A VIDEO: Dorothy Street Christmas Washers--Whirlpool Convertible and Kenmore Visimatic

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I really enjoyed your video! I like the little belt driven Whirlpool. And the Visi-Matics are amongst my favorites. They wash so well and are so quiet. Have a great pump as you mentioned and the open top wringer really is much easier to work with, even though I like Maytags too.
 
my Yia Yia (Greek for "grandmother") had that exact Visimatic. What year was that from? It had a scrubber cap on top of the pregnant RotoSwirl. The lid had this brush-like filter in the lid that the drain hose would plug into from the top. As the machine agitated, you would open the "drain" lever and the water would recirculate. My grandmother never used that. That little plastic indicator on the inside of the tub i believe was the water level line. After every wash, my grandmother would remove the agitator. Man, thanks for bringing back the childhood memories.
 
You know what, though, Scott?

Remember when Robert suddenly liked his 47 GE more than his Unimatics and
changed his background from Frigidaire to GE ? The same thing happened to me. I now like Kenmore more than Maytag, but I'm afraid to tell Geoff, and maybe it's just a fling.

Thank You
 
Davy, I don't know what year it is

Mine has the filter port on the side and the filter mounts to the tub, but the filter is missing. I can't know if your Yia Yia"s machine is a few years earlier or later than mine, but I'm guessing earlier, that they "evolved" the filter off of the lid because it was too cumbersome. And the fill port on the side is awesome. If you find out the year, I'l love to know.

Happy to spark memories. I adored my Yia Yia.
 
Mike, I had one of these convertibles back in 1984. It was a belt drive, wig-wag mechanism and did spin at over 800 RPMs. I have often wondered what would happen if the mechanism was removed and used to power a full-size WP/KM belt-drive tub.
 
Hi Mike
Both of my parents were born in Buffalo. We would go and visit my grandparents and uncles who lived at 302 Massachusetts Avenue when I was a boy. I was born in Dunkirk NY, just outside of Buffalo. I still have lots of cousins in the area. My Aunt Margie had a 1950 Westy slant front in her kitchen...no dryer. She lived on York St. You talk like my cousins...music to my ears...haha!
Rich
 
Another Buffalonian

Mike, your video is really great. Wonderfully narrated. Your accent is fun and its cool that you made note of it. Growing up in Buffalo, I get called out on it too.

My "Grandma" had a Kenmore wringer like yours in her white Youngstown metal cabinet kitchen. She lived on Busti Ave. in a 2 family. It was parked next to her 52 Fridgidaire refrig. She would roll that machine up to her kitchen sink to wash. It was a cumbersome process as there was not enough room and the kitchen sinks don't do well as laundry tubs. I remember her soaking things in the bathtub too!

In the winter, she would carry baskets of wet wash up to the the attic to dry. In the warm weather, it was down a flight of stairs and out to the back yard. It was really a process of hard work. But I don't think she ever really complained. Advance to today's world, its hard to imagine folks worked so hard not all that long ago. I think the Visi-matic is from the very early 60's.

Leslie
 
Thank you, Gentlemen

Leslie, your last name survives in these parts, seen it many times. And Busti avenue is still the main drag in the neighborhood famous for being the home of La Nova Pizza--they keep winning contests and their wings, etc. are shipped all over the world.

Aunt Marge didn't have an attic, so in the winter, she walked the laundry down the street, basket by basket, to Aunt Mickey's house and hung the clothes in HER attic. They worked so hard and never blinked, and they loved us so much and were so happy! And we worshipped them.

Rich, Glad our accent is so stable and locally universal. Dunkirk is the next "big City" 30 miles west and down the lake from here. My sister Ann lived on Massachusetts for a time--small world, indeed! Your last name is missing; wonder If I know any of your cousins.

Rinso, "Wig-wag"-- do you mean dual action? This machine is way earlier.
 
Hey Mickey ... OK, OK, I forgive you for liking your Visi-matic better than your Model J! You WILL come back to your Maytag some day and it will be waiting for you! :-) To be honest with you, if I had a nice Visi-matic like yours, I'd probably be liking it a lot too. There certainly is a lot more bells and whistles than on a Maytag. I really like the fill port; that is so cool! I am always worried about the hose coming out of the tub as I've had that happen before and water gets everywhere.

Your video was FANTASTIC! Thanks so much for sharing. Your little Whirlpool convertible is a blast and washing by the kitchen sink is always fun.

I got to operate Don Shier's Visi-matic this past fall; it was fun! You're right; they are very quiet ... a lot quieter than a Maytag. The wringer is so visible; we had a sock roll up on the top roller and were able to see it right away. In my Maytag's, I have to stand to the side and watch them come out. The other cool thing is the timer; it shuts off not only the agitator, but the motor, too. You can't do that in a Maytag. All you have to do on the Visi-matic is set the timer dial to "HOLD" and you can continue to wring, pump, re-fill, whatever. I've always thought that was a great feature. I also like the ability to "shift" speeds. The handles on the side are great, too.

See ... I could become a Visi-matic user!! :-)

I admit, too, that I had an "affair" with a Speed Queen. One of the new ones from Lehman's Hardware. That was about 7-8 years ago. It was definitely not a Maytag ... very "tinny" sounding and the wringer would pop open if you looked at it wrong. The on-off dial for the agitator was backwards; that was weird and there was no pump. Luckily I have a floor drain in my laundry room and out the back door in my laundry room that walks up to the back yard (for hauling all those baskets of clothes out to the line!). In the end, I was very disatisfied with the Speed Queen and gave it away for our parish's fall festival or spring fling or something like that.

I really need to get my act together and make a video of one of my Maytag's!
 
You're gonnna love this, Geoff

Since filming a few weeks ago, I found a vintage retro rubber disc that was made to slip over a kitchen sink faucet, an item so old, it doeesn't even aerate. It has a little elephant trunk-like protruberance that slips oven any faucet. On the side of the disc is a small steel lever that allows you to select stream or spray. It is now attached to the hose inside the Visi, and it's so cool. I'll snap some pix.

Still learning names and members. Is Don a technician? I'm dying to get hold of a contol dial . With the little stick, mine is on perpetual hold--no auto shut-off. Do you know who might have one? Been searching for two months. John Pinto was so kind in sending me a proper scrubber cap for the roto-swirl.

To Maytag's credit, it wrings faster than the Visimatic. A standard bath towel takes 11 seconds in the Visi, but only 9 in the Maytag.

Think about showing how quickly you can wring out a load of towels, how you need not wait for one to finish, how you can load three at a time, and have the load wrung in half a minute, long before an automatic has even though of finishing the drain much less the spin, except of course for the blazing unimatic.
 
Hi Mike
My last name is Maher. I'm from a big Irish Catholic family...my dad was one of 9 kids. My grandfather was a fireman in Buffalo. I have about 35 cousins on that side of the family. The majority of them still live in the Buffalo area...Kenmore, Fredonia, etc.
Keep on making the great videos!
Rich
 
I will try to get my act together this year and make some videos of my Maytag stuff; I just haven't had the time (poor excuse, I know).

I think I know what you're talking about with the sink; we can still buy those new here. I used to have them on my sink until the City improved the water pressure in my area. I wouldn't get enough pressure from the aerator on the end of my kitchen faucet to make suds when washing dishes! I would flip the little lever on this device and get a "spray" which would generate suds for me (gotta have those suds!).

To fill my wringers, I have a fill hose from the Maytag Porta-washer. It is a little short, but it works well and you just slip it over the end of the faucet. I used to have a "snap" set-up that you can buy at Home Depot (or the like). It lets you connect outdoor hoses together. I then bought a 6' length of industrial hose and put ends on it. Worked great but I like the fill hose from the Porta-washer better.

The Maytag does wring fast! They always said you could easily do 40 pounds of laundry in a hour. Not for me! I take my good old sweet time; that's half the fun!! :-)
 
Thanks, Rich

I went to grammar school with Linda, and Paul teaches French at East Senior, the other high school in my district. Small world, knew there's be a connection. Maher's are everywhere here in the Buffalo area, just like the Meegan's: my mon is the youngest of 10.

You keep liking them and I'll keep making them. Let gentelemen abound!
 
Enjoyed the videos and if I can swing a trip to Tuscon for the wash-in I hope to meet you. But keep your hot oil enemas to yourself :O
 
Oh; I forgot to tell you that Don is "Jetaction" on the website. Did you see his post in "Super" about "Quiet on the Maytag Set"? No. 10533.

Like Ben, he has some great machines in his collection!! :-)

Ben is in the "heart" of Maytag country; Iowa!

I wonder if Sears may still have some parts for your machine; or other parts websites. Have you tried those yet?

Your Visi-matic is so close to being "mint"; I hope you can find some parts to keep it running and running and running ...
 
Thank You Studlies

Lesto, that hot oil enema flew out of my head in exasperation--never heard of one, but I guess you have--ha ha ; D Love to meet you too.

Ben, I can't wait to show you the powerful pump, after I replace the squished, crippled faucet. The water's gonna fly.

Geoff, yes I wished him luck; it will be amazing and spectacular when he becomes the next Maytag Man. Just imagine!!. I think it's already in the stars.

Sears National doesn't even stock roto-swirls, much less a control dial. I have exhausted all telephone avenues, but I'll take your suggestion and start cyber searching.

Ben is awesome, so decent, and generous and friendly to everyone. Indeed, there are so many decent glowing healthy truly upstanding people in this club that it just blows my mind.
 

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