Implications of "women's work"
Just to clarify, I wasn't implying sexual orientation of anyone by mentioning "women's work"... In the original post opening this thread, I noted the dichotomy of an appliance, geared, styled and featured to appeal to women, but almost always designed and purchased by men. I think there is little wonder why so many of our beloved washers seem heavily influenced by automotive designs at the time. Some even have fins!... (agitator humour). Of course, GM, AMC, Ford, and Crosley (& probably others) also all had their appliance division and I wouldn't be surprised if some designers did double duty.
I would offer up that part of the appeal is that because many of us, as our earliest/fondest childhood memories, remember watching our stay-at-home mothers, inarguably the primary caretaker of past, doing the household chores. Combine that with a boy's inevitable love of "Gizmos"... and the resulting appeal of Washers, dryers (not as cool, because as Gansky1 so obviously stated they don't have water, suds, etc and we love playing in the water), vacuums, toasters, blenders, mix-masters and egg beaters (and the promise of cakebatter or icing to lick from the bowl and beaters)... Gizmos, a mother's affection, and cake-batter. What could possibly be better?
Later, as we aged, traditional gender roles asserted themselves through relational expectations, and we became "Dad's little grease-monkey"...Helping pass the tools as Dad worked on the car, or washer, or bike, etc.
I would also add, from personal experience, that I have a tendency to humanize appliances: Think of them as entities with some sort of soul, gender, possibly a name and a personality... How many times have I encouraged a recalcitrant (1972 Citroen Dspecial) to start with "C'mon boy, you can do it", or mentioned to the repair man or woman, that "The old girl seems to be talking back" when discussing a noise the washer suddenly started to make. BECAUSE OF THIS, like a surgeon trying to save a patient, I have a very hard time watching an appliance be junked/scrapped, expecially if it has "personality", as so many of the older appliances do, because of their gizmos, styling, eccentricities, rarity, etc.
That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it.
(and Bwoods, I used to help raise and train American Saddlebred and Morgan park show horses, and I still have my mare. The horse in the picture you mentioned is my late gelding, who died at age 30, having spent the last 20 years of his life under my care. He's buried on the farm here.)
The following picture is from the Hartford Auto Museum (Hartford, WI) and as many of you will recognize: That's a Tucker Torpedo, Vin #48, and the only known existant example with a factory (Borg-Warner) 3-speed automatic. Enjoy.
Cheers,
Bob
