Conover Dishwasher

[gadgetgary]

Have never seen one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-1930-CONOV...236665741QQcategoryZ13596QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[petek]

So it seems the Briva in sink dw isn't a new idea after all.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Conover to Westinghouse & APEX, too

In the later 1930s, Westinghouse bought Conover to get the dishwasher. The Westinghouse dishwasher shown at the 1939 World's Fair was the Conover design. What's sorta funny is that the Conover was a front opening dishwasher with roll out racks, like modern machines, but when production resumed after WWII, Westinghouse dishwashers were of the roll-out wash well style.

Another dishwasher factoid I found is that in 1949, Dish-A-Matic was purchased by APEX. From page 4 of the June 15th, 1949 issue of Electrical Merchandising:

The Apex Electrical Mfg. Co., Cleveland, has purchased all of the capital stock of Lake State Products, Inc., Jackson, Michigan, producers of the Dish-A-Matic electric dishwasher and the Cinderella portable clothes washer.

C.G. Frantz, president of Apex, said the acquisition of the Dish-A-Matic firm represented an initial investment of close to $500,000.

Mr. Frantz said the modern, efficient Lake State Products plant at Jackson will be kept in operation as a wholly owned subsidiary of Apex. The Lake State plant, he said, has a capacity of 50,000 automatic dishwashers per year and production will be geared to expected requirements as rapidly as possible.

 

[sudsmaster]

Wow that is an early dishwasher.

I wonder about safety, though. Consumer Reports articles from the 50's detail how various washers had a poor record for electrical safety, with shock hazard being a not uncommon hazard. The 30's were the days before grounded plugs and outlets, as I understand. Plus, electrical cords may not have been all the heat and water resistant. Stick it all under a sink with an exposed pump motor, and where someone is likely to have their hands immersed in water in the adjoining sink... yikes! I suppose maybe though that the water pipe may have provided a good chassis ground, and thereby have avoided some of the problems that a free standing machine might have.