Does anyone have a Wheilpool washer and dryer from 1952?
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brucelucenta
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Check your spelling kiddo! You should check out that auction in Pa.
Sean-
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Only paying members of the website have the privilege of doing edits on their posts. That is why it's advisable you preview your post prior to posting it in the forum. There you can make corrections.
Paying members have more privileges than those who have a basic membership. (i.e. access to all forums, e-mails on the site, edits...and perhaps a few other things...) The cost of a membership is very reasonable for what you get.
Link to a thread from 2008 with great photos of an early '50s Whirlpool.
www.automaticwasher.org
1952 Whirlpool Suds Return Washer Is Hooked Up
At Tarantula Arms. Got it a few weeks ago and just hooked it up. I got the suds-return hose this week. Here she is in her new home next to the double laundry tubs.
www.automaticwasher.org
brucelucenta
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How strange that it had a straight vane agitator instead of the normal wavy one that Whirlpool always had.
The early 50s Kenmores also had a straight-vane agitator.
That straight vane agravator was better at sucking sheets underwater in the deep rinse when they had air bubbles underneath them from the strong aerated fill than the Super Roto Swirl. Anytime I see a huge back end struggling under a skirt and pulling the fabric from side to side it makes me think of the sheets in my mom's Kenmores.
brucelucenta
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I know that Kenmore always had straight vane agitators, just wondering if this agitator came from a Kenmore. Even the oldest of Whirlpool washers had the agitator with the waves as far as I knew.
Upper end Kenmore models had the RotoSwirl agitator.
Back in the 60's, cousins of mine had a 50 something basic Whirlpool and it had the same straight vane as the Kenmore in previous post.
brucelucenta
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Yes, I'm aware of Kenmore having roto swirl agitators. Wasn't aware that Whirlpool had straight vane agitators on their BOL early machines. I know they ALWAYS had the wavy agitator on every washer I have ever seen of the old BD machines and I question whether that straight vane agitator was original or if it was one someone put on the machine later. That wavy agitator was in part what made Whirlpool washers "Whirlpool" washers. So it would seem very strange that Whirlpool would put an agitator that was obviously made for a Kenmore in one of their machines. Also obvious that they were good agitator is the fact that Speed Queen copied the design for their own machines to this day.
Early 50's Whirlpools definitely had straight vane agitators. In fact, the earliest models had RED straight vanes. Robert at one time had a 52 with the straight vane. Whirlpool did't change over to the wavy ones until around 1954 or 55.
brucelucenta
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WOW!!! I am glad you told me that. Now that you said that, I do vaguely remember a red looking agitator like that. I am really surprised about that. I guess they came up with the "wavy" agitator associated with "Whirlpool" a little later. Thank you, I am happy to be educated on that. Being 61 now, I thought I had seen it all. Apparently if I did, I forgot some of it. LOL I do remember seeing the old old Whirlpools with the button on front that makes the lid pop open, just didn't pay attention to the agitator I guess.
straight vanes were the norm for most all automatics, and even wringers.....it was a matter of production, one molded, it had to be pulled out from the die in a straight line.....
at the time, even a Super RotoSwirl could be pulled straight out of a die......
when the Surgilator was created/introduced, it was just as revolutionary for the machine as well as the mechanical die used to make it....
one of the first mechanical die used that separated into three pieces to release the finished product, mainly the wavy vanes, under a normal die, could not be pulled straight out....
I think it comes around as the Picture-of-the-day showing the huge die and the creators showing the unit and finished product....
at the time, even a Super RotoSwirl could be pulled straight out of a die......
when the Surgilator was created/introduced, it was just as revolutionary for the machine as well as the mechanical die used to make it....
one of the first mechanical die used that separated into three pieces to release the finished product, mainly the wavy vanes, under a normal die, could not be pulled straight out....
I think it comes around as the Picture-of-the-day showing the huge die and the creators showing the unit and finished product....
When I originally came to this site in 2003 there were not a lot of washer videos at the time. There was see it wash on the site, but I don't think youtube was around then.
Anyway for those of us who can not own these classic marvels of technology we can always see videos of these classic workhorses doing their thing. I always thought the surgilator was one of the coolest looking designs for an oscillating agitator.
Whirlpool had that agitator as early as 1950 in their more expensive models and kept the basic design with some modifications until the 1980s. Whirlpool must have thought a lot of that design as they didn't switch agitators like GE did. It was like GE couldn't figure out what worked best in their tubs until they finally settled on that swirl agitator.
For those of you have used all different kinds of WP/KM washers over the years, how would you rank the surgilator against all the offerings of the WP/KM family as a whole ? I would think the early bakelite straight vanes were another brute force of WP.
Anyway for those of us who can not own these classic marvels of technology we can always see videos of these classic workhorses doing their thing. I always thought the surgilator was one of the coolest looking designs for an oscillating agitator.
Whirlpool had that agitator as early as 1950 in their more expensive models and kept the basic design with some modifications until the 1980s. Whirlpool must have thought a lot of that design as they didn't switch agitators like GE did. It was like GE couldn't figure out what worked best in their tubs until they finally settled on that swirl agitator.
For those of you have used all different kinds of WP/KM washers over the years, how would you rank the surgilator against all the offerings of the WP/KM family as a whole ? I would think the early bakelite straight vanes were another brute force of WP.
