East German WM 66 Washer and Communist-era Consumer Products

[joe_in_philly]

Made in DDR: When Communism Met Consumerism

In East Germany, engineers and designers proved that necessity is the mother of invention.

Interesting read.

Laundry Reviews, Features, and Deals - Reviewed

Find the perfect washers and dryers here, the most comprehensive source for unbiased, trustworthy washer and dryer reviews, including top load, front load, stackables, and more.

laundry.reviewed.com

 

[hydralique]

Nifty article, thanks for the link.

 

[jamiel]

Great link. I visited the DDR museum mentioned in the link and was absolutely fascinated...I expected to be in and out in 45 minutes and 2 hours later wasn't done. The museum has grown considerably (I was there about 15 years ago) and has a cool website as well. If you're in Berlin it is WELL worth a visit. The last display which really hit home for me was a simple bankbook from the East German Bundesbank showing someone diligently saving each week/month, then at unification the amount of Ostmarks was cut in half to be Deutschemarks. Pretty amazing.

 

[arbilab]

Note their invention of R-600a refrigerant. Non ozone, non globalwarming, ahead of its time. Oh, it IS explosive but few such incidents are recorded. Then, the eastern bloc wasn't known for recording incidents contrary to the party line, eh?

 

[gansky1]

Fascinating, thanks for the link! I put the Stasiland book on my Amazon list, it looks really interesting too.

 

[gizmo]

interesting!

Did the WM66 spin too, or just wash?

Any chance of an inside photo?

thanks.

 

[foraloysius]

These WM 66 were just washers with a square tub and an impeller at the bottom.

Here is a video, badly filmed, but you'll get the idea.