how we got here

[pcasa]

Since I'm new to the group - and after reading the post on appliance longevity - I would love to hear everyone's story on how and when they first appreciated/loved/lusted after vintage appliances - and if that passion overlaps into your "day job".

I think I've have always been fascinated by apppliances and how they work - but equally focused on their design. I remember a beautiful coppertone electric skillet mom had in the late 50's that looked kinda like a space ship - and found myself noticing the details and function of appliances more and more. I saw my first chromey beehive Osterizer in 1972 - it had been a wedding present to a friend who married in the early 60's. It was instant love. And it was very hard to find stuff in those days - I would have to get pretty dirty hunting for them. I guess I have 10 or 12 now - and they still function perfectly - they were made to last.

My collecting categories are:

Amana Radaranges
Oster Blenders - Drink Mixers
Cuisinart Air Surge Ovens
60's Le Creuset cookware - turquoise
60's Dansk cookware - turquoise
Vintage Rubbermaid - Wooster Rubber days - turquoise

Currently restoring my 1964 Maytag pair (turquoise of course) - which is what brought me to this group

I work as a product designer for a manufacturer of home decor products.

Very happy to have found this group.

pcasa/paula

[this post was last edited: 7/12/2014-23:34]

 

[hippiedoll]

GREAT THREAD PAULA/PCASA!!!

i think this is going to get alot of replies!!!

for me, i would say, my earliest memory would have to be when i was around 3 or 4. my mom had an electric griddle, this had to be in the early to mid 1970's. i remember she would make pancakes on this electric griddle. and i would like to see the little orange arrow light pointing to the heat setting dial, when she would turn the griddle on. just the seeing that orange arrow turn on and the color. it caught my attention. i think my favorite color must have been orange back then.
hm hm hm.....

as for washers, i have a fond but hazey memory of the avocado green hoover twin tub that used to be my moms, that was given to my aunt & grandma. and i can't remember if it was my aunt or my grandma, who used to was in that hoover twin tub washer??? but i do remember that. and i think i was fascinated cuz there was one "wet", splashy, swirly, water side and there was one spinning drying side. and hearing that VRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMMM of the spinner in action had my attention.

as for automatic washers, it has kinda always been there. but just recently, you could say that my interest has surfaced. especially since all the new washers & dryers look so damned plain & boring (all white)!!! to me they look so cheap and generic-looking now!!!

 

[bluejay]

Paula, we started when we bought our house back in 2008.  We love mid-century decor and are back dating our house.  Our stove (from 1992) bit the dust in 2011 and we had been toying with the idea of getting a vintage stove.  Best decision we ever made.  Everyone we knew said we were nuts.  We were told countless times that our energy bill would go up.  Not only did our electric bill not go up (it actually went down), we constantly get compliments on our stove.  After the stove came the first Maytag, a '63 DE700.  It was kind of my learning dryer.  We had decided that if a pink set ever came up we would replace our 'new' stuff (from 1992) with those.  So we are now the proud owners of a matching pink PA700 and PDE701.  Almost all of our small appliances have been swapped out for vintage items as well. 

 

I have a fairly large collection of vintage Pyrex, as well as vintage towels and bed linens, so it makes perfect sense to use vintage appliances.  I'm working on trying to get a vintage car, but I haven't won that particular battle yet.

 

[pcasa]

neat story!

I am in the process of updating and in some cases "backdating" the house that my parents built in 1972 - I took out mom's avocado wall oven and replaced it with a 60's turquoise GE wall oven that I had grabbed from the curb in my neighborhood - I had searched estate sales, ebay & Craigslist for years - and then there this one was just waiting to be rescued. I was by myself that day - but a kind guy in a van stopped to help me load it into my station wagon ... it's installed now and works perfectly! My turquoise Maytag pair will also live at that house - and hope to set up some shelving to showcase my smaller appliances.

 

[a440]

Great Thread!
My Mom was / is an avid Antique buyer / seller. As a child I was always with her going to estate sales. This is where I caught the bug. I remember always going straight to the appliances in homes and in antique stores to see what was there.
My Mom has always loved small appliances and gadgets. And still amazes me on the knowledge she retains when I ask her about vintage small appliances or large appliances.
I collect anything old / vintage. Anything.
Brent

 

[toploader55]

I found AW through YouTube.

I always was fascinated with washers and dishwashers as a child. No matter where I was Laundromat, friend's home etc., If I heard a machine running, I would have to go investigate and open the lid. Every time my Mom and I would go to a department store, I'd tell her I'll meet you at the Appliance Department.

Years gone by, always remembering the appliances from growing up, my new interest being a Chef was Commercial Kitchen Equipment. I'd go to the restaurant trade shows with my Dad, and just be taken back with the different types and models of the machinery. ( Especially the Hobart Line of Dishwashers ).

Then about 8 years ago, I was watching a YouTube video of a Hobart Dishwasher and on the related videos, I saw Robert's "The Washers that we Love" video.

That was it. I then came to this site and met some of the most wonderful people ever that shared the "bizarre" interest of the great machines from the past.

If you have never seen the video, here's the link that got me here.

 

[arbilab]

Parents parked me in the appliance department too. Knew I'd still be there watching pokerchips agitate in the see-thru washers. Always fascinated by machinery, ended up computer engineer for Dell, with a split degree in psychology and broadcasting. Made use of those too; broadcast engineer for NBC.

It's mostly nostalgia for me now. Everything I 'knew' has been declared valueless like that episode of Twilight Zone about the librarian. But 'the state' doesn't make ALL valuations. Here, what is past is still valued. So here I am, for what all I can enjoy and what little I can add.

 

[DADoES]

 
I think it was 1999, 15-ish years ago, I did an online search for some terms or other related to vintage 1960s Kelvinator washers and found the original Yahoo Groups group.  As I recall, my first question there was about 1960s Philco washers with a unique agitator design.  The whole thing snowballed until now I have attended three national/international gatherings and have something like 29 washers/dryers ranging from a Frigidaire WO-65 to a Maytag Neptune TL, two dishwasher, a vintage Amana microwave, and some parts stashes.

 

[pcasa]

great video!

... and Robert - wherever you are - please raise your hand so I can thank you personally! nice to have found my tribe

 

[Unimatic1140]

Hi Paula, I moved your thread to Super as this is a better spot for this...

 

[pcasa]

thanks Robert!

I kinda thought I put it in the wrong place

 

[goatfarmer]

Tribe. I like that!

 

[jeffg]

Paula, great to see new participation in the forums imo. Welcome!

Many of us are old enough that "vintage" washers are the ones our parents owned, and that we used and played with as kids. I think it was the first experience for a lot of AW members, and how we first got into them.

 

[pcasa]

me too

... I'm a kid of the 50's & 60's - our family had generic white appliances - but an aunt and uncle had the all turquoise kitchen in the 60's - I fell completely in love - they are 80 & 82 now and have visited the remodel that I'm working on - my aunt loves the turquoise of course - but my uncle keeps asking me - now WHY do you want a GAS dryer????? ahahahhahahahahahahhahaha

 

[pcasa]

our tribe

 

[washdaddy]

AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED- 5 STARS FOR THIS SITE!!!

I have always been fascinated with washers, dryers, and dishwashers as far back as I can remember. I was checking something out on Youtube one day not too long ago and came across a video that one of the members from here had posted. It was a video of a wash-in that they were attending and of course this sight had been mentioned. Being curious, I thought what the heck let's check it out and see what it is.
All I can say is that, from the time I pushed that enter key and the home page of this site popped up on the screen.....well words cannot describe how excited and thrilled I was to stumble onto this site. I spent the next several days reading everything I could on the four different forums (unfortunately just a basic member) and loved every minute of it. I almost felt like I walked into Shangri-La.
The fact this sight is so informative and helpful to people is amazing. Everyone is extremely kind, friendly and willing to offer assistance to others which makes it great. And considering that the site is designed to handle things from the past, the present, the future, everything in between, and from around the globe is just astounding.

There aren't enough kudos and accolades that could be given to the one/s that keep this site up and running. For the work that is put into this site....they truly deserve so much more. AW.ORG in a word PHENOMENAL!

 

[gus]

Dear Paula, (if you let me call you this way)not only you're a woman who enjoy old machines but you're a sensible person with a sweet soul. Thank you for staying among us. Gus

 

[foraloysius]

I started posting on the Yahoo club on October 16th 1999. I was there at the first convention in 2001 too. It was fabulous! It was great to meet other people part of "our tribe". And I still enjoy being here!

 

[turquoisedude]

It all started with a coffee maker...

I remember when I was all of 11, I bought an urn-style coffemaker; a 9-cup Royal Rochester with a patent date of 1919.   It was all downhill from there...  

 

I used to horrify my parents during the large refuse collection weeks in the city where I grew up.  I dragged home old TVs, vacuums, dishwashers, and even a couple of washers.   I also started frequenting church rummage sales - I discovered other vintage smalls like toasters, blenders, and automatic coffeemakers.  I remember the thrill of finding a working, intact Sunbeam Model 7 Mixmaster that became my 'right hand' when I took over the KP duties in our house when I was 10 and my mother had her first heart attack.  

 

From the time I had my first apartment, I vowed to have an all-vintage house.  By that time, I had managed to save the dying 60s Viking top-load, impeller dishwasher - my first vintage major appliance.   I moved into my own home a couple of years later and started out with my parents 1957 GE fridge and a 1957 Tappan-Gurney electric range.  By the time I met my partner in the early 90s, I had upgraded the major appliances (but the fridge was still a 1964 Coldspot).   We bought a country house in the mid-90s and it came with a 1960 or 1961 GE dryer.  I picked up a 1978 Kenmore dishwasher in Avocado and soon thereafter found a Kenmore range and Admiral refrigerator also in Avocado.   In 1997, we bought the house next door and it was already well-equipped with a bunch of vintage smalls and dishes.  It was then the turquoise bug bit...  I wanted to have an all-turquoise kitchen.  It took me a while, but I did find a compact (24-inch) turquoise electric range and I painted the Inglis refrigerator we had to match it.   I found an apartment-sized turquoise Westinghouse refrigerator.  That was when I discovered my partner's lack of passion towards vintage pastels...  Well, actually about a week after that refrigerator find when I found a matching Kelvinator range and refrigerator set - early 60s and very turquoise.  He continuously questioned my sanity as we drove to the Muskoka lakes area of Ontario (north of Toronto) to pick them up.  He figured I'd be happy... Nope.  I needed a real turquoise dishwasher.  I finally found one in late summer of 2007 in Toronto.  Again, my sanity was questioned as we went to pick up it.   When I got it home, I realized that I knew zip about vintage appliances...

 

That was when I found this site - I put a post about the dishwasher and I learned much to my dismay that the dishwasher would be unusable because the cabinet part of the machine (it's a GE 'Princess' pull-out) was missing the lid cover.   Rather than being crestfallen, I discovered that other members posted links to ads for vintage appliances here.   In a wink of an eye, I had bought a 1957 GE Mobile Maid in upstate New York (like one I had dragged home as brat years ago).  

 

But one day, I found a post about a GE Wonder Kitchen and wall refrigerator here.  Well, I bought them, installed them and I am using them at our house in Ogden (we moved there in 2007). 

 

Since then, I have been amazingly lucky in finding and restoring several 'dream machines' thanks to the help, advice, and hands-on experiences with other members here.  

 

Surprisingly,  Hubby and I are still not divorced and I still find lots of goodies here...