Early Hotpoint
A friend had this washer badged as a Hotpoint in a corner of her kitchen in the mid 50s. I think the dials were red, but I'm not sure. The manual advance into wash was because there was no way of metering the fill. It was automatic in the rinse because of the solid tub overflow rinse and a pump that kept up with the fill valve, but just like when you are playing in the surf, you never turned your back on the incoming water. I remember her shiny agitator and those big fins at the top. They lived in a house built with the set tubs in the basement and no provision for an automatic in the kitchen, so the washer drain hose went through a hole in the floor right over one of the old set tubs, but not all of the way down into the tub. There were a couple of feet of round galvanized ducting like you would use to vent a water heater or furnace hanging down from the basement ceiling around the hose, but extending well beyond the end of the hose. I guess it was to confine any spraying that might result from the washer shaking the hose while spinning. I thought it was logical. I was still young and knew what could happen to even the best aim for no apparent reason. It was pretty visually dramatic with the water falling 4 or 5 feet through the air when the washer drained, especially after wash, and loud when it splashed into the tub, but the drain during the overflow rinse lasted longer. I thought it was like what you would see behind Niagra Falls. Except for going upstairs to watch the agitation and spinning and to winkle, I could have sat on the stairs by that tub in the basement all day on laundry day.
