drh4683
Well-known member
I came across this nice pair of clean low hour 1974 Lady Kenmores in Coppertone at an estate sale a couple weeks ago. I wasn't expecting to find these, nor were they initially offered for sale when I spotted them. They were in a very nice all original upscale home built in 1958 in River Forest, IL (west suburb of Chicago where I live).
I asked the people running the sale if they'd consider selling them, to which they said they didn't think anyone would want them, so no thought was really put into it. They called up the family of the estate as I waited and they said someone wants the old washer/dryer set and if they can sell them. The owners said if someone wants them, then why not! They said make us an offer and I said how about $100? They snapped it right up with a SOLD! We also looked around and found all the original paperwork and manuals from when these were bought in April, 1974. Upon close inspection, its as thought these machines were rarely ever used. No signs of wear or rust anywhere. Like they were just uncrated. The labels on back are all crisp and bright still. If you look at the original paperwork, it says to "bring the old set into the garage". I wonder what those were. Probably some 1958/59 Kenmores..?
One wonders how a washer/dryer set never gets used. There's always a story to these low hour finds. Fortunately I was given the story by the family. The original owners of this home were born in 1910, and their son moved into his parents home after they died in the early 90's. He just left things the way they were, taking good care of his parents home until he passed away recently. The family owned and operated one of the largest cleaner companies in Chicago; "Toll Bros. Cleaners" which was started by the original owners parents in the 1910's (they're now out of business as of about 2011). They had accounts with some of the largest hotels in Chicago and had plenty of money. Their stunning original 1958 home was proof of that. Apparently Mr. & Mrs. Toll had their laundry taken care of by their cleaning business, hence these machines were never really used. Interestingly, a newer bottle of "ALL" is on the shelf as seen in one of the photos, so perhaps they were recently used after their company closed down.
I asked the people running the sale if they'd consider selling them, to which they said they didn't think anyone would want them, so no thought was really put into it. They called up the family of the estate as I waited and they said someone wants the old washer/dryer set and if they can sell them. The owners said if someone wants them, then why not! They said make us an offer and I said how about $100? They snapped it right up with a SOLD! We also looked around and found all the original paperwork and manuals from when these were bought in April, 1974. Upon close inspection, its as thought these machines were rarely ever used. No signs of wear or rust anywhere. Like they were just uncrated. The labels on back are all crisp and bright still. If you look at the original paperwork, it says to "bring the old set into the garage". I wonder what those were. Probably some 1958/59 Kenmores..?
One wonders how a washer/dryer set never gets used. There's always a story to these low hour finds. Fortunately I was given the story by the family. The original owners of this home were born in 1910, and their son moved into his parents home after they died in the early 90's. He just left things the way they were, taking good care of his parents home until he passed away recently. The family owned and operated one of the largest cleaner companies in Chicago; "Toll Bros. Cleaners" which was started by the original owners parents in the 1910's (they're now out of business as of about 2011). They had accounts with some of the largest hotels in Chicago and had plenty of money. Their stunning original 1958 home was proof of that. Apparently Mr. & Mrs. Toll had their laundry taken care of by their cleaning business, hence these machines were never really used. Interestingly, a newer bottle of "ALL" is on the shelf as seen in one of the photos, so perhaps they were recently used after their company closed down.
