Monkey Norge washer

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Early-to-mid eighties

The Wards is very nice! It should be early-to-mid eighties. Montgomery Wards changed from their blue-bar logo to the Serifa logo in 1983, but they switched from Norge to WCI for laundry equipment at some point in the nineties--possibly because Maytag wasn't interested in fulfilling that supplier role for them long-term? Hard to say. By the time the "Signature 2000" designation came along, the change was underway.

My machine, a twin to yours, has chintzy cast one-piece silver knobs with indents, a more one-piece control panel (that resonates and has to be bent and smushed to prevent it from vibrating against the knobs--oy), and the "Time Savers" designation at the lower-right. The "Time Savers" branding continued into the burpalator-less Admirals that ensued. The control panel on yours is nice and beefy, and those knobs are classy.

In an almost Frigidairian shift, later Time Savers units transitioned to the full-sized, plastic-basketed, cartridge- (soap-barfing-) filter WCI design, and kept the control panel looks of my machine. As with 1-18s, sometimes the lid-lifting of a MW machine yields nothing but WCI-flavored disappointment :-).
 
Only used by the little ol' lady on Sundays!8^)

That's what they all say ;>)

The Maytags look nice, especially the 408S.

Thanks for sharing!
 
Only Used By a Little Old Lady On Sundays

And it only pees a little oil on the floor during use.  Right, Nate?
 
that is a cool norge-one of the last "old skool"ones and that one looks plenty
nice.Looked in my fall '82 MW catalog and all those machines were older looking
(i expect to find the pictured machine in my fall '85 MW cat-looking for the
catalog now)
I have a monkey franklin from '89,but would like to add a monkey norge and
monkey westinghouse to the mix...
 
First is this Norge disguised as a Montgomery Wards machine

I wouldn't mind seeing a video of this one.  The Tags look pretty good considering their age.
 
Interesting Wards.  Looks like the same tub as my "Wardge" from Ben.  Aside from the controls and motor, mine is an '82 BOL Wards with the same basket but no filtering.  Even with hairy dog-beds, I don't notice a problem with the machine handling lint - the hair or the fiber the agitation scrapes from the fabrics.  I love this black agitator, and the (not pictured) Overload Prevention Sheath.   Everyone who uses this washer admires it's "virility" in the lineup of washers here. 

gansky1++12-27-2010-22-56-43.jpg
 
Interesting

'82 would have been the older round-knob machines branded with the blue-bar logo; I wonder if this was a transition between the older panels and the newer style before the silver flattish knobs came along?

Greg, yours has the older Norge "spigot" fill flume and Kenny's (and mine) have the plastic, recessed tub cover with integrated flume, very similar to what persisted into Norgetags.

I wonder if this puts the black-panel collection further towards the later eighties?

It would have helped if MW had not stopped their catalog in '85 :-)

The Serifa Montgomery Ward logo was in use from '83-'92, and by that time the "Signature 2000" designation should have superseded it on the machines, so there's a window of time...

By the way, when I say "Serifa," it's this:

logo_lg.gif


And "blue-bar" is this:

montgomery-ward-logo-1977.jpg
 
The other side of the bookend

Here's one of the last Norge/MC designs, badged as a "Signature2000 by Norge," that bears a similar panel design to mine--supposedly from 1990.

So, Kenny's machine is pre-TimeSavers, which was pre-Signature2000, but post '82/83, it would seem.

signature-2000-by-norge-21271438.jpg
 
Great machine!

Once you plug it in, you'll love it! It's a fabulously capable washer. The reliability can be hit-or-miss, but what a great washer!

The serial would probably help--maybe one of our folks has a Norge/MC serial secret decoder-ring? :-)
 
" . . .reliability can be hit-or-miss . . ."

Oh come on, Nate.  You know all too well by now that it's way more miss than hit!  No doubt your and David's clothes will greatly appreciate any replacement machine you end up with.

Conversely, that "Signature 2000" panel looks like the companion to my mom's last dryer, a machine that was entirely "hit" and behaved as well  the day it was hauled out of here as on the day it was installed nearly 20 years earlier. 

If ONLY Norge had built their washers to last like that . . .
 
Okay...

...so when David came in the other day and said, "Why does it smell like oil in there when we run the dryer?", I was kind of clued into the reliability "miss" angle.

(The answer is what happens when the oil runs and pools beneath the dryer.)
 
NORGE!

I still say Norge was the best performing washer ever...not the easiest to work on or the quietest,but put in a load of greasy nasty work clothes ..do the same with a Maytag, the Norge will consistently outwash it two to one! And the Norge will handle a MUCH heavier load!
 
. . . Norge will consistently outwash it two to one!

THAT remark came to me on a silver platter, but I'll not say anything about two Norges still not being able to outlast just one Maytag.
 
norges at the laundromat

in 1979,got to experience several times a laundromat equipped with these
norges-that was a real treat,the din was awesome!
BTW in my '82 MW catalog,a coin op model was offered.
 
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