Blackstone
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mickeyd
Well-known member
If you have eagle vision....
On the control panel in the POD, it says America's oldest home laundry manufacturer and then the date, but I can't read it. Until Fred G comes on, the automatics date back to the same era of the birth of Unimatics, 1950 and before; the conventionals (wringers) have been around forever ;-D more or less.
Fred, get in here, Man!
On the control panel in the POD, it says America's oldest home laundry manufacturer and then the date, but I can't read it. Until Fred G comes on, the automatics date back to the same era of the birth of Unimatics, 1950 and before; the conventionals (wringers) have been around forever ;-D more or less.
Fred, get in here, Man!
cfz2882
Well-known member
regional brand?
I have never,ever seen a blackstone in the SD,MT,WY.area-
only one i have ever seen in person was a lone example all
by itself at a laundromat in ohio in 1978.
I have never,ever seen a blackstone in the SD,MT,WY.area-
only one i have ever seen in person was a lone example all
by itself at a laundromat in ohio in 1978.
I know very little about the history of their products prior to the automatics, but they claim a founding date of 1874.
Blackstone was the first top loading automatic washing machine, with the model 50A being introduced in 1940/1941, prior to the War.
After the War, the 50A washer was revised slightly, and along with a newly styled cabinet was introduced as the 150.
In the early 50's the 250 was introduced with a revised transmission and cabinet, but retained the hatch like lid and red bakelite knobs, similar to that of the 150.
The 350 came out in 1955, which has the large dials on the front, with most of the 350's built bearing a complete stainless steel top.
After the 350, the 251 received a completely revised transmission, which is featured today in the POD in the model WAC-75, and was labeled as the "rugged and simplified mechanism". IIRC the 251 also was the first electronically controlled Blackstone, as the previous models all had a timer driven by the transmission, called the Autotrol. Lastly, early Blackstones had a mechanical water valve, which on the 350 is operated by cables mechanically opening and closing the warm and hot on the water valve.
I have a 350 from Fred G. They are beautiful washers, especially when the two large dials light up. It needs some parts but someday should be washing again.
Fred - please fill in the cracks, I had to miss something!
Ben
350S Blackstone, pictured.
Blackstone was the first top loading automatic washing machine, with the model 50A being introduced in 1940/1941, prior to the War.
After the War, the 50A washer was revised slightly, and along with a newly styled cabinet was introduced as the 150.
In the early 50's the 250 was introduced with a revised transmission and cabinet, but retained the hatch like lid and red bakelite knobs, similar to that of the 150.
The 350 came out in 1955, which has the large dials on the front, with most of the 350's built bearing a complete stainless steel top.
After the 350, the 251 received a completely revised transmission, which is featured today in the POD in the model WAC-75, and was labeled as the "rugged and simplified mechanism". IIRC the 251 also was the first electronically controlled Blackstone, as the previous models all had a timer driven by the transmission, called the Autotrol. Lastly, early Blackstones had a mechanical water valve, which on the 350 is operated by cables mechanically opening and closing the warm and hot on the water valve.
I have a 350 from Fred G. They are beautiful washers, especially when the two large dials light up. It needs some parts but someday should be washing again.
Fred - please fill in the cracks, I had to miss something!
Ben
350S Blackstone, pictured.
Love that pic!
But I seem to have that reaction for all things Blackstone.
But I seem to have that reaction for all things Blackstone.
mickeyd
Well-known member
Ya got me a googlin' Look what's going on in Gregm&#
lore. Skip to the second big paragraph ******HERE>>
Spinning's cycle: the history of the washing machine
While today we might think of stonewashing only in terms of our favorite jeans, stonewashing 500 years ago was the norm for all clothes—well, all dirty clothes, that is. Washing machines got their start in history with the simplest of tools: sand, stones, and good, old-fashioned elbow grease. Clothes were scrubbed with sand, then pounded against rocks and given a final stream-water rinse.
Functional fact: Soap was derived from fat found in sacrificial animal remains in ancient Rome.
Launderers first got a helping hand in 1797 with the invention of the scrub board. Clothes were scrubbed (hence the device's name) against the rough board; but while the scrub board eliminated the need for sand, the washing process, compounded by early lye soaps and heavy tubs of hot water, was just as labor intensive. James King built the first hand-powered washing machine in 1851, but the idea wouldn't really catch on for nearly another 20 years.******HERE>> Enter American merchant William Blackstone. In 1874, Blackstone thought he’d help his wife out with the best present a woman could want: the first washing machine. Blackstone's washing machine, while still a manually powered device, took the hand-scrubbing out of everyday washing; housed inside the main tub, a small, flat, pegged piece of wood, moved by the use of an outer hand-crank, removed grit from clothes.
Functional fact: Historians don't know exactly who invented the first electric washing machine.
Once Blackstone began mass producing and selling his washing machines, competitors emerged in full force—and they brought technological advances with them. Wringers were developed and added to washing machines in 1861; metal replaced wood in at the turn of the century. Electric motors were added after the arrival of the steam engine, and by 1906, motor-powered washing machines had hit the market. Those early machines' motors rotated the tub; Maytag's first washer in 1907 featured a rotary handle and flywheel. Our contemporary "wash cycle" was born in the 1930s with Bendix Aviation Corporation's automatic washing machine, designed to wash clothes and drain washing water away in one sequence.
Functional fact: Washing machines are hooked up at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass.; Internet technology in the machines allows students to monitor laundry cycles online.
Today's washing machines are either "top-loaders," which load from the top, or "front-loaders," which load from the side. Most American washing machines operate with an agitation system; the inner cylinder moves back and forth while paddles in the washer's drum lift clothes.
lore. Skip to the second big paragraph ******HERE>>
Spinning's cycle: the history of the washing machine
While today we might think of stonewashing only in terms of our favorite jeans, stonewashing 500 years ago was the norm for all clothes—well, all dirty clothes, that is. Washing machines got their start in history with the simplest of tools: sand, stones, and good, old-fashioned elbow grease. Clothes were scrubbed with sand, then pounded against rocks and given a final stream-water rinse.
Functional fact: Soap was derived from fat found in sacrificial animal remains in ancient Rome.
Launderers first got a helping hand in 1797 with the invention of the scrub board. Clothes were scrubbed (hence the device's name) against the rough board; but while the scrub board eliminated the need for sand, the washing process, compounded by early lye soaps and heavy tubs of hot water, was just as labor intensive. James King built the first hand-powered washing machine in 1851, but the idea wouldn't really catch on for nearly another 20 years.******HERE>> Enter American merchant William Blackstone. In 1874, Blackstone thought he’d help his wife out with the best present a woman could want: the first washing machine. Blackstone's washing machine, while still a manually powered device, took the hand-scrubbing out of everyday washing; housed inside the main tub, a small, flat, pegged piece of wood, moved by the use of an outer hand-crank, removed grit from clothes.
Functional fact: Historians don't know exactly who invented the first electric washing machine.
Once Blackstone began mass producing and selling his washing machines, competitors emerged in full force—and they brought technological advances with them. Wringers were developed and added to washing machines in 1861; metal replaced wood in at the turn of the century. Electric motors were added after the arrival of the steam engine, and by 1906, motor-powered washing machines had hit the market. Those early machines' motors rotated the tub; Maytag's first washer in 1907 featured a rotary handle and flywheel. Our contemporary "wash cycle" was born in the 1930s with Bendix Aviation Corporation's automatic washing machine, designed to wash clothes and drain washing water away in one sequence.
Functional fact: Washing machines are hooked up at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass.; Internet technology in the machines allows students to monitor laundry cycles online.
Today's washing machines are either "top-loaders," which load from the top, or "front-loaders," which load from the side. Most American washing machines operate with an agitation system; the inner cylinder moves back and forth while paddles in the washer's drum lift clothes.
blackstone
Well-known member
Ben,
You just saved me a lot of typing!
Just a reminder that all the remaining Blackstone parts have found a new home in Maryland.
Fred
You just saved me a lot of typing!
Just a reminder that all the remaining Blackstone parts have found a new home in Maryland.
Fred
The blackstone design with the round gearbox lived on in Australia until the mid 80's in the Large Capacity Hoover TL machines
I wonder if Blackstone continued their own mfr. work until their demise? My experience was exactly as cfz2822 posted, " a lone machine in a laundromat". The Blackstone coin op I encountered in real life in the late 1970's had a spiral ramp very much like GE's machines. alr2903
macboy91si
Well-known member
Blackstone and Hoover
Weren't the US model full size automatic Hoovers Blackstones? I would assume these are hard to find parts for? I would love a Hoover full size set, but was curious. Anyone have a pic of the Hoover version? Didn't someone here have a US version?
-Tim
Weren't the US model full size automatic Hoovers Blackstones? I would assume these are hard to find parts for? I would love a Hoover full size set, but was curious. Anyone have a pic of the Hoover version? Didn't someone here have a US version?
-Tim
hoover525
Well-known member
Aussie Blackstone
My washer here in Sydney. Dates from '77
My washer here in Sydney. Dates from '77
blackstone
Well-known member
Looks like a Blackstone; however, I've never seen a pump that was white.
