GE Sunshine Dryer DE 420A for $99

[tomturbomatic]

I found a picture of a dryer I have mentioned in the past and, unlike the info I got from some sales person (who probably did not want to sell such an inexpensive model), it operates on 240 volts. Some Sears low end electric dryers had lower wattage heating elements. I do not think that was the case with this GE dryer. Get a load of the snow outside the door and those bold cabinet colors. This is early mid 60s. [this post was last edited: 10/7/2012-12:56]

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[golittlesport]

Was there a matching washer?

 

[tomturbomatic]

Not in yellow, but there was probably one of GE's famous "drop in" models that offered little more than a timer, tub and tranny in a white cabinet. Only the desperate would settle for this yellow dryer unless it could go in a basement or other out of the way place. A white dryer with a control panel cost maybe $30 more. The yellow was a nice tie in with sunshine for clothes drying, sunshine in a box or something like that.

 

[bajaespuma]

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if there had been a matching washer and in yellow. Louisville could and did make any configuration it wanted/needed to and even in the early Sixties seemed to respond immediately to the whims of the marketers and higher-ups. I wouldn't be surprised if there hadn't been a surplus of "Sunshine Yellow" porcelain cabinets for TOL dryers that didn't sell in the previous model year. It's about at this time that Coppertone and then Avocado were introduced to the market as women grew tired of American Standard Pink, Yellow and Aqua were on the wane. I grew up with a very nice AS yellow bathroom that had a Filter-Flo pair in White. Probably could have been bought in Sunshine yellow but that would have cost my Mother another 2 bucks (yes, I know, I know, that 2 bucks would have been worth 20 bucks today).

 

The more I discover about GE, the more I realize that the company had a very efficient system for using up old parts and putting them out there for liquidation. It's a lesson in business. I'm sure the big manufacturers like Whirlpool and GM did the same thing.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Actually only the tops are porcelain so cabinets could be repainted. Did GE ever use colors for their commercial machines like Frigidaire, Maytag & others? I remember yellow Philco washers, SQs in orange and green and WPs in green, but only white GEs. A friend in elementary school told me that in the small town where they used to live, his father owned a Mary Maytag coin laundry with all pink equipment, even the sign.