Monkey Wards dryer
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Big Positive airflow Norge Built Dryer
About the last of the bigger Norge Built dryers, Norge started building these dryers around 1967 when they eliminated the heavy duty roller drive dryers. They were about the worst dryer built till they redesigned them around 1980 when they switched to the 27" vacuum airflow design. These bigger Norges and the little GE 21" portable were the last dryers built in the US that blew the air into and through the dryer, both were a linty mess LOL. The big Norges also suffered from bad blower bearings, broken belts, front drum support slides that wore out quickly and cut through the steel drum, and lots of motor failures because they were soon covered with 3 cubic feet of lint so they quickly failed from overheating. Run away from these dryers, LOL
About the last of the bigger Norge Built dryers, Norge started building these dryers around 1967 when they eliminated the heavy duty roller drive dryers. They were about the worst dryer built till they redesigned them around 1980 when they switched to the 27" vacuum airflow design. These bigger Norges and the little GE 21" portable were the last dryers built in the US that blew the air into and through the dryer, both were a linty mess LOL. The big Norges also suffered from bad blower bearings, broken belts, front drum support slides that wore out quickly and cut through the steel drum, and lots of motor failures because they were soon covered with 3 cubic feet of lint so they quickly failed from overheating. Run away from these dryers, LOL
Well, I'm the last person you'd expect to defend anything from the Norge line of laundry offerings, but my mom's '67 Snorge 18-pounder lasted +/- 20 years. That doesn't mean it was a peaceful coexistence by any stretch of the imagination, but it only needed one repair that whole time. It had the lint filter under the cabinet. It was replaced with a Snorge in the mid-late 80's, and that dryer was still working flawlessly when it was evicted to make room for a new Affinity pair in 2008. Both Norge machines were gas models.
The Affinity dryer was the first such non-Norge machine this house has seen since my parents moved here in late 1960. We had a '56 Norge set until the '67 Snorge pair were purchased for the newly completed laundry room.
I thought the subject dryer in the ad was an 80's model. It has the same cabinet and door as the 80's Snorge did, but the panel is definitely an earlier design.
I'm pretty sure there's a Wards fan among the membership (if you're reading this, you know who you are) who can advise on when they dropped the logo that appears on the panel.
The Affinity dryer was the first such non-Norge machine this house has seen since my parents moved here in late 1960. We had a '56 Norge set until the '67 Snorge pair were purchased for the newly completed laundry room.
I thought the subject dryer in the ad was an 80's model. It has the same cabinet and door as the 80's Snorge did, but the panel is definitely an earlier design.
I'm pretty sure there's a Wards fan among the membership (if you're reading this, you know who you are) who can advise on when they dropped the logo that appears on the panel.
norgeway
Well-known member
NORGE!
Well....I have used a Norge dryer, they dry your clothes wonderfully, wrinkle less than any dryer I have ever seen,,,,and blow more lint than any dryer ive ever seen...I stll say the Norge washer is unbeatable!!!
Well....I have used a Norge dryer, they dry your clothes wonderfully, wrinkle less than any dryer I have ever seen,,,,and blow more lint than any dryer ive ever seen...I stll say the Norge washer is unbeatable!!!
Big Norge Dryers
Ralph, it sounds like your Mothers dryer was about the last of the good Norge dryers if it had the lint filter in the toe-space. These original Norge designed and built were without a dough the one of the best and most durable dryers of all time. They had drum support and drive rollers that were almost as large and rugged as the wheels on an appliance moving dolly. Once we had an old Norge gas dryer sitting outside in the appliance court where old appliances waited for recycling. We had filled it nearly full of old motors and other metal appliance parts [ probably at least 200 pounds of such ] and I suggested to my brother Jeff, lets see what would happen if I plug it in and turn it on. So I plugged it in and turned it on and the machine came to life and easily started tumbling all those motors, it sounded like a giant rock crusher, LOL I am confident that no other residential dryer ever built would have even turned a load like this over even once, and the Norge just kept running along, we let it run a good while.
1967 was about the time they switched designs and it was very disappointing to see many of our customers that had an earlier Norge dryer that had lasted nearly 20 years and made it through raising the kids etc and they would buy another Norge of this newer style only to have all kinds of problems within the first 5 years or so and we ended up selling them a new WP or MT within 10 years.
Yes Hans both of the two different big style Norge dried clothes very well with their big drums and fans, but they literately went from being the most rugged dryer to one of the worst ever overnight.
The newer 27" Norge designed dryers are a completely different machine and they are fairly decent. They tend to be slower than most other dryers because of a lower gas BTU input and the Electric models have a heater element that is lower wattage that any other full size US dryer by about 500 watts. I would rate the overall durability of these newer 27" dryers as about equal to Frigidaire and GE dryers for the last 15 years or so.
Ralph, it sounds like your Mothers dryer was about the last of the good Norge dryers if it had the lint filter in the toe-space. These original Norge designed and built were without a dough the one of the best and most durable dryers of all time. They had drum support and drive rollers that were almost as large and rugged as the wheels on an appliance moving dolly. Once we had an old Norge gas dryer sitting outside in the appliance court where old appliances waited for recycling. We had filled it nearly full of old motors and other metal appliance parts [ probably at least 200 pounds of such ] and I suggested to my brother Jeff, lets see what would happen if I plug it in and turn it on. So I plugged it in and turned it on and the machine came to life and easily started tumbling all those motors, it sounded like a giant rock crusher, LOL I am confident that no other residential dryer ever built would have even turned a load like this over even once, and the Norge just kept running along, we let it run a good while.
1967 was about the time they switched designs and it was very disappointing to see many of our customers that had an earlier Norge dryer that had lasted nearly 20 years and made it through raising the kids etc and they would buy another Norge of this newer style only to have all kinds of problems within the first 5 years or so and we ended up selling them a new WP or MT within 10 years.
Yes Hans both of the two different big style Norge dried clothes very well with their big drums and fans, but they literately went from being the most rugged dryer to one of the worst ever overnight.
The newer 27" Norge designed dryers are a completely different machine and they are fairly decent. They tend to be slower than most other dryers because of a lower gas BTU input and the Electric models have a heater element that is lower wattage that any other full size US dryer by about 500 watts. I would rate the overall durability of these newer 27" dryers as about equal to Frigidaire and GE dryers for the last 15 years or so.
"Norge dried clothes very well, but literately went from
Well, goes to show to my now-speculation how my Charles Klamkin book (HOW TO BUY MAJOR APPLIANCES, recommendations) may have gotten over-ly dated before its time, then, if by the '70's Norge quality for dryers was in decline...
The performance may have been up to "high standards" but you may have not gotten to long-enjoy it, if the workmanship & repair record (not to mention the access to the machine's innards) couldn't keep up!
--Just a thought there...
-- Dave
Well, goes to show to my now-speculation how my Charles Klamkin book (HOW TO BUY MAJOR APPLIANCES, recommendations) may have gotten over-ly dated before its time, then, if by the '70's Norge quality for dryers was in decline...
The performance may have been up to "high standards" but you may have not gotten to long-enjoy it, if the workmanship & repair record (not to mention the access to the machine's innards) couldn't keep up!
--Just a thought there...
-- Dave
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Wards Dryer!
I remember seeing this dryer in Wards about 20 years ago. I liked it for it's unique cycle chart in the middle of the console. I do remember their was another model after that that had a more colorful chart configuration. I wish I can see the chart configuration on the console.
Thanks
Peter
I remember seeing this dryer in Wards about 20 years ago. I liked it for it's unique cycle chart in the middle of the console. I do remember their was another model after that that had a more colorful chart configuration. I wish I can see the chart configuration on the console.
Thanks
Peter
Sears & Mont. Ward Memories & a General Electric, denied! (&
I had a friend had a single-dial M/W dryer which was the last to sport that old logo as well as a single-dial M/W washer which was the first to have the newer logo before the company went out of business...
The washer did not last a particular long time & it wasn't long before a fuller featured Kenmore replaced it (and all of that particular family's laundry equipment was to my knowledge just regular capacity unless it was something that just came w/ the house; it was all they'd ever bought & Sears/Wards stuff though my friend does NOT remember having a GE washer though I swear a discarded one was right in front of their place the very day we'd begun hangin' out!)
The Wards dryer, on the other hand, I'd still seen there, the last time he & his fam' lived in that house & I'd visited...!
-- Dave
I had a friend had a single-dial M/W dryer which was the last to sport that old logo as well as a single-dial M/W washer which was the first to have the newer logo before the company went out of business...
The washer did not last a particular long time & it wasn't long before a fuller featured Kenmore replaced it (and all of that particular family's laundry equipment was to my knowledge just regular capacity unless it was something that just came w/ the house; it was all they'd ever bought & Sears/Wards stuff though my friend does NOT remember having a GE washer though I swear a discarded one was right in front of their place the very day we'd begun hangin' out!)
The Wards dryer, on the other hand, I'd still seen there, the last time he & his fam' lived in that house & I'd visited...!
-- Dave
P.S. Mont. Ward Washer (circa. 1983?):
It had a rear-opening lid, too! A portent of things to come when a few manufacturers no longer wanted to bother w/ the screws & hinges needed for side opening lids, hence the industry making "rear openers" the final standard! (The higher-up Mont. Ward washers, then, would be reflecting this trend...)
That dryer (as well as the one in my friend's house) just might be/may have been 'circa. 1982'...
-- Dave
It had a rear-opening lid, too! A portent of things to come when a few manufacturers no longer wanted to bother w/ the screws & hinges needed for side opening lids, hence the industry making "rear openers" the final standard! (The higher-up Mont. Ward washers, then, would be reflecting this trend...)
That dryer (as well as the one in my friend's house) just might be/may have been 'circa. 1982'...
-- Dave
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