Maytag - The Tale of a Tub - Exhibit at Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago 1958 to 1969

[dishwashercrazy]

Hello Maytag enthusiasts.

My memory of Maytag’s “The Tale of a Tub” exhibit at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry was jogged by a comment that Phil (gowest84) made in late August within discussion thread 24150. On September 13th, I went to the M of S & I’s web site and attempted to find any information about the old exhibit, but I could find nothing. There is a Contact Us section on their webpage, so I sent the following note:

Hello. Is there any archival information available for the Maytag Washing Machine exhibit that was in the museum in the late 1960's? I'm not certain of the exact timeframe that this exhibit was present, but I certainly would be interested in seeing any photos or other information about the exhibit. Thanks for your valuable time.

On September 15th, I received a response back from a volunteer with the “Think Tank” group at the Museum:

Thank you for your request to the Museum of Science and Industry concerning information on our Maytag display from the past. Please send your mailing address and I can send copies of articles concerning this display from 1958 thru 1969.

I immediately replied back stating my appreciation. I told the volunteer that I had visited the M of S & I when I was on an 8th grade school trip to Chicago in 1967. I told a little about my washing machine collecting, and the aw.org web site. I asked if the material he was sending to me was copyrighted, and if I could share scanned images with other club members.

On Tuesday this week (September 26th) I received an envelope with a cover letter from the museum volunteer that had emailed me, along with 8 photocopy pages from the museum’s membership newsletter, PROGRESS. All of the material can be scanned with credit given to the museum.

So full credit for what follows goes to the Museum of Science and Industry, and specifically Ron Ritzler, Volunteer with the Think Tank group, who did the search. None of this information may be offered for sale.

I have included his letter first, followed by the other articles and pages, in chronological order, as near as I can determine, with approximate dates. There is only one page that I cannot place a definitive date with.

Enjoy!

Mike

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Exhibit announcement – January 1958 issue of PROGRESS

This page is labeled: January – February, 1958 PROGRESS – The Museum of Science and Industry Page 3

The text of the scanned page reads as follows:

New exhibit to tell “Tale of Tub”

“A Tale of a Tub,” a permanent exhibit portraying the history of home laundering, is scheduled for unveiling in the Museum early in January.

The Maytag Company, celebrating its 50th year of washing machine production, is presenting the exhibit which will range from the washing techniques used for Roman togas through the time of the corrugated wash board, right up to today’s streamlined automatic machines.

Fred Maytag II, president of the company, commented on the announcement, “We feel it fitting that Maytag, with its long tradition in the home laundry field, should join with Chicago’s famed Museum of Science and Industry in presenting this graphic story of the housewife’s victory over drudgery.”

The exhibit will cover one thousand square feet of floor space. Authentic examples of early washing equipment and extensive documentation of the backbreaking laundering methods of another day will be featured in the first part of the display. A laundry room of the 1890’s will be re-created complete with cedar tubs, well buckets, coal scuttles and wash boards.

The mid-twentieth century’s achievement in laundry equipment will be demonstrated with the latest model washers and dryers. Museum visitors will be able to operate the equipment in simulation of actual washing and drying cycles.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Exhibit unveiling – March? 1958 Issue of PROGRESS

This page is labeled: Page 2 PROGRESS – The Museum of Science and Industry Vol. IX, No.2

The text of the scanned page reads as follows:

Unveil “Tale of Tub” Exhibit

Photo Captions: (Left) – A comparison of some of grandma’s washday problems with the labor saving wonders of today (right). Participating in dedication were (l. to r. – lower) – President V. M. Hancher, State Univ. of Iowa; Sec. of Commerce Weeks; Museum President L. R. Lohr; Maytag President Fred Maytag II; and President L. F. Maguire, S. J., Loyola Univ.

The almost unbelievable part modern automation, with its push-button conveniences, has played in freeing the American housewife from much of the drudgery that was an everyday burden for her grandmother is featured in “The Tale of a Tub,” the Museum’s newest major exhibit.

Presented by the Maytag Company of Newton, Iowa, the exhibit which covers 1,000 square feet of floor space depicts the various ages in the story of family laundering. One section shows the primitive methods still used in many foreign countries of freeing clothes from dirt by getting them wet and then beating them with sticks or stones. Another takes the spectator through the era of the corrugated washboards of the early 1900’s to today’s highly automatic toil savers.

“The Tale of a Tub” was officially opened to the public in dedication ceremonies in which the U. S. Secretary of Commerce, Sinclair Weeks, Fred Maytag II, president of the company presenting the exhibit, Dr. Virgil M. Hancher, president of the State University of Iowa, and Major Lenox R. Lohr, the Museum’s president, were the principal speakers.

One enlightening disclosure brought out by the exhibit is that the average housewife of 50 years ago while doing a week’s wash for the average family actually expended as much physical effort as if she had attempted to lift a 1900 ton weight singlehanded. This fact was unearthed in a recent survey conducted by the State University of Iowa.

In the study, a university research team spent three months testing the energy consumed by 15 women performing the various tasks which made up Grandma’s washday and then doing the same 11 pounds of wash with a set of modern push-button laundry appliances.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Exhibit update – May? 1961 Issue of PROGRESS

This page is labeled: Page 4 PROGRESS – The Museum of Science and Industry Vol. XII, No.3

The text of the scanned page reads as follows:

Exhibit Gives New Tips To Homemakers

Visitors to “The Tale of a Tub” exhibit can now learn some new housekeeping tips from experts, following revision of the Maytag display on the story of home laundering.

A newly installed “guessing game” displays the six basic fabric types, and viewers may select laundering conditions from a series of variables. When they pick the correct agitation and spin speed, wash time and temperatures for a particular fabric, lights on a giant wheel show that they have picked the right combination.

In updating the exhibit, opened in 1958, Maytag also has added information about the newest fabrics and the proper use of bleach.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Exhibit update – May? 1963 Issues of PROGRESS

This page is labeled: Page 6 PROGRESS – The Museum of Science and Industry Vol. XIV, No.3

The text of the scanned page reads as follows:

Exhibit Shows How to Plan a Laundry

Advanced concepts of home laundry planning are represented in the latest addition to the Maytag “Tale of A Tub” exhibit.

The display depicts the best thinking of professional laundry planning experts and suggests ideas that can be adapted to either new house construction or home remodeling jobs.

Full consideration is given to storage and work space as well as to appliances. Cabinets, sorting bins, cupboards and appliances are arranged for the most efficient work flow.

Designed as a fully functional laundry center, the display provides areas for sorting soiled clothes, a sink for pretreating and starching, and cupboards for storing detergents, laundering aids and clean clothes. Also included is a full-length closet for hanging wash-and-wear clothes as they are taken from the automatic, programmed washer and a dryer with an electronic control that precisely determines when clothes are dry.

In the display, what appears to be a cupboard-high television set is used to show a slide film that illustrates the steps in proper laundering. As each slide is shown, a corresponding part of the exhibit lights up to point out where the work is done.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Exhibit update – Date unknown for this issue of PROGRESS, bu

This page is labeled: Page 6

The text of the scanned page reads as follows:

“Tale of a Tub” Reopens with New Washday Hints

For persons whose washdays are a puzzle instead of a pleasure, a visit to the Museum’s newly refurbished “Tale of a Tub” exhibit will prove a beneficial experience.

The popular Maytag Co. exhibit, which explains how automatic laundering methods have greatly eased washday chores over the years, says, “Your enemy is dirt!” – then tells you how to fight it.

New, up-to-the-minute displays include “recipes” for obtaining the best possible wash results. Emphasis is placed on the proper uses of detergents, bleaches and the new fabric softeners. Visitors are invited to check their laundering methods with experts in a push-button display.

How washing and drying methods have changed since the beginning of modern laundering methods just 30 years ago – necessitated by the introduction of nylon and glass fiber – is also explained.

Today, the more than 200 man-made fibers have given rise to wash-and-wear and permanent-press apparel, and have caused further changes in laundry equipment and practices. Washers now have an automatic cool-down following a hot or warm wash, which reduces wrinkles during the spin cycle; and temperature controls on dryers give the best permanent-press results.

Retaining its dominant position in the center of the exhibit is a giant, clear plastic washtub, with the world’s largest agitator, swirling a kaleidoscope of garments around in 700 gallons of water. It sands in the middle of a moving turntable that transports visitors past the various displays, which include memorabilia from our ancestors’ washdays.

 

[dishwashercrazy]

PROGRESS issue feature – July? 1969 Issue of PROGRESS

This page is labeled: 4 with the feature continuing on pages 5 and 6. I was able to verify the year of this issue, based on another article advertising the upcoming (September 1, 1969) Labor Day Concert at the Museum by the Chicago Chamber Orchestra.

The text and photo captions read as follows:

This “Tale of a Tub” Has a Surprise Ending….

She’s Late… for a very important Date! And this modern Alice in Wonderland hasn’t a thing to put on, so a quick trip to the Museum’s “Tale of a Tub” exhibit – with her laundry swinging behind her – seems the easiest solution to her dilemma…

Luckily for her, our photographer just happens to be carrying a ladder with him )as he just happens to be passing through!). One pearly smile later, she is preparing her ascent to the top of the tub…

 

[dishwashercrazy]

PROGRESS issue feature – July? 1969 Issue of PROGRESS - cont

This page is labeled: 5

The photo captions read as follows:

… And into the giant Maytag washer (what else would one expect in a Maytag sponsored exhibit?) goes her bundle of clothes. With 700 gallons of water to wash them in, she’ll be ready in no time to meet her date.

But time is merciless, and the minutes pass like hours. “Aha! I’ll speed things up,” says she; and before she can say “rub-a-dub-dub” …

 

[dishwashercrazy]

PROGRESS issue feature – July? 1969 Issue of PROGRESS - cont

This page is labeled: 6

The photo captions read as follows:

… It’s one lass in a tub, busily scrubbing away!

 

[swestoyz]

OMG

Where do I get a full size poster of the girl in the wash tub with the Power Fin, capped with the SS filter!!

 

[dishwashercrazy]

Ben, Good idea!

 

[redcarpetdrew]

the girl in the wash tub

I think I'd most likely use a 'handwash' on her then damp fold! Wwwrraawwwrrr!

Seriously, this shows Maytag doing something you'd probably NEVER see Whirlpool even think of. And doing it with a class and style that most likely is gone forever. One wonders what happened to the items from that display. While I'm simply drooling over that A900 washer, one would think the gigantic agitator display would be worth some serious change today. Thanks, Mike for your effort in getting this for all to enjoy!!!

RCD

 

[goatfarmer]

Make that two, Ben!

 

[qsd-dan]

Make that two, Ben!

Ooooohhhh make that a big fat 3!!

 

[saltysam]

OMG!

I remember seeing that on a trip up through Chicago to visit relatives! I didn't want to go see anything else until my mom literally dragged me from the exhibit. This is awesome!
Mark

 

[frigilux]

I'm going to be in Chicago doing the museum crawl in early April.

I was all excited for minute there, thinking this was a new exhibit and that I'd get to see it!

Oh, well...

 

[frigilux]

Nice letter from the place, although I can't help but wonder if "Good luck in your fascinating hobby" might actually translate as "Please don't contact us again, you frightening weirdo." LOL!

 

[alr2903]

Dishwashercrazy/Mike, Thank YOU, that was a lot of work to obtain all that info and post it, for all of us. What a treat and those vintage museum pics are wonderful. Thanks again. alr2903