My grandma's washer in Nashville for $1

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HOW COOL!!!...This was the first automatic my parents had in the early sixties. This is the machine that started the whole fascination for me. This i take it has the original straight vane agitator.
 
My Parents First Too!

My dad gave my mom this machine and its matching dryer for Christmas in 1963. He was sucha romantic!!!

Before this machine, my mom had used a FRigidaire commercial machine, I assume it was a Unimatic. Both my mom and dad's families were in the dry cleaning and commercial laundry business in the 50's and 60's.

I thought it was marked as a "70", but I could be wrong.
 
There was a "70" version with infinite water levels and there was this "600" with the 3 water levels and 5 temps.

The 800 of the time was TOL with the push buttons.

I seem to remember this had the black bakelite straight vane agi. It moved clothes now.

My grandma's got replaced in the 80s with a BOL belt drive with plastic control panel (ICK!) Fail!
 
The mom of one of my childhood friends had one of these machines. Most 600s were equipped with the straight-vane agitator, or as Sears called it, the "6-Vane" agitator. I guess they counted the three little ridges on the skirt as vanes.

Anyway, on my friend's washer, one of the vanes broke off about 2/3 of the way down, I think when they were washing tennis shoes. They had 5 kids, so the machine was well-used. Not long later, the belt broke, and his dad, who was a mechanic, didn't want to replace it, so instead they installed TWO 1963 Lady K washers that were handed down from his Mom's mother and sister. This was about 1976 or so. One Lady K was a suds saver, one wasn't. The sister's machine was much more "used up" than her mother's. How cool it was though to see two of these side by side in the laundry room next to the 600 dryer.

Another friend's mom had a 63 600 dryer as well.

I hate that we missed this washer so fast. Hopefully someone got it who will respect it, but for a buck, who knows, the new owner could ring the life out of it. I guess there's no telling unless an AW.org member mentions their good fortune and lets us know they got it.

Gordon
 
One of my three dream washers!

Well, damnation..... I'm going to have to be more on top of things considering that was just 3 hours west of me - I'm in Knoxville. Should have been searching more regularly and might
have caught that one! It's exactly the same model Kenmore my mother had - bought in 1963... the year I was born.

Oh well, will have to keep on top of things better. I am picking up (finally) the 1970s White-Westinghouse front loader
in NC later this month. Only two things left for my small collection is the 1963 Kenmore TL exactly like the one in this post and the mid 50s Westinghouse slant front FL and both are going to be hard as all get out to find.

Congrats to the lucky guy/gal who picked up this Kenmore!

Randy in Knoxville,TN
 
Additional on this machine

The one my mom had used the straight vane black agitator and when my curiosity got the best of me regarding washers I used to wash or attempt to wash anything and everything in that 600. I remember my dad replacing belts several times over the years we had the machine which was close to, if not over, 20 years. If I had only known how much these things would be worth or the demand for them later..... I would most certainly kept it and my grandmother's Westy slant front.

Now, picture a fat guy kicking himself in the rear and you have me at the moment. I guess if I can still kick myself I must not be that fat - LOL! But, carry around far more than I ever should - the WW diet is under way though so hoping to get rid of a good part of it over the next year or so.
 

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