whatever reason, be emptied effectively. Either the stuff gets swept out and over the top, or it doesn't. If it does, what little water remains drains out the weep hole at the bottom of the bin.

It's a Dispensomat for dishwashers! :-)

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High fashion

The timer knob is a little over the top, but that's why we fell in love with it. It harkens to the Control Tower Frigidaires and their temp selector switches.

It operates very smoothly, surprisingly, and is easy to read. So, I guess, the design works!

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Wow wow wow Nate, that is such a beautiful dishwasher, ugh. It's totally Westinghouse, you can be sure :-)

Congratulations on a wonderful find!
 
Washability

So far, it's performed really well. Better than the old Frigidaire D&M impeller; not quite as good as the metal bowtie GE Mobile Maids.

It is EXCEEDINGLY quiet.

The heating element runs throughout the cycle, but the cycle is so short (only about 40 minutes) that it's of little consequence. The dry runs the main impeller as a pseudo-fan.

It cannot handle large amounts of food soil without invoking the soak/prerinse cycle, so it's best to flick everything off with a rubber scraper, unless you adore picking squash seeds off the outsides of your highball glasses.

The manual warns you that you need to have your water heater at 140 to 160, or that you'll risk results that aren't up to par. I had to nudge ours up; the initial run left some powdery residue on the dishes. In my testing in the past--particularly with the Frigidaire spin-tube--this is a red flag that the water's too cool. I'm going to give it another go tonight.

It's a great utility machine. It's the first impeller I've had that didn't make me sorry for owning bowls and pans. It also has the interesting ability to scrub items in the top rack, even when you don't fill the bottom rack with plates to help direct the water upward. In the last load I ran, the top rack was spotless, even a bowl with dried-on gak, and there was not a single flat item in the bottom--all bowls, pans, you name it. Most impressive.

Those of you who remember my YouTube demo of plates-versus-empty-rack loading in an impeller know what that's about.

 
Thank you!! :-D

Robert--thank you so much!! I'm getting out my Betty Furness best as we speak! :-D Isn't the styling on this stuff just delish?

Mike--I doctored the manual with Paint in Windows; I used the "Vladimir Script" font, since it fits with the period style, so that I could torment Ralph appropriately. :-)

Kevin--very portable indeed! ;-) But heavier things have certainly also followed us home.

Roger--HA! I'll take a pic of the scoring if it happens ;-).

Ralph--LOL!! You know I had to. Our home is a beacon for Wards merchandise, it seems.

Greg--I tried to stop by Wards, but all I ended up at were a Target and Lowes. Where oh where is the appliance department these days??
 
That is gorgeous - I had a Westy version of this machine once, it was shockingly quiet for an impeller machine. I have the Montgomery Ward Fall & Winter from 1962 with this machine, the only top-loader. It was hard to tell who made it from the grainy, b&w picture but I'm excited that it's a Westinghouse and not D&M.

They offered a free, 10 day in-home trial. Actually, Wards did this for a long time. I remember some neighbors who were dental students that milked this offer for all they could get - mostly all televisions. "We don't like this model, perhaps that one..."
 
This is one Signature that gets a well-deserved pass!

I can't help it.  It's beautiful!

 

I hope it's still there by the time I pay my next visit.  ;-) :-D

 

"Server not found" on the link to the sale.  :-(   Maybe they pulled it?

 
 
Congratulations!

I enjoyed a slightly newer WH rollout for a time that is now in the museum. That drain pump shaft sticking to the seal in the pump was common if these sat. Glad you were able to work it free. It is funny how some things fit so much better in a wash arm machine than in an impeller machine, but when we had the bow tie GEs, everything we used fit in.

I hope you get a lot of enjoyment from it.
 
Nice find! It seems to be in very good shape! 

 

Paul has a slightly older (I think) MW dishwasher which, if I recall correctly, doesn't have a detergent dispenser. 
 
That Montgomery Wards dishwasher should provide you with lots of fun.

Just discovered something about posting links here on AW. Apparently you can't post a link that begins with "https" as AW will auto-insert an "http" in front of it. So that is why the original link wasn't working. However, the link below should work. Even though it starts with "http" my browser converted it to "https" to reach the picasaweb photo site. (Maybe it is only a Chrome issue.)

It looks like it was a neat estate sale.

I like the lighters and the nested ceramic ashtray set. Hubby apparently smoked pipes. There was a white princess phone for sale, and some of the art looks interesting. You can see just a corner of a painting or print in the photo focusing on the many empty binders labeled "Road & Track." The art style reminds me of Botero.

There were a couple of console stereos in the sale. In one of the bedroom closet photos, I see a vintage clock radio next to what looks like a Schlitz beer bar clock.

Cool stuff!

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