The Hamiltons
WOW, what a really interesting washer, it does appear to be a Franklin built machine, BUT I have never seen a washer like this under any other brand name, Franklin was still building solid tub machines in 1966 and this machine bears similarities to the 60-66 Franklin's but it is clear that NOTHING is interchangeable. This may have been a 1 or 2 year design at best, by about 69 there was a Gibson design out that had a huge capacity tub and an angle wing agitator that I saw quite a few of, Like other Franklin laundry appliances of the 60s-70s these Gibson's were terrible in the durability department. There is a good change that this Hamilton is the only one left in the world.
Yes that is a GE motor on the washer, there may be a date on the motor, but for sure there would be a build date on the timer motor and the inlet valve, I am betting 67 or 68 at the latest.
The Gas Hamilton dryer is all Hamilton, these 27" wide dryers are the third generation of dryers that Hamilton built. They still used a single point drum bearing to support the drum like earlier Hamilton dryers and almost all early dryers for that matter. As a result they were very quiet running. The 27" dryers went to the belt around the drum to drive the drum. The gas burner was below and would have a direct-spark ignition system likely by Mcquay-Norris, it would not have had a modulating gas burner as only WP-KM ever built a home gas dryer with a modulating burner.
John L.
Will be interesting to se if these machines operate well after the long slumber.
