I'm glad I'm not the only one who is fascinated by washing machines!

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Hi Philip,

Your experiences and interested I believed is shared by many of us. Years ago I never dreamed of connecting with a group of people who share the same fascination appliance and other interests…heck where was this group when I was coming out???

Several years ago I have written a novel and it is currently with the publisher…I am not sure when it will be published …below is a few sections from it.

“I was odd fellow, even at age eight, because of my interest in appliances, mainly washing machines—maybe I was just more mature than were most boys my age. I wanted to learn how things worked. I couldn’t relate to other kids; I found them uninteresting.
….the kitchen in my mom's house was full of wonderful memories from watching her cooking, washing dishes, mixing cakes to when I waited patiently to help her load the dishwasher. My mom was amazed that at young age I could get everything in the dishwasher without breaking and all the dishes will come out clean. I would spend many hours as a kid with my ear pressed against the dishwasher listening to the sounds of the water splashing and the motor gurgling. My mom’s laundry room was next to the kitchen and when she was not looking, I would climb to the top of her old 1960’s Kenmore washer and watched the hoses in the back of the washer banging against the cabinet while it was spinning with an off-balance load. Occasionally when the washtub was empty, I would stand inside of the washing machine imagining that I was in the washer while it was running. This stopped after I accidentally turned the washer on. The tub filled and I was enjoying feeling the water ride up on my legs….then all the sudden the washer started to agitate. I quickly climbed out of the washer before my mom can hear me panicking. Fortunately, I was not caught or hurt.

….I eventually discovered that all my "investigations" into the workings of washing machines and dishwashers lead to me taking them apart. Of course, had to be done in secret, 'cause BOYS were not to be interested in “laundry and dishes”. I could imitate and sounded out almost the entire "Normal" cycle on my mom’s Kenmore washer...almost louder than the TV in the room next door. The water rotating and swirling while watching our family's laundry cleaned with Oxydol-fragrant water, which has become my weekly Saturday morning activity. I was more interested in watching the washing machine then watching cartoons.....

…..when I played with other boys, I would wonder off and go in to their parents’ laundry room, looking at their washing machine...hoping to see it in operation. In time, I learned to know when my friend mothers and aunts do their laundry, so I plan my visit with them during those times.

……I have learned at a very young age to tamper the lid hinges and have a peek on the action while the washer was spinning. I eventually learned how to do this on my mom’s GE dishwasher. Well, the dishwasher door tampering didn’t last very long until after being caught with the door open when the dishwasher was operating and water spraying all over the kitchen….mom was not pleased. This all seems so silly now, but there was something mechanical yet magical about those gears grinding, moving sudsy water around our clothes and dishes being scoured by the hot water scented with dishwasher ALL. Secretly I would try to trip the washer to start agitating sooner then the pre-set water level by rocking the washtub when it was filling with water…this stopped after I burned out the motor from the extra stress on the motor. Then I developed a co-addiction to our Electrolux Upright Vacuum cleaner, at which I built one to replicate my moms. Eventually my older sisters simply declared me insane and said that I was adopted. They would not have anything to do with me as they were embarrassed and tried to avoid being seen with me.

…….I believed my parents advised my older sisters when they take me out to the shopping centre, avoid at all cause for me to glaze at appliances. This did not stop me, as I would always wonder off on my own to the appliance department and open clothes washer lids, hand rotate agitators and turn dials. The memory that will always stay with me was smell of the new-washer smell at SEARS. Oh, those virgin hoses on a new Kenmore clothes washer had an aroma that gave me a sense of security and satisfaction. As my family and friends became aware of my fixations to appliances, they would automatically wondered if I was at their place and played with there appliances because they have broken down.”

Bob
 
Hiding my face

This is such an embarrassment. Phillip, you are the same age as my oldest daughter. I assumed from the post you were an adolescent. I was annoyed so many were using expletives and making the thread an "all about me". So I doggedly brought it back on course. Why didn't it occur to me to look at your profile and realize you are 33. I am so often stupid in public anymore, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at myself. Just one more doddering old coot who should learn to keep his mouth shut.
Kelly
 
"Well, the dishwasher door tampering didn’t last very long until after being caught with the door open when the dishwasher was operating and water spraying all over the kitchen….mom was not pleased."

I love that Bob, LOL I did that exact same thing.
 
People have always had their niche interests and the internet has served to make a community happen, and to extoll esoteric tastes in what many would consider common or obsolete objects.
I remember when I was younger, I visited a friend in Manhattan who took me to a friends apartment and the walls were lined with antique and classic juicers, only the pull handle, put the half orange or lemon in and pull(no electric) in many colors and heritages, and I thought "you can't get a more specific interest than that, manual juicers from Europe and America."
Washers are sort of the same thing. To most people, they are about as interesting as the furnace or the shingles on the roof. It does it's job, it breaks, replace it, who cares, the BMW needs a wax, that's sexier.
But what we are really doing here is adding value to what is older and good, and someday our opinions will count in a design perspective as well as an ecological one for presevation versus replacment.

Have I said too much?
 
Let's Hear It For The Mavericks!

We automatic washer lovers are a breed apart--and proud of it. I was always interested in washers even when I was a little boy. When I was about 7 or 8, the school I attended sent me to a district psychologist because I may have been too advanced for my grade (seems I was not paying attention to what the teacher was trying to convey). In any case, the psychologist asked me to pick a toy from among many in the corner. I chose a hand-cranked washer to play with; the agitator moved back and forth when you cranked it. My mother told me years later that the psychologist felt I had "latent homosexual tendencies." (He turned out to be right, but he never explained what THAT had to do with my learning problem; she never brought me back to that psychologist ever again.)
So please excuse me as I wait for a potential boyfriend to call and my laundry to come out of the dryer...!
 
"latent homosexual tendencies"

I have to make an observation here, and I hope that no one will be offended. If there is a single thread that runs through the personal stories found in these forums, it is one of parents moving heaven and earth to keep their sons from becoming interested in washing machines.

And what that brings up, to my way of thinking, is the question: WHY? In the Mid-Century years when most of us were growing up, major appliances were traditionally designed, engineered, sold, financed, delivered, and serviced by MEN, not women. Why, then, was there such shock and horror that little Johnny was fascinated by the end result?

Indeed, it would seem the reaction should have been exactly the opposite: "Huzzah! The kid's interested in something that he could make a career out of!"

I never understood it. Get interested in baseball, and Dad automatically figured you were going to be the next Mickey Mantle, in spite of the obvious odds against anything like that ever happening. Get interested in washing machines, and everyone became very concerned about your sexual orientation, despite the fact that tens of thousands of heterosexual men made a good solid living in the field.

People can be SO damn weird.
 
MikeS OMG

Had I forgotten about the school social worker, or did I block that episode out? I could of written your post, at first i felt slapped, and now I am laughing like a fool. Was'nt childhood the greatest? aside from some of the family member horror stories above, nothing better than a salaried idiot, with a college degree, counting down their days to retirement, to diminish a childs potential. MikeS- will you be billing me for this session? :-)
 
I am proud of my HOBBY with washing machines and tell people that since I was a kid, I was fascinated with washing machines.
I also tell people that it is no more unusual a hobby than collecting coins, stamps, cars, etc. It is a great diversion and stress relief.
A few times, some people referred to my passion for washing machines as a "fetish" and my response is that it is a hobby and I do not hump my machines. I will then receive an apology.
I admonish people to respect others for their differences rather than be judgemental, and if more people did respect others, the world would be a better place.
Judge not, lest ye be judged or, Let he who hath no sin, cast the first stone.
But if all else fails, I use my New York City accent and say,
"What's it to you?" "Who died, went to Heaven, and had you appointed God's Little Monitor?"

Ross
 
Ross, that was excellent. And I just say in my still heavy New York accent "hey, I got ya washa....right here. Now pour the cawffee and shut the hell up." Shut's 'em up every time.
 
Maybe some or most of you have a wider network of people you know and can offer some information on my question. Is there anything else that takes over the mind of a child like washing machines and appliances? I know of musical prodigies who have been playing since they were barely older than infants. I went to school with several girls who fell madly in love with horses around 7 years of age. Does this happen with sports? If so, how long is hero worship acceptable and when does it need to be sublimated into something more acceptable? You can't exactly have teen age boys and young men obsessed with meeting and being with sports legends and collecting their pictures, or can you? I don't know, but there are adults who pay highly for the opportunity of playing golf or tennis with their favorite pro. I know guys who became very interested in cars, but not as toddlers. I knew girls who really got into Nancy Drew books, but only after they could read. I had aquariums on and off from the age of 6 or 7 until I finally realized I would rather have creatures enjoy their natural environment than have them confined in a tank; the same with frogs, toads and lizards. But these were not the main major interest from my first memories like washing machines were.

Kelly spoke of the components of our divine assembly, but I really wonder about this ingredient. Is it a synergistic result of several factors in our mental structure or does it ride alone? One possibility is that maybe there is some type of spiritual reason for this. It's not like reincarnation, but maybe there are souls that lived before us who were interested in domestic technology and somehow through us they can experience what came after they left? The only thing is that we are far from passive observers. This is a major life interest and it would almost seem like our minds were hijacked. I can't imagine that aliens have captured our minds to learn things for them. If they were that advanced, our domestic technology would be of little importance to them. I do think that this is something special and we will only find out what it is when we will arrive at that place where all questions are answered and everything hidden is revealed. The main thing is that thanks to the internet, we have found that we are neither alone nor the one and only person with this interest.
 
Newbie!

Let me take this thread as an opprotunity to jump in and introduce myself, and make a couple of comments. I've been fascinated by machines of all sorts since I was a very young boy, in the early 1960s (you do the math...). I've always thought of automatic washers and dryers, along with a bunch of the other household appliances that we take for granted now, as machines that are to be appreciated for their technology, engineering, and yes style, equally as much as automobiles or airplanes.

I'm a futurist, a person who very much looks forward to the future. What does that have to do with vintage appliances? Well, the mid-century period was a period when people looked forward to the future much more than most people do now. It was the period when technology first began making inroads into the average home, with the promise to make everyone's lives easier. And I don't think anyone could argue that the automatic washer and dryer did just that. It's a period that needs to be preserved. Maybe someday that world can get that feeling back again. Also, a technologist always has to be mindful of how we got to where we are today. It's important for the futurist to be aware of history, to be able to look back and see how the basic concepts and ideas for what we have now evoloved. In the last few weeks, I've really been poring over this site, and I've been absolutely fascinated. In the history of any technology, you can always find ideas that didn't work. You can also find ideas that were good ideas and did work, but were bypassed and forgotten anyway. That happens sometimes, and the person with a sense of history can sometimes go back and revive a forgotten idea and make a fortune by re-introducing it at a time when the public is ready to receive and appreciate it. I was rather stunned last week when I looked at the video clips of the early-model GE washer that one of posters here has put up (apologies for not remembering who right now). It actually has a lot of conceptual similarities to the GE Harmony washer that has recently taken up residence in our laundry room.

Danemodsandy, here's a data point for your conjecture: I was fortunate in that my parents never freaked out about my interest in washers and dryers. (Well, except when my mom got tired of me bugging her about why she never used the wash-n-wear cycle on the Kenmore... Hey, my philosophy was that if it was there, it was meant to be used!) My father was an engineer, and he shared my appreciation for machines and technology. Whenever one of the household appliances broke down, he'd let me help him fix it. Neither of my parents minded me wanting to play with the appliances and know how they worked. For one thing, sometimes I'd notice something wrong before either of them did. One thing that I kept an eye on was the mysterious water pipe that poked out through the garage wall that didn't seem to have any purpose. I watched and watched that pipe to see if water would ever come out of it. One day it did. When my dad got home from work, I asked him about it. You might have guessed it already: the pipe was from the T&P valve on the electric water heater. The thermostat contacts had welded. Mom opened the hot water tap in the kitchen and steam came out. Dad pulled the fuses, the water heater cooled down, and nothing bad happened. I got a lot of pats on the head for that.

Anyway, the point is that my parents understood my appreciation of the appliances. They never critized the activity as "girly", and if any of my other relatives did, they shielded me from it. Today, although I don't collect vintage appliances myself, I have an appreciation for people who do. I can repair any mechanical or electronic device in the house. And I'm happily married to a wonderful woman, and I rate a zero on the Kinsey scale. Cause and effect? Correlation? I leave that as an exercise to the reader.
 
I also wanted to add my comments to this thread. I grew up in the sixties (I turned 50 this past October) in the Tidewater area of Virginia. I developed a fascination for washing machines as a young boy. For me, it was the sounds that first attracted me. I am am avid music fan, and also a car enthusiast-someone mentioned in their discussion they like the sound of car mufflers and I had to chuckle, as I also loved the roar of a good V8 through what were known as glass pack mufflers. So, sounds appeal to me and fascinate me. I also appreciate the style and design of things, and as a young child I found the look and controls of washing machines thrilling. It had nothing to do with femininity or any of that psychological non-sense they tried to lay on us. However, like most of you here, my family thought I was a freak. My folks took me to the doctor to ask if there was something wrong with me. He assured them there wasn't, but by then I had been made to feel like this was a passion to keep hidden. By the time I was 9 or so, I had hidden it sufficiently, but it was not suppressed. Fast forward to I want to say 1999 when I was beginning to really learn how to explore the web and I found Robert's site. It was gratifying to confirm that I was not the only one who had this intense interest, as others of you stated. Also, as I got older and just didn't care what people thought anymore, I began to talk about this interest of mine more and began buying things off of Ebay. I have a full unfinished basement that I would love to populate with some of the great machines I see many of you own. I am in amazed awe of the collections I have seen here.

In conclusion, I appreciated all of the previous expressions, of which I relate to so many. This site is one of my favorite places to explore when surfing the web. Thumbs up to you each.
 
Glad I'm Not the Only One

Although I live on a fixed income, in an efficiency apartment, and not highly mechanically inclined, I really do enjoy cultivating this hobby through my computer. In this fashion, I can share and collect audios and videos of appliance demos, classic and modern commercials, along with related Web sites. Call me the craziest man alive, but I am at least as entertained through playing all my vintage appliance videos and ads as most other people who spend countless hours playing video games. Any wonder why I get a real charge out of this Web site and the "Discuss-O-Mat Forum?" So keep bringing on those loads and loads of downloadable files and I'll most definitely enjoy playing them back for a long time to come.--Laundry Shark
 
Bill For alr

Writing it was good therapy for me. Let's call it even--no charge. And thanks, brother!
 
wow Kelly

You and I are definetly on the same wavelength! I could not have said it better! Truth Rules!

"The real answer is this. There was absolutely no mistake in your creation. The Infinite Source that created your DNA, sat smiling at It's "workbench" as each chromosome, personality trait and even the color of your eyes went into the mix. It would be a shame to think you were wrong or not good enough. It is in accepting yourself as a Divine Creation and actual loving yourself that is is the key. There is an intrinsic shift that occurs when you walk in the "flow". Life is easier, what others think becomes less powerful and people who are like minded (kind, loving, accepting) will be attracted to you. "

jon
 
Yes... it is nice to know I am not alone!!

I only discovered AW.org at the very beginning of this year and I must say I was quite happy that I did. I have always had an interest in all things mechanical and washing machines are no exception.

Finding this site has opened my eyes to the numerous others out there on this big blue marble who like me, really like this stuff!! It was a very eye-opening for me..... ALMOST like the first gay pride festival I ever attended. I had known there were others like me out there, but until that day as I walked among the many thousands of others at the festival, I truly had no idea just how many there were. It was a truly amazing and eye opening experience for me, seeing that I was not alone after all.

Finding AW.org was in a way, similar to that experience, but on a smaller scale (of course). I've really enjoyed reading all the threads, seeing the photos, the videos and learning about numerous other machines I never knew existed. But most importantly, realizing I am not alone in my interest of these cleaning machines oh so many others take for granted.

So thank you AW.org for being here and thank you Robert for creating it!
 

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