P.O.D. 10/ April /2015 Kenmore Portable

[toploader55]

Have you ever noticed the selection of Portables have gone down to like 2 models ?

I am a fan of portables because I think it's great to have the "Back up" machine for company or large cook and bake days. Of course I am considered "strange" to use 2 machines by my friends when I company for dinner.

However, occasionally I will stop in the appliance dept. (Only to get depressed when I look at all the crap that is there for big bucks)and Portables have gone down to Either Extreme BOL or MOL.. It's hard to find a machine like the caliber of the Superba or other extremely high end models anymore.

8 years ago before I was here at AW., I went to Sears looking for a TOL Portable for my Studio. I was all set to spend the money but ended up with the "TOL" Portable what was available. It has 3 level wash "Ultra Wash" which I am not disappointed with at all, but the lack of adjustable upper rack and fold down tines were features I miss on this machine as it is the Daily Driver for the most part.

The 18" machines in which I owned one back in the late 80s was very powerful but held next to nothing. And to go through all those water changes like a 24 " machine seemed wasteful back then just to wash 4 plates a few glasses and what not.

But then again, Times have changed and during the portable's Hayday was a time when Women and Housewives cooked 3 meals a day at home and the husband's were not about to remodel a kitchen to accommodate a dishwasher. I'm sure most housewives would be so surprised on Mother's Day when they woke up in the morning to find a Brand New Portable Machine with a Big Red Bow on it as a surprise. (Oh My God... How Donna Reed did that sound). Plus I'm sure they appreciated the extra counter top if they were a big family with a small kitchen.

 

[turquoisedude]

I guess it's the old 'supply and demand' thing...  I know that back in the late 60s and early 70s it was unusual to see built-in dishwashers, especially in the part of Montreal where I grew up.   The installation costs/challenges and the fact that no one was quite ready to give up cupboard space seemed to be the main motivation for preferring a portable.  And the choices of portables was much better, since there was a market for them - I remember seeing pages from the Sears catalog that ran the gamut from a one-arm, one-cycle basic machine right up to the Lady Kenmore with three wash levels and the rapid advance timer, all offered as portables!   And I will swear at one point that the Eaton Viking portable/convertible dishwashers were being offered at the same price as the built-in models (portables were usually more expensive).  

 

Having a portable as a backup or dinner-party dishwasher gets my vote - it's darn handy to be able to get the kitchen cleared up in a hurry.  

 

It's funny, even in kitchen design plans in home improvement magazines in the 60s and 70s, you'd see portable dishwashers suggested in designs where a built-in installation was either not possible or practical.  

 

[toploader55]

Great Points Paul

And in most of the New Designer Kitchens they are installing 2 dishwashers. Even though they will probably be used only for glasses as there is such a small percentage that cook 3 meals a day seven days a week.

 

The other need for 2 machines is that the now 2-3 hour cycles take too long.   I remember with my Mom's 1961 Princess on the Holidays we would load it up and while it was washing we would tackle the pots and pans. By the time that was done, we would advance the timer through the Dry, Open it up, Flash Dry for 15 minutes because the dishes were hot as all get out, unload and reload with the dessert dishes, coffee cups and saucers and left over glasses and flatware.

 

Ah, the smell of Chlorinated Phosphate loaded Cascade or ElectraSol with the  PlastiSol.

 

What Memories !!!