P.O.D. 1/4/19: Maytag washer, lasting ONLY EIGHT years?!

[daveamkrayoguy]

Well, was this washer--a MAYTAG!--really a lemon, or was that big family it had to work for meet its match?!

Heck, the names and ages of each family member didn’t even leave much of an impression on me—I don’t remember how old any of the children were or anyone’s name...!

Guess that Norge with all those kids in that other ad could beat it in longevity, or did it, with all tough thrashing for washing action could do more, if not for it just not being a Maytag?

-- Dave[this post was last edited: 1/6/2019-02:06]

 

[tomturbomatic]

First of all, the Norge in the ad with all of the children was not making claims about longevity, but rather capacity. Larger capacity would mean fewer loads so it could have lasted longer than the petite tub early Maytags given the same amount of laundry but done in fewer loads, but being a Norge, it probably didn't. Second, yes the Maytag family now had 10 kids, but it did not at the start so their previous machine was not washing for 12 people all of those years, although it probably washed a hell of a lot of diapers. The huge families featured in those ads beg the question of the resources of a single family home, like the amounts of hot water for bathing, scheduling of bathroom times and amount of time allowed and the size of pans used for cooking meals etc.

Another huge family that appeared in Maytag ads was the Lennon family known for the 4 sisters who sang on Lawrence Welk's show. It is difficult to imagine one washing machine doing all of the laundry for families that large. Early automatics often died early deaths because of things like pot metal pumps and primitive materials used in seals that were attacked by the caustic laundry detergents of the time and inadequate rinsing which left caustic film behind to attack the washer parts. Maytag's poly pump was an early advance in coping with metal pump failure.

 

[norgeway]

They probably

Got rid of the Maytag because they got tired of having to redistribute the load ever few minutes to get it to spin,,,lol

 

[tomturbomatic]

If the machine was loaded to capacity with similar weight fabrics, it did not go off balance all that often, but Maytag took a while to provide strong centering springs on the machines. I never understood how a full tub of water and fabrics could be heavier on one side than the other during agitation, but those early Helical Drive tubs leaned so far out of plumb that you had to wonder if the cabinet was the only thing stopping it from falling completely over. They seemed as loose as those poor Maytag wives with 10 kids.

 

[norgeway]

Every one i ever had

Stayed out of balance, after 5 of them I would rather wash on a board!

 

[gregingotham]

35 loads per week

You'll note the ad says they did 35 loads per week. That must be the reason it only lasted 8 years. Was this this "tiny tub" model?

 

[tomturbomatic]

There were only tiny tubs until the 06 series was introduced in the later half of the 60s.  It is probable that they had an AMP or just a gravity drain AM which had a smaller tub (12 gallons) than the Helical Drive machines that followed them (16 gallons of water) if you count backwards from the time of the ad.