Does anyone remember washers or dryers of thier childhood?

[washertalk]

Jeff, I like your 70s kitchen.

Yes, like the all matching Harvest gold appliances. Those 70s cabinets, and the paneling that was added behind the Maytags. And the wallpaper.

What year was this?

 

[pdub]

Here's the Speed Queen washer I first remember us having in the 60's. We had a 62 Frigidaire Custom Deluxe dryer too but it was not in camera range in this picture.

I remember my mom using Salvo tablets at one time and I wanted to be the one to drop them in.

Patrick

 

[lasvegasrox]

my child hood washer was a 1997 whirlpool 7 cycle supreme with super capicity plus with a 3 temp in timer gas dryer

 

[Washinsheen]

Our washer was a late '50s Frigidaire, just like the one on the home page of this site, except it was white. My aunt had the same one, but in yellow. (Haven't seen a yellow one, since!) I can remember the load always getting off balance as it was starting to spin, and then it would shut off. Momma would have to go rearrange the clothes and then try the spin again, hoping it would take, that time. And then I remember the rubber cap of the agitator coming off in the tub, sometimes.

Another aunt had a 1963 Lady Kenmore washer in white. And then Grandma had a mid-'60s Frigidaire washer in white.

In 1972, our old Frigidaire washer died. So we got a new harvest gold Frigidaire. I thought we were finally up-town, because we finally had a new washer with a lid that opened from the side! And it wasn't white!! I remember it having a box of Tide and a Frigidaire advertising coloring book inside, when it was delivered.

Momma never had a dryer, and STILL doesn't! It's always been a clothes line for her. That's the way she wants it, for some reason. Not me, though. No thanks! I can remember her yelling for my sister and me to hurry and help her grab the clothes off the line whenever it would start to rain. And then during rainy or cold days, she'd put wet clothes on hangers and hang them in all the doorways throughout the house. What a pain!

 

[chestermikeuk]

Mums!!

Servis Slimline 308 Auto with 209 dryer...!! 9lb load, 850rpm, H&C fill, you need sunglasses with all that optical aerobics..LOl, This was mums first automatic after 18 yrs with a Servis MK2 Twinny...this machine is still going strong at my Great Aunts house who is 94yrs young...having been given to my Gran inbetween....

 

[hoover1060]

That 70's kitchen

That picture was taken in 1993 or 1994, I know that because I can see a smidge of the Armstrong Solarian floor my mom had installed in the fall of 1993.
The gold appliances were bought in stages, the Maytag 608's first in late 1977, followed by the stove and oven(Roper) in the summer of 1978 when the cabinets were redone. The Amana Fridge in 1980,the WU900 Maytag DW in 1982, and the Litton Microwave in 1985.
What you can't see in the picture is the harvest gold cast iron sink, which was outfitted with a 1978 batch feed GE Disposall.
Today all that remains of those appliances are the microwave and the Roper oven. The Amana fridge started it all, it expired in the summer of 1996, prompting not only its replacement but the Maytag 608's as well. The Roper stove was replaced later that fall. The '82 Maytag DW expired in 2004. The new appliances are all almond, save for the DW which is all black.
The wallpaper remains to this day!

 

[frigidaireguy]

My mother had a WL-60 Frigidaire (1949) with the matching Frigidaire (Hamilton) dryer. The washer lasted until 1962 when it died and we got a Frigidaire Custom Deluxe. The Frigidaire lasted until 1969 and was replaced with a MOL Whirlpool. The old dryer was finally replaced around 1968 with a GE. My Grandmother had a standard Bendix. This is probably the machine that started me on my love of washers.
It was replaced in 1955 with a Frigidaire Imperial. It lasted until 1967 and was replaced with a GE. Too bad we didn't know to save all these old classics.
Bob

 

[machinehead]

Memories are made of this...

Gramma had a 1974 Kenmore Roto-Rack dishwasher that was a real privledge when i became old enough to turn the dial and make the red light above it come on. The sounds it made were absolutely fascinating to me... Somewhere there's a pict with me, age 4 or 3 or so, on a bar stool in front of it staring at it like its television. My Dad says i'd ask, "What does it does do, Dad?"

She also had late 60's GE washers that were lots of fun to watch, and i remember my own parents had vintage Kenmores from the late 60's to early 70's until i was a teenager. The classic neutral drain, slam/clunk/click sound that let you know it was going to start spinning, the humming, oscillating roar of the pump when the water was drained... Wonderful!

Family also had Jetcone Frigdaires, i remember laundromats in Hartford and Minneapolis chock full of them. I never knew what to call the Pulsator until this site was made... for years no one knew what the hey i was talking about! I remember how noisy some of them were, a hammering sound, and how unique they were compared to everything else. Now if i can just FIND one! ;-)

 

[midmer455]

Carry the water to the side porch ..

The first washer I remember was a THOR wringer in my Grandmother's side porch. Water was carried from the pantry to the washer in buckets. As I look back at this and the electrical hook up for the washer I have no idea why someone was not electrocuted. During the summer the two soap stone tubs for rinsing were filled from the hose. The original use for the tubs was for a washboard in one side and the other side to rinse. Wringing was, of course, a manual operation. I don't remember a hand crank wringer. During the winter, the washer was brought in from the unheated porch to the kitchen/pantry area and a hose was used to fill. Rinsing was done in the sink. All in all a messy process. Of course, water was not changed after every load and drying was on a line. Not fun for Grandmother in the winter. Finally in the 1960's the house got a Kenmore automatic but no dryer. I don't remember the model but it was there until my Mother died. It had not been used in years and was not in good shape. Mom prefered to come across the street to my house and use my laundry because I had a dryer. I went through two Kenmore 'apartment size' washers that connected to the sink and the matching stacking on a stand 110 volt dryer. Space was limited and the washer just rolled under the dryer. Now, I have, in the same space thanks to front load, matching Whirlpool Duet HT washer and Duet stacking gas dryer. They were not cheap but they are fantastic products and worth the investment. Depending on the load in the washer the cats will sit and watch the tumbling.

 

[washertalk]

Wow, so many cool memories and pictures. I wish I had more pics of my house. It would look not quite as nice with that harvest gold 70s COOL as Jeffs is. I know I have pics of the Whirlpool harvest gold oven in storage.

Jeff, your kitchen is so 70s but for the Microwave. So I kinda knew the pics were from a later time. It seems like a spacious kitchen too. Almost like a display kitchen. lucky you.

 

[tolivac]

My Mom used to have a Norge "Burpilator"Then came a GE,Maytag,then Kenmore.She still has the Kenmore-has a Penta-Swirl agitator.she has a Maytag dryer that used to go with the Maytag washer.

 

[appnut]

My parents had a 1948 Bendix. Started my love of washers. Was replaced by a 1955 or 1956 GE (like JetCone's), but doesn't have FF. Found out that was most likely a special model. There was an early 1950s Norge TimeLine dryer. The GE washer was replaced with a 1964 Norge DispensoMat washer and matching dryer. The washer was replaced with a 1970 Kenmore 800. That washer & dryer were replaced with a MOL GE set in 1978. My parents replaced that set with a next to TOL Maytag set in 1995 and were sold when my parents moved into a retirement apartment in 2002.

 

[mathewhebailey0]

Late 1960's/early 1970's avocado Norge/Wards MOL or TOL Signature pair with fan behind drum. They were replaced with a white early 1980's Maytag pair The Maytags lasted until late 1990's early 2000's.

 

[funguy10]

My first family washer was a direct-drive Kenmore washer. I do not know the model number but it had a black control panel with a wooden top, a black speckled basket, a Dual-Action agitator and no dispensers. It was circa 1980s-1990. It finally quit spinning in 2002 so we replaced it with a Kenmore-branded Whirlpool washer which was all white. It had a white basket with diagonal holes, a Triple-Action agitator and fabric softener and bleach dispensers. Just this past May the drive coupler broke(a common ailment for theese washers) and after replacing it, the motor got seized. So it was claimed to be built to last but only lasted 5 years. Then we got the cheapy Kenmore Oasis machine which is white, has a solid lid, a Total Care Flex agitator and King Size Capacity Plus.

 

[jbinflorida]

The first washer I remember was around a 1969 vintage Frigidaire with the little square window in the middle of the lid. I would stand on a little step stool to watch through that small window. I was fasinated watching the up and down agitator action. We had that washer until my family sold the house up in Mass and we moved to Fla in late 1979. Once we moved to Florida we got a new middle of the line center dial Maytags in white. We lived with those until 1984 when we sold that house and moved back north then we got a TOL Hotpoint set with the handwash agitator. That was a neat washer! After I graduated high school in 1990 my family and I moved back to Fla and we moved to a house with a fairly new Kenmore 80 series washer and dryer. My parents replaced that set with a Frigidaire GLTF 2940 FL washer and regular GE dryer

 

[tolivac]

Oh yes-my Grandmother had a Kenmore with the fat black "pregnant" Roto-Swirl Agitator.My Stepmoms washer also had a large black Roto-Swirl agitator.Liked watching them.also remember the Big "K" on the agitator caps!

 

[rp2813]

Seems like the washers of my early childhood didn't last very long. I'm pretty sure there was at least one Norge in there somewhere. Going back to 1960 we had a mismatched pair. My parents bought a basket case fixer upper house in a very desirable neighborhood. Its 1925 service porch only had room for the washer. Had to go down some steps and through a door to the attached garage to the dryer, a 50's Norge timeline with push-button door opener whose timer no longer worked and with lint screen on the bottom. Dryer worked fine otherwise but I guess the washer failed so both were replaced by a 1968 Monkey Wards Signature (Norge) pair, the absolutely worst, loudest, shred-o-matic washer I've ever known. Hated, hated, hated it! The gas dryer was OK but after several years you could smell the carbon monoxide from it inside the house. I'm surprised nobody passed out or worse on a cold winter day with all the windows closed. In 1975 when that POS washer got so loud you couldn't hear yourself think, I convinced my mom to start shopping for a new washer. I had been checking Consumer Reports and with Maytags being far too expensive I pursued Kenmore. Ended up with that offbeat skinny belt model that Trainguy Rich had posted here last week. Best washer my mom ever owned, so quiet during agitation, and lasted 3 times longer than that POS from MW.

 

[golittlesport]

Our first automatic washer when I was a child was a 1957 Westinghouse Laundromat. It was not the fancy top of the line model, but the mid-economy model. I loved watching washers and now I had a window to look through...better than TV! But what really got me hooked was my grandmother's 1955 Frigidaire Unimatic -- that spin cycle! wow!

 

[appnut]

Jimmy, our GE that replaced teh Bendix looked exactly like your washer, but it didn't have FF.

 

[appnut]

Jimm7y, would you mind taking pics of the dryer? I've never seen that particular year/style dryer.