dishwashercrazy
Well-known member
(With apologies for the verboseness of this introduction)
Today was perhaps the second most thrilling day for me since I started collecting Vintage Dishwashers just 20 months ago in July 2008! (The MOST thrilling day was April 29, 2009 when I traveled to Massachusetts and picked up both the brand new, never used, 1949 G.E. Electric Sink and the 1950 Sears Homart Electric.)
First, however, I would again like to acknowledge aw.org member Wes (elginkid) from Cincinnati. He found the Ebay listing for the “American Kitchen Sink Dishwasher Cabinets Connersville!
Cabinets by American Kitchen Company Connersville, IN”. The auction began on January 22 and ended on February 1, 2010. He created discussion thread #26662. Thanks also go to Pete (rollermatic) who emailed me directly to bring this Electric Sink to my attention. As I mentioned in #26662, Wes and I collaborated on this purchase and he graciously deferring this acquisition to me. I’m calling this a 1952 Electric Sink because of a 1952 magazine ad that I just found on ebay – showing virtually the same machine with red roto-rack.
A Midwest snowstorm on February 4th scrapped my plans to drive from Peoria over to Connersville on the 5th. Subsequent nasty and cold weather, plus other personal commitments and health issues have prevented me from making the trip until today. Departing from Peoria about 4:30am, I arrived in Connersville 4 hours 45 minutes later. I met the seller, Jacob, and we led me the short distance to a garage where the Sink and 3 other cabinets were stored. We transferred the set over to my pickup truck. Jacob had told me there was another gentleman, local historian for lack of a better description, who had some information to share with me regarding the American Kitchens company. Turns out he was a former American Kitchens employee - who has factory photographs, historic documents, brochures, and a whole array of other memorabilia that he managed to save from being trashed, some documents dating back to 1905 for the Central Manufacturing Company.
But most astonishing to me – he has a blue ink carbon copy of a “Proposal for Manufacturing of Electric Dishwasher – American Central Division –AVCO Manufacturing Corporation – submitted by F.F. Dugan January 1951” Dugan was an Engineer, likely employed originally by the Rex company, and hired by Sam Regenstrief. American Kitchens was already making Electric Sinks, and the fact that most dishwashers of the time were incorporated into to Sink cabinets, led American Kitchen dealers and distributors to begin exerting pressure urging the company to start including stand-alone dishwashers in their product line. This study would eventually lead to D&M building rebadged dishwashers for the other various appliance companies.
The point to all of this – is that I’ve asked the gentleman for a copy of this historic document in hopes of being able to pass its contents on to the club. And I hope he will make copies of some of the other documents that were in his archives as well.
Following are some photos of the Electric sink that I brought back. Jacob said that the dishwasher was in working order when they took the Electric Sink out. He said that the faucet was dripping, and that replacement parts were no longer available. One thing led to another, and they ended up doing a kitchen renovation. The inside of the dishwasher is in pristine condition, leading me to believe it has not been used much, if at all.
Enjoy.
Mike
Today was perhaps the second most thrilling day for me since I started collecting Vintage Dishwashers just 20 months ago in July 2008! (The MOST thrilling day was April 29, 2009 when I traveled to Massachusetts and picked up both the brand new, never used, 1949 G.E. Electric Sink and the 1950 Sears Homart Electric.)
First, however, I would again like to acknowledge aw.org member Wes (elginkid) from Cincinnati. He found the Ebay listing for the “American Kitchen Sink Dishwasher Cabinets Connersville!
Cabinets by American Kitchen Company Connersville, IN”. The auction began on January 22 and ended on February 1, 2010. He created discussion thread #26662. Thanks also go to Pete (rollermatic) who emailed me directly to bring this Electric Sink to my attention. As I mentioned in #26662, Wes and I collaborated on this purchase and he graciously deferring this acquisition to me. I’m calling this a 1952 Electric Sink because of a 1952 magazine ad that I just found on ebay – showing virtually the same machine with red roto-rack.
A Midwest snowstorm on February 4th scrapped my plans to drive from Peoria over to Connersville on the 5th. Subsequent nasty and cold weather, plus other personal commitments and health issues have prevented me from making the trip until today. Departing from Peoria about 4:30am, I arrived in Connersville 4 hours 45 minutes later. I met the seller, Jacob, and we led me the short distance to a garage where the Sink and 3 other cabinets were stored. We transferred the set over to my pickup truck. Jacob had told me there was another gentleman, local historian for lack of a better description, who had some information to share with me regarding the American Kitchens company. Turns out he was a former American Kitchens employee - who has factory photographs, historic documents, brochures, and a whole array of other memorabilia that he managed to save from being trashed, some documents dating back to 1905 for the Central Manufacturing Company.
But most astonishing to me – he has a blue ink carbon copy of a “Proposal for Manufacturing of Electric Dishwasher – American Central Division –AVCO Manufacturing Corporation – submitted by F.F. Dugan January 1951” Dugan was an Engineer, likely employed originally by the Rex company, and hired by Sam Regenstrief. American Kitchens was already making Electric Sinks, and the fact that most dishwashers of the time were incorporated into to Sink cabinets, led American Kitchen dealers and distributors to begin exerting pressure urging the company to start including stand-alone dishwashers in their product line. This study would eventually lead to D&M building rebadged dishwashers for the other various appliance companies.
The point to all of this – is that I’ve asked the gentleman for a copy of this historic document in hopes of being able to pass its contents on to the club. And I hope he will make copies of some of the other documents that were in his archives as well.
Following are some photos of the Electric sink that I brought back. Jacob said that the dishwasher was in working order when they took the Electric Sink out. He said that the faucet was dripping, and that replacement parts were no longer available. One thing led to another, and they ended up doing a kitchen renovation. The inside of the dishwasher is in pristine condition, leading me to believe it has not been used much, if at all.
Enjoy.
Mike
