My post continued:
When I posted last it was late at night and I was very tired, so I could as exhuberant as I wanted to be. However now is another story:
Once again Dick I thank you for the video of the 1966 Kenmore. It was a quest to see that one online that carved the path leading me to this site in September of 2006. Incidentally my 2nd anniversary as a club member just passed on March 7th, so I treat that video as a present. My neighbor had that exact washer, but hers had a straight vane agitator, so I am wondering if the one in yours may have been a replacement. The only other difference was that hers had more chrome along the top of the console. Otherwise this is the identical washer she had. You have no idea how you have revived very fond childhood memories. I used to go to my neighbor's to help her do wash. She knew my love for washers, and she indulged me whenever she could. I remember the sound the dial made as she turned it carefully before starting it. Once it was started she would hand me the cup full of Sears Roebuck detergent which I would pour into the tub around the base of the black straight vaned agitator as it filled. She would load the clothes, and just as she would be finishing the agitation would start. I remember the sounds of the washer, and yes it was quiet in that the woo woo sound was a little less pronounced than some other Kenmores. I remember watching the agitator swish back and forth, and the lint filter recirculate with waterfall action. After she was done loading, she would close the lid, and we would go out into the finished area of her basement and just listen to the washer run. When it would shift into neutral drain, we would go back into the laundry room and watch all the water empty into the slop sink. We would stay by the washer all through the drain and then spin, then go back out to the sitting area and listen as it filled and deep rinsed. When the second neutral drain started, we went back in to the laundry room to watch it empty as we did before. While it was in its final spin, my neighbor would point to the cycle dial to show me how close it was to the OFF point. Once it finished the cycle we unloaded it, put everything into the dryer, and turned that on. This signaled the completion of the washer fun, at which point she would turn to me with a smile and ask "Are you satisfied?" Of course my answer was an emphatic YES!
This is how closely your video mirrors those memories: For starters, the angle at which you first see the washer when the video opens was the exact angle I would first see my neighbor's upon walking into her laundry area. The vantage point when you are showing it wash from the front is almost exactly what mine was at the age of 7 and 8 years old. Then you show the washer emptying, which my neighbor made a point of showing me. On top of that you show close ups of the dial, just as she would call my attention to the point in the cycle where her washer was. I cannot believe how close this video is to my actual experiences. It has been more than 30 years since I had done wash with my neighbor. She and her husband moved in November of 1978, and I was not as close with the new neighbors so I never got to watch it again. I knew that the washer had been replaced in 1982/83, so I was sure I would never see it again. However I got the surprise of my life in September 1999 when I saw it out on the curb. I am guessing the newer neighbors had kept it around for parts; as it was replaced by another BD Kenmore. I did not have a camera, so I have no picture of it. However I must have been looking it over for a solid 15-20 minutes, so its memory is etched in my head.
As I said, it was the quest to see this model again somewhere that led me to AW.ORG, and boy did I get more than I bargained for. Thank you for helping me relive the fond memories of the days when I would go across the street to do the wash with Mrs. Brunner.
God Bless,
James
