Did most Maytag generations look older than they were? If so, what years/decades did they fit more?

[woodjack99]

I have noticed a lot of variation in exactly how old people online seem to think old 'Tags are before they look up the serial #. For example, even though the "New Generation" center dial models were made mostly in the 70s, most people's first guess seems to be 60s (they were introduced in 66). I'd say the gold-trimmed silver dial ones match the 70s well, but I guess the 60s styling carried over a bit too long. Now the previous generation center-dials (56-65) I would say definitely kept the 50s look well into the 60s. I own 2 Tags: a 75 A107 and an 85 A506. People first seem to guess that they're from the 60s and 70s respectively, rather than the 70s and 80s.

Maybe the reason they kept these looks until they may have looked somewhat dated for their time was because of their iconic styling and synonymity with quality. What years would you guess each generation Tags were produced if you hadn't known?

 

[qsd-dan]

The center dials through 1979 look like a 1950's washer. 

 

The 1980-1995-ish models look like 1980's models until they went to the white console.

 

The white console machines look like a 1990's model.

 

[tomturbomatic]

While the 1980-1995 models were said to have been designed to look like their dishwasher, to me they looked like a Montgomery Wards machine, which ironically, later had a closer relation than just looks. Maytag moved slowly and like many slow movers in the world, eventually was killed by faster movers.

 

[elginkid]

The 1966 Maytag design should’ve debuted for the 1958 model year, only with the gold glass design, and wider chrome banding. The 58-65 would’ve been great for the 1956-57 models. The ‘66 design (as issued) should’ve hit around 1963/64, the gold should’ve replaced the blue in ‘67/68, and the 1980 designs probably around 1975.

 

[qsd-dan]

<a style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;" name="start_92401.1170164"></a>

 Maytag moved slowly and like many slow movers in the world

 

Slow and cautious is the way to go. Maytag pushed their Neptune washers out the door too fast without more R&D and we all know how that panned out.

 

[kenwashesmonday]

I find the Maytag center dial styling to be timeless, and it certainly holds up better today than many other designs, for example, machines with vinyl fake wood grain treatments.  Also note that chrome has made a comeback on new cars.

 

[bajaespuma]

Jack, I very much appreciate your observation because I've felt the same way ever since I saw my first Maytag. The pre-'66 Tags had many rounded edges and looked like they came from an earlier aesthetic--I think I learned from Tom Turbomatic that porcelain enamel technology required round edges on appliances up until the mid-'50s. Although I came to appreciate Maytag's design as I learned to appreciate their engineering and quality they always made me think of homely little old maids (please excuse the sexism in this thread, but for me, it's there). Even the A-906's were disturbingly demure.

 

Frigidaires and GE machines seemed to push the design curve and embraced "atomic" design ahead of schedule, Frigidaire especially. I lost interest in the 'Tags when they abandoned the center dials; at that point those control panels just seemed so ordinary. One reason I still covet the original Maytag dishwasher, the WP-600, (besides the fact that it is still one of the best dishwashers ever made{yes, it was noisy and has a Plasticene tub; go pour yourselves a drink})is that I always thought that the Maytag designers did a bang-up job of designing the outer package to evoke the familiar and well-respected Maytag washing machine.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Great pictures!Thanks.

 

[woodjack99]

@Turbomatic

I definitely agree about the pre-66 Tags. When I first saw my grandparents' old A107 (was identical to mine, same year and everything) I assumed it was from the 70s, but when many people thought 60s I then thought "I could see that." Some people even think it looks 50s, but I'd say that's a bit of a stretch. The pre-66 ones definitely looked 50s though.

You mentioned homely: I think that was kind of the appeal of the old Tags. Simple yet elegant and stately at the same time. You could still see the quality, even in all of its simplicity. The 1980 change was definitely a pretty radical modernization. I like my A506 (85), but it's definitely somewhat less "striking" than the 107 (75).

 

[maytag85]

Maytag very rarely updated their machines in the 50’s to about 1980 (though there were updates after 1980, weren’t all that exciting). Maytag’s first automatic was the 1949 AMP which was made to about 1953, around 1954 they updated the console which was made up until 1955. In 1956 the updated the console again and kept that until 1965 though options and features changed during those 9 years but the console itself was pretty much unchanged. In 1966, they updated the console which they kept until 1980. In 1981, they went to a more simple and basic console which was used all the way until 1996. In 1997, Maytag’s washers got one last update before they closed up shop in 2006. In all those years, Maytag only made a total of 6 updates to the console on their machines.

 

[drummerboy928]

And then after that, Whirlpool came along and bought Maytag, and it seems they like to update the designs just about every year or so.

on a side note to that, the center dials definitely seemed ageless in a way. Just looking at my two, most people would probably not guess they were made almost 10 years apart.

 

[bpetersxx]

Is that washer in pic 1 a suds saver

It has to be as it has 5 push-buttons on the left hand side like my a606s

My a806s avocado has 5 on the left 5 in the middle and 4 on the right

a a806s with PP has 1 more button

 

[drummerboy928]

Reply #11

Yes, The machine in picture one is my 1978 Maytag A408S. I picked it up about a year ago and it has worked flawlessly since I got it. The second machine is my new to me 1969 Maytag A106 that I picked up about two months ago. As I said, most people would not guess that they were made almost a decade apart just from their looks.

 

[justjunque]

I love center dial Maytags. I've never owned or even used one, but I love the look.
I know it's apples to oranges, but; the same could be said of Maytag's wringer washers.
I have two J2Ls sitting in the laundry room. One is a 1966, and the other is a 1947.
And, aside from the logo design, and the color of the plastics, they appear to be identical.

Barry

 

[bajaespuma]

There was elegance in the Center dial design.Seemed to me that all Maytag Automatics were students of the "Circle in the Square" concept.

 

Not only an aesthetic choice, but with CD Maytags, the ON/OFF function of the control dial, the lid safety switch, the power cord connection and the unbalance switch were all positioned along the center line of the machine. Even though I defeated most of the lid safety switches on my 'Tags, I notice that if I flip the lid open on these machines during a cycle they smack the control dial to the "OFF" position. That <span style="text-decoration: underline;">had</span> to have been designed that way on purpose.

 

The other side of that coin is that many users (like me) like to futz with the wash during the fill period and Maytag made that very difficult.

 

[woodjack99]

@drummerboy928

You're so right. However old they are or look, they definitely look timeless even if some people thought they looked dated before their time. I would have to agree that I wouldn't guess your 2 were made nearly a decade apart, a testament to the timelessness.

I have to say, one other thing about the center dial look is it looks classic/vintage, but to me somehow futuristic at the same time, even decades later.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I wondered if/why Fred Maytag II had no heirs to run the company after he no longer could. Research revealed that he did have an heir, but he was more interested in brewing beer in San Francisco than running the family business and there is no sign that he married:

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Anchor Brewing Company
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Fritz Maytag

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from F. L. Maytag III)
Frederick Louis Maytag III
Born December 9, 1937 (age 85)
Newton, Iowa, U.S.
Occupation(s) Businessman, brewing magnate, viticulturist
Employers

Anchor Brewing Company
Maytag Dairy Farms
York Creek Vineyards

Parent Frederick Louis Maytag II
Relatives Frederick Louis Maytag I, great-grandfather

Frederick Louis "Fritz" Maytag III (born December 9, 1937 in Newton, Iowa) is the former owner of Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco and is Chairman of the Board of the Maytag Dairy Farms (maker of Maytag Blue cheese). He is also the owner of York Creek Vineyards in St. Helena, California. His revival of Anchor Steam beer inspired many other brewers to follow, and he is often considered the father of modern microbreweries.[1] Maytag has also been an active trustee of Grinnell College, whose campus is close to the headquarters of Maytag Dairy Farms, recruiting among others Apple Computer's Steve Jobs to the Board of Trustees.
Biography

Maytag is the great-grandson of Maytag Corporation founder Frederick Louis Maytag I and son of Maytag Dairy Farms founder Frederick Louis Maytag II. He is a graduate of Deerfield Academy (1955) and attended Stanford University (1959).[2]

In its April 2005 article "26 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs", Inc. magazine named Maytag seventh-most fascinating "for setting limits".

Maytag won the 2008 James Beard Foundation's Lifetime Achievement award for his work at Anchor Brewing.
Anchor Brewing Company

Hearing that the Anchor Brewing Company was about to close and looking for a fitting business challenge outside his family's vast appliance concern, Maytag bought the company in 1965 and made enhancing its fortunes his mission. This venture did not initially meet with enthusiasm from his family back in Iowa. The Maytag family fortune grew dramatically over half a century as the family managed a vast appliance international manufacturing and distribution enterprise based in central Iowa. Its backbone was an extensive, technology-leading line of clothes washing machines. Significantly, the clothes washer is credited as one of the greatest time-, labor-, and money-saving improvements to home life. It is one of the technologies defining what the rest of the world saw as the admired, relaxed, American lifestyle. In the 1920s, clothes washing was generally an arduous task done by hand; the Maytag company was on the vanguard of automating this task. By the late 1930s Maytag machines became noted for their high quality, a more costly but especially long-lasting product--the opposite of "planned obsolescence." Meanwhile, on the marketing front, the company's highly recognized Lonely Maytag Repairman advertising promoted the brand and explained Maytag's higher price. Company advertising never veered from this central theme. Without overspending, the ad resonated and its message stuck, reinforcing the brand's most noteworthy competitive advantage. The Lonely Maytag Repairman (created by Chicago Ad Agency Leo Burnett) is recognized as one of advertising's most successful, longest-running and most cost-effective ad campaigns of the last century.[citation needed]

With a commitment to quality and the use of more expensive raw materials being keys to the family's success in their Iowa washing machine business,[citation needed] Fritz Maytag was unafraid of Anchor Steam's low volume but higher-end market positioning. The brand had produced characterful local beer, but frequently in the 1950s and into the '60s it became contaminated, turning it sour.[3] To revive the company, in his early years at Anchor, Maytag invested extensively, borrowing heavily to revamp the company and expand capacity. In so doing, he placed at risk a substantial portion of his inheritance, because to procure the loans required, he was required to post Maytag stock as collateral. However, at this time, the late 1960s, a bear market controlled the U.S. equity market. Maytag stock fell, and his lenders required Fritz to post more and more of his inheritance. Meanwhile, he focused on turning around Anchor Brewing's fortunes. He both altered the recipe and the complex brewing process. Over time the beer surged in popularity. The brewery, once located on the upper floors of a building in what is presently San Francisco's Design District, moved, in 1979, to a new location nearby at the base of Potrero Hill; and, throughout the years, demand continued to climb. Not wanting to sacrifice the small size of the brewery, and, in turn, the quality of the beer, Maytag helped competitors become proficient in microbrewing. This helped to ease the strain on his own company.[citation needed]

In 2010, Maytag sold the brewery.
References

Tom Abate (2010-04-27). "Anchor Brewing Co. sold to Greggor, Foglio". San Francisco Chronicle.
Prial, Frank (11 July 1984). "Wine Talk". New York Times. Retrieved 19 November 2022.

Maureen Ogle, Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer (Orlando, FL: Harcourt Books, 2005) p.262

External links

Anchor Brewing Company
Maytag Dairy Farms
Of grape and grain, article in the San Francisco Chronicle (January 29, 2004)
26 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs, Inc. Magazine, April 2005
2008 James Beard Foundation Awards

vte

Maytag
Subsidiaries

Admiral Amana Corporation Caloric Inglis JennAir Magic Chef Norge

People

Elmer Henry Maytag Frederick Louis Maytag I Frederick Louis Maytag II Fritz Maytag Lewis Bergman Maytag

Related

Maytag Dairy Farms
Maytag Blue cheese Maytag Toy Racer

Categories:

1937 birthsAmerican brewersBusinesspeople from the San Francisco Bay AreaDeerfield Academy alumniFood and drink in the San Francisco Bay AreaLiving peopleMaytag familyPeople from Newton, IowaStanford University alumniViticulturistsPeople from St. Helena, CaliforniaJames Beard Foundation Award winners

This page was last edited on 19 November 2022, at 03:04 (UTC).[this post was last edited: 2/20/2023-16:37]