spankomatic
Well-known member
Montgomery Wards Dishwasher. 20 years old but brand new still in the box. Were they any good?
Montgomery Wards Dishwasher
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If these are harvest gold, I'd say they are moroe like 30 years old atleast. And to answer your question, these were White-Westinghouse dishwasher.
MW, that's a blast from the past!
Was Montgomery Ward still in business 20 years ago? It seems like a lot longer than that since the big department store and distribution center was torn down here in St. Paul. If those appliances are Harvest Gold they're more like 35-40 years old at this point. My parents got a MW dishwasher made by Frigidaire back in the early 70's. Ours was noisy as heck but held massive loads of dishes and got them clean without pre-rinsing. I remember the clickety-clack sound of the timer as it advanced past the first few stages if you selected a shorter cycle than pots and pans. There was a center tower to spray the upper rack and through an opening in the center of that rack it shot up to the top of the tub where a little deflector spun a shower across the top of the dishes. One end of the wash arm on the bottom had a secondary little wash arm for "planetary action." I think that dishwasher lasted about 12 years before my folks replaced it.
This thread shows the identical Frigidaire model that we got from MW.
Was Montgomery Ward still in business 20 years ago? It seems like a lot longer than that since the big department store and distribution center was torn down here in St. Paul. If those appliances are Harvest Gold they're more like 35-40 years old at this point. My parents got a MW dishwasher made by Frigidaire back in the early 70's. Ours was noisy as heck but held massive loads of dishes and got them clean without pre-rinsing. I remember the clickety-clack sound of the timer as it advanced past the first few stages if you selected a shorter cycle than pots and pans. There was a center tower to spray the upper rack and through an opening in the center of that rack it shot up to the top of the tub where a little deflector spun a shower across the top of the dishes. One end of the wash arm on the bottom had a secondary little wash arm for "planetary action." I think that dishwasher lasted about 12 years before my folks replaced it.
This thread shows the identical Frigidaire model that we got from MW.
Bob's right. The CL machines would be Westinghouse. Nate has a MW dishwasher of this vintage for his daily driver currently, a fine looking white portable in beautiful shape. He should probably post some pictures of it before it gets booted out in favor of something more special. Curiously, the detergent cup and rinse aid mechanisms on these machines are identical to those on the 1985 Thermador THD3600 Nate and I tolerated in our respective kitchens for a while.
The earlier 70's MW machines made by Frigidaire were indeed noisy. We had one such BOL portable for our very first dishwasher when I was a kid.
The earlier 70's MW machines made by Frigidaire were indeed noisy. We had one such BOL portable for our very first dishwasher when I was a kid.
Unused, In The Box!
Boy, was someone spared grief and disappointment. I'll bet the range was a Tappan-made thing.
Boy, was someone spared grief and disappointment. I'll bet the range was a Tappan-made thing.
Chicago 's Montgomery Ward
A little MW story...
They closed about ten years ago - at least around Chicago.
They were a client of mine and I really felt sorta bad to see them go. I did go to the stores and pick up some great deals near the end though.
I went to the last day of the last store in the area. Literally, in the middle of the store was a card table with the last stuff to be sold.
For a buck or so they were selling these promotional compasses, probably given to employees. They were labeled " Montgomery Ward - A NEW DIRECTION". I bought one.
... Even a good book has a final chapter... I would say.
A little MW story...
They closed about ten years ago - at least around Chicago.
They were a client of mine and I really felt sorta bad to see them go. I did go to the stores and pick up some great deals near the end though.
I went to the last day of the last store in the area. Literally, in the middle of the store was a card table with the last stuff to be sold.
For a buck or so they were selling these promotional compasses, probably given to employees. They were labeled " Montgomery Ward - A NEW DIRECTION". I bought one.
... Even a good book has a final chapter... I would say.
Montgomery Ward
MW hoped against hope that the 2000 holiday season would bolster it with improved sales, but this didn't happen, and liquidation began in spring 2001.
MW was a multifaceted victim of being owned by companies like Mobil and GE Capital that didn't do it much in the way of justice. Plus, an antiquated inventory-management system and reliance upon huge but not-very-efficient distribution centers/catalog houses caused it to carry significant overhead at a time when competitors were working hard to streamline and modernize replenishment systems.
The dishwasher would likely be the later Westinghouse design, filterless and essentially a turbine-pump GE that, unlike the GE, washes dishes.
It's a good machine performance-wise, noisy with the infamously loud snapping drain solenoid. It washes dishes well (and should after the seven or so water changes), but the build quality made D&M look awesome. Paper-thin porcelain and rack coatings made certain that rust brought a premature end to these dishwashers.
MW hoped against hope that the 2000 holiday season would bolster it with improved sales, but this didn't happen, and liquidation began in spring 2001.
MW was a multifaceted victim of being owned by companies like Mobil and GE Capital that didn't do it much in the way of justice. Plus, an antiquated inventory-management system and reliance upon huge but not-very-efficient distribution centers/catalog houses caused it to carry significant overhead at a time when competitors were working hard to streamline and modernize replenishment systems.
The dishwasher would likely be the later Westinghouse design, filterless and essentially a turbine-pump GE that, unlike the GE, washes dishes.
It's a good machine performance-wise, noisy with the infamously loud snapping drain solenoid. It washes dishes well (and should after the seven or so water changes), but the build quality made D&M look awesome. Paper-thin porcelain and rack coatings made certain that rust brought a premature end to these dishwashers.
