BOL's with Style

[bajaespuma]

I've only seen two of these in fuzzy bad photos on Craigslist, but they were interesting. At some point in the early sixties, GE came up with this all-plastic (presumably) very architecture-y, modern control panel for an oddball BOL model (probably designed as a go-along-with-anything choice). Looks like the beginning of a new design that got stopped before it could be developped into a new direction for their machines:

 

[bajaespuma]

As I said, I'm going on very little information here. The model numbers I cooked up are a guess and the washer is pure extrapolation; I've only seen pictures of the dryers, but it wouldn't surprise me if the washing machines existed because those boys and girls down in Louisville seemed to crank out anything they wanted to at will, before Jack (Monty Burns) Welch and his band of greedy boys swooped down and destroyed their operations. Could be, like the 300 series GE's I've seen, these didn't even offer the Filter-Flo feature.

If any of you know anything about these, please chime in; I know you're not shy. Any literature would be welcome.

The blue dryer, above, next to its fictional mate, I have to assume was made in 1961 because that was the color scheme that year. Since we've been tossing around control panels lately, the more I look at these panels, the more I appreciate their design. They're dashing and even a little artsy for the world of white goods. There was also an almost identical V-12 badged model that had the colors of 1962:

 

[tomturbomatic]

Usually, lower end GE dryers had a separate 20 minute "Fluff" cycle marked with a diamond-shaped symbol on the dial. That was a carry-over from the no heat Sprinkle cycle with the water drop symbol. It looks like these two models offer two positions on the heat switch, but I cannot see if the selections are high and low heat or heat and no heat and I do not remember seeing GE dryers with that choice. Maybe because the timers allow the extended time for 115 volt operation, there was no room for the "Fluff" setting.

As to the fate of the design, I wonder if the all plastic control panel was deemed a fire hazard because it had no metal shell to enclose components that could possibly burn and instead of having a metal shell at the back, sides and top to keep flames away from the wall, it would just add fuel to the fire.

I was initially puzzled by Westinghouse dryers with pushbuttons for heat selection that started at high or Reg and went down to "NO".

 

[bajaespuma]

Tom,

You're observant. Because the pictures were so bad, I can't swear by it, but the dials seemed to be missing the "Fluff" cycle along with the diamond symbol. I've seen a dial like that before on a GE DA320R(1958), the one that had no backsplash, only the little "clock radio" control tower. One of the plastic dials I got from the Hansens in upstate NY was exactly like the dial I once saw on the dryer's mate, the WA350R. Unlike almost all the GE washer dials I've seen, this had only one cycle; no "SHORT WASH" cycle:

 

[circlew]

A while back I was at the historical society looking through some old newspapers, and in an ad for a local GE dealer was this dryer. Can't remember what all it said about it, but believe it was priced at under $100, and sounded quite basic. Seemed like it was in a '61 or '62 paper. If I remember I'll look again when I return to the museum.

As for the plastic control panel, I would imagine it was Styrene. This type of plastic has a tendency to discolor and cracks rather easily; that would make it undesirable for more expensive models.

 

[dustin92]

A friend of mine has a VERY BOL GE dryer, im guessing maybe from late 70's or 80's. One timed cycle, up to either 100 or 120 minutes, and a push to start lever. No heat selection at all, and a very plain black and white color scheme on the controls.

 

[northwesty]

Remember this BOL? I think it is the BOLs of the BOLs

 

[bajaespuma]

Rock-bottom BOL's in the GE world, as far as I know (and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if there are others even more stripped down), doesn't have ANY TYPE of control panel that rises from the cabinet. I've seen both washer and dryer with nothing more than a dial mounted flat on the back of the cabinet on either the right or left side. There was even a dryer in 1962 that had no external controls that was meant to go along-side the sink/washer combo that John LeFevre has in his warehouse.

 

[golittlesport]

GE's answer to Frigidaire's control tower

this is a newspaper ad from 1958

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...gDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3419,1848405&dq=ge+washer&hl=en

 

[golittlesport]

another 1958 GE newspaper ad

rock bottom of the line - no backsplash at all

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1300,2755448&dq=ge+washer&hl=en

 

[appnut]

Richie, that 2nd newspaper ad witht he $139 wash is the match to the dryer in the picture above.

 

[tomturbomatic]

A neighbor had the dryer with the "pod" control panel, but no heat selector selector, just the push down lever to start. It was of the first Hi Speed design with the fixed drum back with a rectangular inlet for the heat and the heating element in a rectangular duct behind the drum. That yellow GE dryer was marketed as the "Sunshine" dryer in BH&G magazine ads, sold for around $100 and was usually a 115 volt model although a neighbor had John work on a gas Hotpoint version that looked the same.

At the time the machine with the b&w plastic control panel was made, there was a cheaper model with no filter flo and no water level selector. The dryer was like the one pictured. A friend had the pair.

 

[bajaespuma]

Thanks for posting that.

Richie those ads prove, yet again, for me that GE had no limits on models it would put out. That second ad from Sarasota featured the BBBOL that the Hansens actually have in that warehouse, the WA350T (no Filter-Flo), and two oddball models from my favorite vintage, 1961, that WA400 (looks like it's so BOL it also had no Filter-Flo) and a slightly less BOL WA404. Interesting to observe that the copy artist for that ad didn't quite yet understand how to draw the new heptagonal lid on the V-12. (Good Lord, I am SUCH a nerd). The "clock-radio" machines seem to have been standard and featured from 1958 to 1962 with few changes although in 1959 they got snazzy Cadet blue faces:

 

[macboy91si]

GE BOL

This was the dryer that we had at my grandparents house when I was a kid. This was the 1st dryer that I ever had any contact with. It had the same handle as the picture above and had the little control box on top with a white ribbed face. The dial seems like it had a FLUFF section and it had one lever to the right of the dial for starting the dryer. For some reason it seems like it had a lit dial but I'm unsure.

-Tim