Early 1960's RCA Whirlpool Washer & Dryer Question

[philcobendixduo]

My Mother had an early to mid 1960's RCA Whirlpool washer and dryer matching set in white.
I only wish that I had pictures of them (they were donated to a charity in 1987 when the new Kenmore Electronic pair took their place...)
Description as I recall -

Washer had a timer knob which was PULLED OUT to set the cycle and then PUSHED IN to start.
There were five black buttons to select wash/rinse temperatures.
There was a water level knob low-high and reset at far right.
To the left of the controls was a lighted panel - RCA WHIRLPOOL - Imperial.

Dryer had the timer knob,
5 black buttons to select temperature (I think) and to start the machine.
Knob to select "regular" or "Super" with red light to indicate "Super" had been selected.
To the right of the controls was a lighted panel - RCA WHIRLPOOL - Imperial.

I'd LOVE to see pictures of this set - either the real thing or brochure.

Also - I notice most Whirlpools on this site are PULL to start timers. Was the PUSH to start for 1 or 2 years only or..??

Thanks, fellow members!

 

[DADoES]

 
Push to start timers were the norm until consumer safety became a larger concern. It's quicker to push the timer to shut the machine off in an emergency situation than to grasp it and pull. I don't know when the change occurred. My grandmother's 1970 Kenmore 70 still had a push-start/pull-stop timer, IIRC.

Is the dryer of your question similar to this? The unit pictured without a Super/Normal speed control may be a slightly older Imperial ... or a step-down in feature set at the time, with the TOL Imperial Mark XII having a choice of speed.

 

[DADoES]

 

 

[philcobendixduo]

More on the Whirlpools

Another couple of things I remember about the machines.

The washer had the "Surgilator" with chrome cap.
When it was delivered to our house in Kearney, NE, the delivery man told my Mother to always remove the cap when done washing and place it under the agitator so it dried out.
She ALWAYS did that - and dropped the cap once in the tub causing a large chip in the porcelain.
Also, when my Aunt and family visited from N.Y. one Summer in St. Paul, MN, my Mother told her to go ahead and use the washer for their things.
She had a Frigidaire and wasn't familiar with the Whirlpool.
She loaded up the clothes and started it up - with the agitator cap still under the agitator!
"I thought it looked funny", she said....

The dryer had an interior light and lint screen door (metal) at right rear.

I've seen similar machines on this site - just not the "Imperial" models.

 

[philcobendixduo]

Picture from DADoES

That is VERY similar, but not exactly the same as the ones we had.

The lighted panel on ours had some blue (at the bottom, I think) where the "Imperial" script was.

On the pictured dryer, I don't see the small knob that was used to select "Regular or Super" and the red light.

Close, though - thanks!

Anyone else?

 

[maytagbear]

Your memories sound like

our Whirlpool Imperial washer from 1964. It sometimes shows up as the Picture Of The Day. The ad is an exasperated mother with two rather dirty twin sons. We had a Maytag dryer, instead of the matching Whirlpool dryer.

Ours ran from 1964 until 1978.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[philcobendixduo]

Dryer Controls Close-Up

Yes - very similar, but that one must be a later model as the one we had did not have automatic dryness control - just timer control.

My best recollection as to the year we got the set would be 1963-1964.

The lighted panels had a concave area at the bottom that was light blue, I think.

Oh yes - the washer had a chrome "magic mix" filter and on the other side, a bleach dispenser.

Thanks!

 

[philcobendixduo]

Ad picture looks more like it

Here is a picture of the advertisement that looks MUCH more like the Whirlpools we had.
The lighted panel is EXACTLY the one that was on ours.
The control panel, however, looks different in this ad.
Large timer knob, 5 buttons, small knob for water level.
Getting close.

 

[strongenough78]

Well it was somewhere between 1971 and 1976. My Grandmothers 71 Lady Kenmore was push to start and my Mothers 76 Whirlpool was pull to start. So somwhere in those 5 approximate years was the change.