I wonder if anyone can help me ID a dishwasher that we had in our home in the mid to late 60s. What made it unique, iirc, was that instead of a lower spray arm, there was a long tube that went from the back to the front. It sat in a depression in the floor and would somehow pick up water and fling it at the dishes as it rolled. That is all I remember. Does that ring a bell for anyone?
Dishwasher memory
- Thread starter d-todd
- Start date
Help Support :
Tappan's miserable attempt. The theory was that as a truck tire picks up and flings water, this rotating drum would do the same in two directions. Unfortunately, the drum in the dishwasher did not have tread like a truck tire. The drum did reverse directions and that was why there were detergent cups on both the left and right hand side of the lower rack so that the water thrown by the drum would wash the detergent out of each cup to wash the dishware and glasses on each side of the machine.
Todd, one of my mom's chilldhood friends bought a new house in 1962 and it had this Tappan Dishwasher (Dual Drench). Nice thing about it was it was pretty quiet. It was a pathetic dishwasher. If you put too much detergent in the dispenser, it wouldn't dispense all of it by the time the complete wash & rinse cycle was finished. The house my parents bought in fall of 1961 had the O'Keefe & Merrit brand of this dishwasher. We had a Waste King dishwasher bought in 1960 or 1961 that was far better and we put that dishwasher in the new house and put the new house dishwasher in our old house.
rollermatic
Well-known member
still looking for one of these!
saw one in the garbage once in 1968 when i was a kid! wish i'd have grabbed it! can't believe they actually manufactured this terrible design and sold them!
saw one in the garbage once in 1968 when i was a kid! wish i'd have grabbed it! can't believe they actually manufactured this terrible design and sold them!
Peter, I thinkk I"ve only seen 1 (2 at the most) show up in a collector's collection. They were rust buckets and were so aweful, most people were glad to get rid of them when they failed. I will admit, anytime I'm riding in a car on a wet pavwement and hear the water noise on the road, reminds me of this dishwasher.
Well, it sounds like I wasn't far off in my recollection. I did find the attached picture elsewhere on this website. Was there a way that the front of the drum was supported? The house where I remember this dishwasher was custom built with a high end kitchen. We had a built-in rotisserie which we never used. I do remember a brown bottom mount refrigerator as well. The tile in the kitchen was red quarry tile. I was told how advanced we were to put that on our counters, but the grout was really wide and got coated with food residue.
[this post was last edited: 5/18/2025-20:20]
[this post was last edited: 5/18/2025-20:20]
No you weren't too far off. That's the exact dishwasher!! I was between the ages of 9 & 12 when I spent time around that unusual machine.
Todd, I am actually surprised that dishwasher lasted until the mid to late 1960s.
Tappan dual drench dishwashers
The Bakelite drum is supported on both motor bearings. The motor is inside the drum to replace the motor. You have to remove the dishwasher and remove the motor from the back of the machine..
We have one in the museum, it is without question the worse performing dishwasher ever built in the US and probably in the entire world.
It was a very interesting idea, that’s why I wanted one for the warehouse museum. It was probably a pretty reliable dishwasher if you could keep it from rusting out.
John L
The Bakelite drum is supported on both motor bearings. The motor is inside the drum to replace the motor. You have to remove the dishwasher and remove the motor from the back of the machine..
We have one in the museum, it is without question the worse performing dishwasher ever built in the US and probably in the entire world.
It was a very interesting idea, that’s why I wanted one for the warehouse museum. It was probably a pretty reliable dishwasher if you could keep it from rusting out.
John L
John, I've always agreed it's the worst dishwasher ever put on the market. The friends whose brand new house came with a Tappan kitchen, I'm sure they thought the early 1970s Hotpoint Potwasher that replaced the Tappan was beyond belief. when they bought their new house with the Tappan kitchen in early 1960s, they'd never had a dishwasher before. I was still far more enamoured with their WO65-2 and the 1965 Custom Imperial washer. The 1965 washer was replaced with a 1/18 .
I looked up the house on Zillow and it was built in 1963.
Where did the rusting take place? I was only a young boy so I don't remember hearing about performance issues. Was the dishwasher considered a high end product? As I mentioned, the whole house was built for us and the overall concept was very modern at the time. I am sure that the kitchen has been remodeled out of its former glory.
Where did the rusting take place? I was only a young boy so I don't remember hearing about performance issues. Was the dishwasher considered a high end product? As I mentioned, the whole house was built for us and the overall concept was very modern at the time. I am sure that the kitchen has been remodeled out of its former glory.
The ads for the machine were beautiful with the green and turquoise color scheme and the mention of the night light.
There is an ad for the Deluxe version of this dishwasher.That's in the picture of the day rotation.
Tappan!
Family friends had the TOL 1963 Tappan DW model with the full upper rack and night light control panel. They used to rinse things first so I couldnt judge the cleaning power. It was definitely out of the norm DW! It lasted until 1981 but had several repairs. Was quiet for a DW of it's time. After that they got a RR Maytag. They never got used to the noise of the Maytag! But it was a much better DW!
The Tappan is the one that comes up in picture of the day!
Peter
Family friends had the TOL 1963 Tappan DW model with the full upper rack and night light control panel. They used to rinse things first so I couldnt judge the cleaning power. It was definitely out of the norm DW! It lasted until 1981 but had several repairs. Was quiet for a DW of it's time. After that they got a RR Maytag. They never got used to the noise of the Maytag! But it was a much better DW!
The Tappan is the one that comes up in picture of the day!
Peter
