Lady Kenmore washing machine

[tagthewasher]

Greetings, guys.

I've always been a big fan of washers and dryers, and I'm certainly happy to be on this thread, but I have a question.

I'm trying to remember what my Grandma and Grandpa Menninga's old Lady Kenmore washing machine looked like. It's been over a decade since I last saw this washer, and I last saw it in action in 2003. I know it was purchased brand new back in the late 70s to early 80s. It looked like a standard tub model with a control panel on the right side of the machine, but it had letters A through I depending on the part of the cycle. The controls were stainless steel. The names of the cycles looked like they were written in cursive or something. Their agitator was brown with a straight vane design. I always loved what fans of these machines called the woo-woo sound.

The pictures I have on this post are owned by their respective owners, and they don't have the letters labeling the cycles, but I just thought I'd give you an idea on what the control panel design looks like. Is there a photo of something similar to this washer that can be found?

I appreciate any and all answers from anyone who can show me what they found.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

Hello -

I am the person who took both those pictures, though I did not immediately remember the second one. Both machines are mine.

I presume that you chose these pics because the overall console layout and construction is similar to the machine you remember. If so, what you recall is a 1976 "No Guesswork" model that was hailed as Sears' best standard capacity pair in the 1975 Fall catalog.

This model did indeed feature the same basic console, with a woodgrain insert to the left of the control bezel. Cycles were lettered, similar to Sears' tried and true manner on many models throughout the 1960s and early 70s. This was the very last model to use this cycle labeling method I believe. We refer to models with cycle lettering as "alphabet washers" generally speaking.

Also, we have come to refer to machines with these panels as "Plastic panel" models, and the one you are thinking of was one of very few models with color coded consoles to match cabinet color. Almost always these machines were white only, but this model came in Avocado, Coppertone, and Harvest in addition to white.

I believe this was a rather uncommon model. I don't recall seeing one on the sales floor, and not sure I ever saw one out in use or in used haul-away piles or in rebuild shops. I don't remember anyone here on the site having one either, but there could be several, who knows. Sears sold a lot of everything as compared to some makers, but this model was probably on Sears' low sellers list.

There was a very similarly paneled dryer, the 1975 Kenmore All-American dryer. I am going to search for a photo and post it here, as this should be the closest match to your machine without the exact one.

If anyone has a Fall 1975 catalog and can scan page 1071, it would be cool to post it here. In the meantime I'll look for some more pics...

Gordon

 

[revvinkevin]

 

 

(Edit: Oops I'm a bit slow, Gordon beat me to it.)

 

Of course he nailed it, but here are a few other photos for reference.  (borrowed from anywhere I could find them, all here on AW)

 

Lady Kenmore models were top of the line with all the "bells & whistles".  Also from 1974 onward all Lady Kenmore models were large capacity machines.

 

Photo #1 1963 Lady Kenmore

 

#2 1964 Kenmore

 

#3 1964 Lady Kenmore

 

#4 1965 Kenmore

 

#5 1965 Lady Kenmore

 

#6 1966 Lady Kenmore

 

#7 A direct drive Lady Kenmore from the later(?) 80's / early 90's.

 

Agitators:  Any chance the agitator looked like either of these?

 

# 8 From a 1965 / 1966 Lady K

 

# 9 From 1969(?) to 1973 Lady K washers.

 

Kevin 

[this post was last edited: 7/5/2017-16:16]

 

[kenmoreguy64]

1975 All-American dryer

I borrowed this picture from Ponchoguy. This is the 1975 All-American dryer. Same essentially as the 1976 model, but this one has a full-width door that the '76 did not.

 

[whirlykenmore78]

DD LKM

Kevin: I want to say this is a 1988-89 model. I remember this because my moms Whirlpool died in the fall of 88 and that model was in the store when Dad and I went to get the new MOL 80 series that replaced it.
WK78

 

[tolivac]

The 1975 Kenmore dryer shown--While visiting my Dad my Grandmother was there,too.We had just eaten dinner and were reading and watching TV in the living room-all of a sudden Grandmother says"We are going to Sears and I am going to buy Nana a dryer!"Se we went to Sears and that same night Dad brought it home in his 1971 International Pickup."Nana" was Grandmothers nickname for my Stepmom.

 

[tagthewasher2]

1975 Kenmore All American Washer and Dryer

Hi, guys.

I wanted to continue this thread because I found a picture of the Kenmore washer I was talking about, but I haven't been able to receive any emails on resetting my password on my last account. So this account will be the one I will use until I run into another disaster. The information I have is related to what I talked about last year. The washer is very similar to what my grandparents used to have, except that theirs was white. It's actually a 1975 All-American Kenmore washer. They didn't have a matching dryer at the time. The photo in this post belongs to its respective owner.

 

[potatochips]

Those knobs were the exact style used here in Canada for many many many years on BD machines. 

 

[tagthewasher]

1981 Baby Kenmore Washer

Hello again.

It's been awhile, but I managed to get my account back up and running thanks to the administrators of automaticwasher.org. I'd been listening to westytoploader's video of his 1981 Kenmore washer for 14 years, and have never gotten tired of the sound because it reminds me so much of the 1975 Kenmore All American washer that my grandparents used to have. The control panel also looks the same as it does on the 1975 All American model. I've been wanting to see if I could get a video of the full cycle, but so far, I've been unable to contact him. In the meantime, here's a link to the video that Westytoploader uploaded to YouTube in 2008.
I don't know if the washer is still in use, nor do I know if it still works, but I love that sound.

 

[maytag85]

Reply #8

I believe that machine is still around in the hands of a collector but am not entirely sure.

 

[qsd-dan]

Westytoploader passed away quite some time ago now.

 

[tagthewasher]

That's too bad. I'm sorry for the loss. I'm sure he'd be very proud of the fact that I'm still watching his videos, particularly that one.

 

[tagthewasher]

1975 or '76 Sears Kenmore All American Washer

As for the white 1975 Sears Kenmore All American washer I that my grandparents used to have and the same one I was talking about in my earlier posts from four to five years ago (maybe 1976), I last saw it in their basement August 2006 near Platteville, Wisconsin before they moved. I meant to mention this in my earlier posts, but I just wondered if anyone saw this kind of washer there or if it went to a collector of some kind. That's my all-tome favorite washer I always enjoyed watching and listening to when I was growing up.

 

[tagthewasher]

Misspelling

Whoops! I meant to say "all-time."