Kenmore Dishwasher

[mrb627]

What year did Kenmore have their first dishwasher? Anybody got one?

Malcolm

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Kenmore Dishwasher


Malcolm,

Likely, the answer to your question is 1952, with the Kenmore Automatic Dishwasher-Sink, and the stand-alone / portable version.

This photocopy is from the 1952 Sear Catalog.

You can see "Kenmore" on the chrome piece, center front of the lid.

Mike

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Homart Dishwasher


Here is an advertisement from the St. Petersburg Times newspaper, dated September 19, 1950, for the Sears Homart Dishwasher.

So I believe we can assume that Sears changed the name on their first line of dishwashers from "Homart" to "Kenmore" in 1951 or 1952. (see the Homart emblem in the next reply post)

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Homart Dishwasher

I am attributing my Homart Dishwasher-Sink to 1950, mainly because of these two ads.

The link, below, is to my thread that I posted after I ran a water test, and took video of the Homart dishwasher in action.

Mike

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?22651

 

[mrb627]

Cool

Thank You for posting the information. I didn't realize that Kenmore dishawashers went back that far.

Malcolm

 

[circlew]

Mike, were you ever able to determine who manufactured these dishwashers for Sears? They look so unlike any other brand I've ever seen.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Tom,

No, I have never figured out who made the early Homart and Kenmore branded dishwashers sold by Sears.

I agree - they are unlike any other dishwashers manufactured in the early 1950's. So can we speculate? The early Walker, Conover and Kohler dishwashers all had round tubs. Perhaps there was someone associated with one of these companies that still had an engineering love for dishwashers and lent Sears a hand. AVCO certainly should also be considered, since the dishwasher division of that company became known as D&M in the late 1950's. And one more consideration - the Youngstown Jet-Tower top loading dishwashers also had a round tub, and the Youngstown Electric Sink cabinet sure resembles that of the Sears Homart and Kenmore Electric Sink. Will we ever know for sure?

Mike

 

[alr2903]

I wonder if the round or square tub worked better with the "impeller wash system", or was there little difference? alr2903

 

[dishwashercrazy]

re: impeller wash system


alr2903: The wash action in my round Homart seems to be quite forceful. And the top rack, around the perimeter, gets lots of water action. However, the center, as I believe I mention in the video imbedded in the above mentioned archived thread, is horrible on my machine - virtually no water comes up through the silverware basket on top. This may be attributed to the impeller itself. On the round machines, there are no corners to position larger bowls and pans.

On the square tub impeller machines, especially the G.E. and American Kitchens machines, there is very good coverage throughout the machine. Once again, I believe the design of the impeller assures coverage in the most difficult spot - the center of the top rack. In the case of G.E., I think the engineers finally got the message regarding coverage in the center of the top rack. In about 1955, the top rack design was changed, which opened the center up.

This photo shows plates in the bottom rack, and the top rack empty. Items can be hung on the loops around the inner top rack, yet the immediate center is vacant. The G.E. impeller remained virtually the same from the 1930's until the bowtie impeller design was introduced around 1957. The G.E. bowtie impeller had/has much greater water lift up through the center of the dishwasher.

Mike