Could this be the WP rotary dial!

[peteski50]

I was told the first Whirlpool DW design from 1959 had a rotery phone dial control. Awhile back I got some photos of the machine but did not see the control panel closely. I got this photo from fliker. Can anyone shed light if this is the WP dial if it is even real?
Thanks Peter

 

[rp2813]

WOW

I have never seen one of those, but I absolutely want one!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Great find, Peter

The maple leaf is an obvious modification, to use a polite word, but yes that is the dial. The rip off is that when you use the normal cycle, you don't get to dial very far, only a local call.

 

[whirlcool]

Love the maple leaf!

I have never seen a rotary dial on an appliance before. Rather strange!

 

[peteski50]

Whirlpool Dishwasher!

Than the dial goes with this picture!

 

[peteski50]

Whirlpool Dishwasher!

I dont remember where this picture came from, but it looks like it!

 

[peteski50]

Whirlpool Dishwasher!!

Last

 

[bwoods]

The interior of this dishwasher looks familiar. Could this be the dishwasher that appears in the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds" (1963)? I think that is where I saw it.

Like many of you, on this site, when I see an appliance in a vintage movie, it gets my attention. If any of you own the movie, check the scene where Rod Taylor's mother is in the kitchen loading the dishwasher. I don't have a copy of the movie to check, but for years I have wondered what brand the dishwasher was. I think this may be it!

 

[appliancelou]

the birds

the dishwasher in that movie was a frigadaire

 

[hydralique]

Very Cool Whirlpool!

I've never seen one, but betcha Earnestine the Operator had one.

 

[tomturbomatic]

This is the dishwasher our friends bought as a replacement for their Apex Dish-a-Matic when they remodeled their kitchen. After a dinner, their 3 sons and my brother and I loaded it and they let me start it. I remember the wife/mother measuring the inside dimensions of our Mobile Maid when they were trying to decide which DW to choose. I know that if they had chosen the bow-tie impeller GE, it would not have needed service as much as the WP.

 

[toploadloyalist]

With the maple leaf, this could be a Canadian dishwasher.

 

[appnut]

Photo for reply #5 and #6

I think those two photos may have been ones Toggles shot while at work. 

 

[jetcone]

Of course its a Canadian model

GO Blue Jays!

 

 

[turquoisedude]

Ah, but if it was a Canadian model, it would've been branded Inglis.... 

 

The wash arm and rack configuration look very much like the 61 WP top-loader I have - definitely a big change when Whirlpool built their own dishwasher instead of rebadging a D&M machine!  

 

I remember that my father had a 1959 BH&G 'Kitchen Ideas' book and it featured a 'telephone dial' Whirlpool dishwasher that used gas to heat water and dry dishes!   Has anyone else ever heard of that variation??

 

[Jsneaker]

Post# 558206, Reply# 11 11/20/2011 at 23:59 by toploadloya

Very interesting! The Canadian version of Whirlpool is Inglis, and this would be the reason for the maple leaf insignia. I never saw those "telephone dials" anywhere before.

 

[tomturbomatic]

The maple leaf is probably more in support of Toronto's team than anything else. It is not an Inglis symbol.

 

[zippyjet]

I actually knew a family who had one!

Back in 1977 I dated a girl I met at college. She lived 10 minutes away in the Milford Mill area of Northwest Baltimore County. I remember seeing that telephone dial dishwasher. As far as I knew it was alive and well (working) when we dated back in 1977. Flash forward several years later and I read a 1959 Consumer Reports review on dishwashers and CU raved about the Whirlpool. Claiming it was the most modern dishwasher available at the time. Many feel that Whirlpool telephone dial dishwasher was the beginning of the "modern dishwasher." It even beat the venerable Kitchenaid back in 1959! Quite interesting. Talk about 1950's jet age technology.

 

[bajaespuma]

Jonesing for those shoes.