Kmart Grand Opening in 1975

[Chetlaham]

I came across this post on Reddit at a random chance while searching for pictures of vintage washing machines. I feel like I won the lottery. The pictures absolutely get me. In particular the appliance department, the cabinets in the home improvement department, the lighting fixtures in the lighting department and the televisions in the entertainment department.

I like that the store appears smaller than a Big Kmart while having a cozy feeling to it. I wish I could just smell the interior and of course if I could I would go on a million dollar spending spree literally buying half the store LOL.

The feelings of nostlogia and anemoia are very potent.





For the archive-

First photo set:

 

[Chetlaham]

Second photo set:

 

[Chetlaham]

Third photo set:

 

[Chetlaham]

Fourth photo set:

 

[KyletheApplianceGuy]

This is so cool to see! I grew up with them but... By then, their Glory days were over (This was the late-90s - 2000s). There is a Kmart group on Facebook doing really well and a lot of collectors.

 

[vacerator]

very familiar looking, but I don't recall a local K Mart here with a kitchen cabinet display.

 

[phillymatt53]

And now, a little bit of Kmart humor.....

 

[philcobendixduo]

Those cobras - ashtrays or....?
WILD!!

 

[phillymatt53]

Those cobras - ashtrays or....?
WILD!!

Not in MY house, that's for sure!
I don't want my place to look like some tacky Brady Bunch palace!

 

[Chetlaham]

Those cobras - ashtrays or....?
WILD!!

I honestly do not know for sure, but I would buy one just for the novelty.

Here are more pictures if anyone is interested:

https://postimg.cc/gallery/JH4dq1V

https://archive.org/details/kmart-opening-day-1975/FB-IMG-16611069600081130.jpg

I do know one thing, if I stumbled across the light bulb aisle I would break down crying. I miss those GE incandescents so much.

 

[circlew]

I don't remember cabinets and countertops in any K-Mart I was ever in. The appliances in the ones around here were GE if I remember correctly - don't think I ever saw Frigidaire there. My parents bought a Kodak slide projector at one of the first of their stores in the Cincinnati area sometime in the late 1970s.

 

[circlew]

I don't remember cabinets and countertops in any K-Mart I was ever in. The appliances in the ones around here were GE if I remember correctly - don't think I ever saw Frigidaire there. My parents bought a Kodak slide projector at one of the first of their stores in the Cincinnati area sometime in the late 1970s.

I meant late 1960s.

 

[phillymatt53]

I don't remember cabinets and countertops in any K-Mart I was ever in. The appliances in the ones around here were GE if I remember correctly - don't think I ever saw Frigidaire there. My parents bought a Kodak slide projector at one of the first of their stores in the Cincinnati area sometime in the late 1970s.

Don't laugh....
I still have my Kodak Carousel slide projector, and an old 1950s Argus too.

 

[Chetlaham]

300 watts? What bulb and what life expectancy?

I remember they used to make film and overhead projectors where each individual make/model took every type of bulb imaginable, each with its own wattage, voltage, pins, size, filament layout, ect. Schools, libraries, theaters, ect that had such units often had a whole room with a hundred different obscure and unique bulbs.

 

[gansky1]

We were never die-hard Kmart shoppers, now and then. I always migrated to the "real" toy department - appliances and electronics. Mom always knew where to find me. I recall Frigidaire, GE, Whirlpool and some Admiral/White Consolidated refrigeration units. The GE and Whirlpool always had a little bit different look to them, panel styles, etc.

 

[vacerator]

I do remember Frigidaire at K Mart. I don't think those ugly ash trays are very Brady bunch. More like Haight-Asbury 1970.

 

[phillymatt53]

300 watts? What bulb and what life expectancy?

Good question.
However I'd have to dig the machine out of the closet and deal with removing the bulb housing.
Last time I used it was about 10 years ago, and it worked just fine.

 

[DADoES]

I also recall Frigidaire, GE, and Whirlpool at K-Mart. They were special-market models for the store so had different console aesthetics than the main-stream models.

FedMart carried Whirlpool. They had an LAA9800 Imperial Mark 18 pair on display, very exciting!

 

[phillymatt53]

Back in the late 1970s when I bought mom a new washer for mothers day, I chose a White Westinghouse TOL machine, a special model only available though the Philadelphia Electric Company's showroom.
I think it cost about $349.
It had a dual agitator - a blue normal one that slipped over a white smaller paddle one used for gentle agitation.

It replaced the 1963 GE filter-flo that had a bad clutch.

 

[DADoES]

Back in the late 1970s when I bought mom a new washer for mothers day, I chose a White Westinghouse TOL machine, a special model only available though the Philadelphia Electric Company's showroom.
I think it cost about $349.
It had a dual agitator - a blue normal one that slipped over a white smaller paddle one used for gentle agitation.

It replaced the 1963 GE filter-flo that had a bad clutch.

I have a 1977 middle-of-the-line Westy, and a spare set of regular/handwash agitators.

Signed: Goofy Glenn

 

[phillymatt53]

I have a 1977 middle-of-the-line Westy, and a spare set of regular/handwash agitators.

Signed: Goofy Glenn

My mom never knew about that "hidden" agitator (you know most people don't read the owners manuals)
I told her about it, what it was used for, and showed her how to remove the regular one to expose it.
Simply unscrewing the top cap, pull the agitator up and off...... voila!
She wasn't amused or interested, and told me to "just put the damn agitator back on".
She did, however, like all the extra control knobs/settings that the machine had.
It had an 18 minute wash time before the first spin.
A few years after mom passed away in 1984, it started to leak oil underneath, but pop still used it until 1993 when he died.