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Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

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Unimatic1140

Unimatic1140

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I've been slowly but surely going through my collection of old VHS tapes and trying to burn them onto DVDs. Some of these are almost 25 years old and they are slowly degrading so I have to get them off of old VHS tape or lose them forever unfortunately. As I find fun stuff I'll try to digitize it and post them.

Here's a 1954 public domain kinescope-recorded episode of the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. The commercials were for the fabulous Hotpoint Impeller Dishwasher, that scored very highly in the recent (1953) Dishwasher test by Consumer Reports.

Here's the Show Opening, along with Happy Hotpoint who is a 17 year old Mary Tyler Moore...
<object width=425 height=355><param name=movie value=></param><param name=wmode value=transparent></param><embed src= type=application/x-shockwave-flash wmode=transparent width=425 height=355></embed></object>

Here's the First Commercial, again with Happy Hotpoint, (I left in just a few seconds of the show before the commercial starts to set the "mood" of the evening lol)
<object width=425 height=355><param name=movie value=></param><param name=wmode value=transparent></param><embed src= type=application/x-shockwave-flash wmode=transparent width=425 height=355></embed></object>

Here's the final commercial...
<object width=425 height=355><param name=movie value=></param><param name=wmode value=transparent></param><embed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/zJKxPuEeSgc&hl=en type=application/x-shockwave-flash wmode=transparent width=425 height=355></embed></object>
 
very cool - thanks for taking the time to post them!

Thanks Robert for making content like this available to us. Not many venues around for it and we are lucky to have this site.

A tip of my hat to you, sir!
 
Robert, thanks so much for posting those, they brought back great memories. Also notice the GE 3 beater mixer on the counter in the last one. I always thought those were neat.
 
I Barely Remember the Holidays:

My mother had a 1964 Hotpoint Silhouette washer until 1972. It is the only washer in my life of which I have no memory. Nobody else had one, so I never saw one in action until I saw the 1956 model in See It Wash. Thank you Robert.

Have a good one,
James
 
Accessible Work Around Needed

Robert,

Many thanks for posting those classic Hotpoint video clips. Unfortunately for me, I had to jump through some hoops in order to access these videos, as the links did not appear to my screen reader. Therefore, I had to pop open the source code and scavenge out the URL's. Once the flash interface appeared, I had to fly by the seat of my pants and guess which button was gonna play the audio. Luckily for me, it was the Number 1 button. At least that's how those buttons appear to me [as unlabeled numbered buttons]. The Youtubes then opened in a separate browser so I could take note of the name and link info for each. *For those of us who still wish for the making of accessible links*: Here goes.--Laundry Shark

1954 Hotpoint Opening to Ozzie and Harriet

 
1954 Happy Hotpoint Commercial

By the way, once I was able to find the actual Youtube interface videos, I then uploaded them through Online.Movavi.com for conversion into Windows Media Files.--Laundry Shark

 
derivation of "Hotpoint"

do we think it was inspired by "Coldspot"? I've always wondered if it was. Serious research needed--inquiring minds want to know. Great videos--we had a HP d/w, with the chrome knob with red center--always wanted to see that impeller in action but never could make the thing work with the door open. (Just as well--I think playing with some of my mother's appliances led to their early deaths--RIP Bendix with the ozone light.)
 
Thanks, Robert. Funny that she did not put on a hostess apron in the kitchen for that little clean up job. Those dishwashers were quite good for their time. If you added an infinite switch to the timer, you could pulse the power to the timer motor and have longer washes. Overfilling would not be a problem since the water level was taken care of by the metering coil in the motor. Or you could use a delay timer and set it to stop power to the timer motor for 5 minutes once the main wash started to give a 10 minute main wash for pans, maybe. GE used infinite switches on at least one model in the 70s to permit the user to lengthen or shorten washing and drying, I think.

In spite of what they said, it was a good idea to scrape food off the dishes before loading them in this machine. Food particles would tend to fill up the holes in the little screen that covered the weep hole in the pocket of the detergent cup cover that covered the detergent for the main wash. During the first wash, both pockets filled with water, but the one pocket drained when the impeller action stopped for the first drain period. That left the cover unbalanced and easily knocked open when the wash action began in the second wash. If the screen were clogged or missing, the water did not drain out properly and the detergent for the second wash did not dispense reliably.
 
Fun!

Thanks for posting these Robert!
I had no idea that this dishwasher had two washes, and a 10 minute wash. No wonder why it was ranked higher than that others during this time period.
Love the cool graphics! Hotpoint paid a fortune for these commercials just in graphics alone for the 1950's.
Brent
 
"Hotpoint."

Hotpoint started out making small appliances, and the first Hotpoint appliance was an improved electric iron. The iron had extra resistance wire coiled at the tip, therefore it had a "hot point." Housewives of the time loved it. Hotpoint is a very old brand, from the 1900s.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Hotpoint developed the sealed rod heating element where the resistance coils were insulated by surrounding them with magnesium oxide and sealing that in a stainless steel tube. The standard in heating elements at the time had the resistance coils running in channels in fire brick. In Europe, this was considered too dangerous and the cast iron element became the standard element for its safety.

Hotpoint's "Calrod" element was such an important advance in electric heating that GE wanted a close relationship with Hotpoint, so Hotpoint became a subsidiary of GE. After a while, Hotpoint's production of small electrical appliances ceased, but both companies did their own designing. Heating elements and financial connections were the link between them for decades.

I don't think "Coldspot" was inspired by "Hotpoint" which was a much older name. Whereas the hot point of an iron was an advantage in ironing, a line of refrigeration products would be less likely to want to be known for having a single cold spot in refrigerators & freezers and later in air conditioners, unless the whole appliance was the cold spot. The division of appliances sold by Sears Roebuck under the names of Kenmore, Coldspot and Homart always seemed sort of strange to me and they were united under the Kenmore badge over time. I guess it made a little sense because of installation arrangements to sell built-in dishwashers in the kitchen cabinet and sink department and, by default, portables in the same place as the other dishwashers. The Housewares line "Maid of Honor" makes me wonder if Julius & Lessing Rosenwald might have had inspiration from the "Woman of Valor" blessing.
 

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