mobilemaid
Member
New member here from Lake Guntersville, AL. I wanted to share this one-page ad from a 1959 Better Homes and Gardens magazine I had saved.
Shawn
Shawn
Frigidaire Custom Imperial WCIR-59 AD
- Thread starter mobilemaid
- Start date
Help Support :
frigidaireguy
Well-known member
I wish there was a way to make the article larger so we could read it.
davy1063
Well-known member
What's the difference between the WCIR-59 and the WCI-59, beings that I own a WCI-59?
Dave
Dave
westytoploader
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2004
- Messages
- 4,485
I believe WCIR-59 means it is equipped with suds return...hence the "R" at the end.
davy1063
Well-known member
YEAH, I'd like to see the full-sizd ad also. Does anyone have it?
mobilemaid
Member
I tried to post the full-size ad, but the bit size was too big. Send me an email at [email protected] and I'll attach the full-size jpg and send back to you!
Hey new member from Alabama! Welcome to the club from another Alabamian.
Ad Resized
davy1063
Well-known member
awesome!
so I guess mine is Snowcrest White.
so I guess mine is Snowcrest White.
I love the byline
"Proved best by United States Testing Co. Inc."
If I recall correctly the US Testing Co. was in holding to General Motors!!
I LOVE THAT!
"Proved best by United States Testing Co. Inc."
If I recall correctly the US Testing Co. was in holding to General Motors!!
I LOVE THAT!
mayken4now
Well-known member
If it were so wondeful and the best, why did it go away? The later years, Rollermatic, then the 1-18, then STOP, DONE, FINISHED, GO AWAY.?
Multi-Tragic!
One of the prettiest machines of the late 50's, the 1959 Frigidaire was the first to offer two speed selections for agitation and spin.
One of the prettiest machines of the late 50's, the 1959 Frigidaire was the first to offer two speed selections for agitation and spin.
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Steve in Pensacola:
"If it were so wondeful and the best, why did it go away? The later years, Rollermatic, then the 1-18, then STOP, DONE, FINISHED, GO AWAY.?"
Steve:
I think GM was trying to raise some fast cash by selling off Frigidaire. The late '60s / early '70s weren't all roses for the company, even though auto sales were strong. There were a bunch of lawsuits over the Corvair (Ralph Nader's book, "Unsafe At Any Speed" made Corvair-based injury/wrongful death suits very winnable), there were very high development costs over front-wheel-drive (Toronado, Eldorado) and a new generation of compact and subcompact cars (Vega, Chevette, Astre). New emissions and safety regulations were increasing their costs, as well. And the marketplace was demanding more. The difference between a 1960 Chevrolet and a 1970 model was nearly unbelievable by today's standards, where the same car sometimes gets made for ten or twelve years without major change. A '60 Chevy had cheap nylon-and-vinyl seat covers, a heater was extra, and so was carpet. Ten years later, Chevys had real upholstery, like more expensive cars, and niceties like carpet and fan-forced flow-through ventilation (called "Astro Ventilation") were standard. That kind of stuff cost GM a lot of money to do, cutting into profit margins that had formerly been so high the Mafia might have envied them.
So, I think they just saw Frigidaire as a ready source of cash.
"If it were so wondeful and the best, why did it go away? The later years, Rollermatic, then the 1-18, then STOP, DONE, FINISHED, GO AWAY.?"
Steve:
I think GM was trying to raise some fast cash by selling off Frigidaire. The late '60s / early '70s weren't all roses for the company, even though auto sales were strong. There were a bunch of lawsuits over the Corvair (Ralph Nader's book, "Unsafe At Any Speed" made Corvair-based injury/wrongful death suits very winnable), there were very high development costs over front-wheel-drive (Toronado, Eldorado) and a new generation of compact and subcompact cars (Vega, Chevette, Astre). New emissions and safety regulations were increasing their costs, as well. And the marketplace was demanding more. The difference between a 1960 Chevrolet and a 1970 model was nearly unbelievable by today's standards, where the same car sometimes gets made for ten or twelve years without major change. A '60 Chevy had cheap nylon-and-vinyl seat covers, a heater was extra, and so was carpet. Ten years later, Chevys had real upholstery, like more expensive cars, and niceties like carpet and fan-forced flow-through ventilation (called "Astro Ventilation") were standard. That kind of stuff cost GM a lot of money to do, cutting into profit margins that had formerly been so high the Mafia might have envied them.
So, I think they just saw Frigidaire as a ready source of cash.
whirlcool
Well-known member
I still remember being crushed when we went shopping for a washer back in the 80's and specifically asked for a Frigidaire Jet Action washer, only to be told that they were no longer being made.
A ready source of cash, or chewing off the foot caught in the trap?
sale to WW
"If it were so wondeful and the best, why did it go away? The later years, Rollermatic, then the 1-18, then STOP, DONE, FINISHED, GO AWAY.?"
I've read various stories through the years. Yeah, cash strapped makes sense to me, too. But I think it was also a bit of generational change. The newer thinking was, no need to build this stuff, we have the lines running full-time anyway. Of course, those were the managers who then did GM in over the last 30 years, so go figure.
The thumpers could not be continued by the new owner - GM kept the tooling and it would have cost a fortune to recreate. I have always assumed (don't know) there were also patent issues involved, too. White did have some good engineerig at one time, but by then they were caught up in the malaise from which none of the US white good manufacturers ever really recovered. Except for the rollermatic's fascinating little ways, these were the best and gentlest cleaners for the money ever built.
Not that I'm prejudiced or anything.
"If it were so wondeful and the best, why did it go away? The later years, Rollermatic, then the 1-18, then STOP, DONE, FINISHED, GO AWAY.?"
I've read various stories through the years. Yeah, cash strapped makes sense to me, too. But I think it was also a bit of generational change. The newer thinking was, no need to build this stuff, we have the lines running full-time anyway. Of course, those were the managers who then did GM in over the last 30 years, so go figure.
The thumpers could not be continued by the new owner - GM kept the tooling and it would have cost a fortune to recreate. I have always assumed (don't know) there were also patent issues involved, too. White did have some good engineerig at one time, but by then they were caught up in the malaise from which none of the US white good manufacturers ever really recovered. Except for the rollermatic's fascinating little ways, these were the best and gentlest cleaners for the money ever built.
Not that I'm prejudiced or anything.
wannapinkset
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2007
- Messages
- 104
I cannot even say how badly I want a pair of those. You cant see it, but theres drool running down my face in copious amounts.
*deep deep sigh* darn.
*deep deep sigh* darn.
GM and the bean counters . . .
Once upon a time, in particular before 1960, GM spent a lot of money on research and development and some of that obviously filtered down to Frigidaire. The '60s were pretty profitable for GM, but they started to spend less on the engineering and more on making cars bigger and with more features but not necessarily better. By 1970 their quality was slipping too in an effort to make more and more for less money. My guess is they just decided that the potential profits from Frigidaire weren't worth the trouble of competing in a crowded appliance market. Sad . . .
Once upon a time, in particular before 1960, GM spent a lot of money on research and development and some of that obviously filtered down to Frigidaire. The '60s were pretty profitable for GM, but they started to spend less on the engineering and more on making cars bigger and with more features but not necessarily better. By 1970 their quality was slipping too in an effort to make more and more for less money. My guess is they just decided that the potential profits from Frigidaire weren't worth the trouble of competing in a crowded appliance market. Sad . . .
mayken4now
Well-known member
All of that could be said about AMC (kelvinator)
and Ford (Philco).
Gyrafoam put it well to me one time saying: "He could go buy his GM car and she could go buy her GM appliances".
Of course this would hold true for AMC and Ford.
Steve
and Ford (Philco).
Gyrafoam put it well to me one time saying: "He could go buy his GM car and she could go buy her GM appliances".
Of course this would hold true for AMC and Ford.
Steve
