Picture of the day

[roscoe62]

Well I must say I'm floored by this design so long ago, what the hell happened to manufacturers?
Did they fall asleep and wake up years later to put the delay wash cycle on the new technology for front loaders or has this continued on the Norge machines through time?I don't ever remember seeing this option on machines as a child,and have not seen a norge for that matter,in our market.
Were the Norge's just available in the US market or were they sold under another name in other countries?
I ask this because I haven't seen A Speed Queen machine for a long time here in Canada in any show room unless it is a used machine on line or in a newspaper but there is a Huebsch available that is same design as Speed Queen, but not available in all provinces? Bizarre I must say,consumer demand does indeed dictate availability.

 

[laundromat]

You said the answer to your own question---consumer demand is what made most of the more "Deluxe" appliances lose their grip on the market. Back then, most women were only housekeeping, baby sitting,laundry ironing,dinner making,floor sweeping,silver polishing folks who,in some cases, drank vodka and/or wine,had their hair,nails and faces lifted,tugged,cut and pulled while their doctors had them on Valium.I remember that all too well. The husband would usually have a 9 to 5 mon-fri job and come home to a clean,fresh smelling house where he ruled. When there was a need for a new appliance, the wife would go and visit neighbors,usually (the Jones's of the block who had every new invention under the sun---at least the sun that was over their local Sears Roebuck and company or Montgomery Ward) and get advise on what washer,dryer,range dishwasher,or refrigerator to get.I remember the neighbors where I grew up were mostly Sears folk but,there were a few who stuck to our local dealerships like Eckes Appliance, Rudolf's Appliance,Norman R.Mitchell and The Hecht Company(May Company owned)where the brand, Duracrest (made by kelvinator) was sold.

The appliances then were much more feature packed and some,like the electric and gas ranges, had clocks,timers,dispensers and outlets to plug small appliances like a mixer or coffee pot in tne of the outlets was automatic and could be set to turn on and shut off all by itself. The other was just a regular 120 volt outlet.I remember there was a Norge dryer that had a hair dryer attachment you could hook up to its exhaust to dry your hair.Frigidaire had a few great features like the "Pull and Clean oven" where you just pulled the entire oven cavity out to spray with oven cleaner and wipe off. They made it look so easy but I seriously doubt that the real housewives who took on the drudgery of cleaning them were that impressed. At least they were smart enough to remove their silk shoulder length white gloves off before then!

But seriously,the luxurious lifestyles of the middle/upper class people changed dramatically back after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.That was the end of an era and the beginning of "Corporate America" where everybody screwed everybody else and didn't care who knew or found out about it.They became stingy and were not real impressed with Permanent Press.They fell in love with McDonalds, Burger King,Wendy's and Subway so,no need for any fancy features on an appliance they only used on Christmas,Easter and Thanksgiving holidays.Just give them a top loading washer,a basic standard clean oven range, a frost free top freezer refrigerator and a very basic GE "Potscrubber" dishwasher and they were set for life."Progress is our most important product." was GE's slogan for that period. I wonder if they actually meant that?

 

[polkanut]

I've wondered the same thing myself many times in regards to the delay start option. While we usually do our laundry during off-peak times, many other people can't or don't have that ability. We use this feature on our dishwasher quite often. Everything old is new again at some point in time. lol

 

[mrb627]

Wash while you Sleep?

How could anyone possibly with a Norge clanging away in the laundry room.  LOL!  I mean unless your washer was out on the back porch and in the utility room off the carport.

 

Malcolm

 

[tomturbomatic]

I think one of the ABC-O-Matic machines had a clock, but I never saw one, so other than that, the Norge was the only one I saw that offered the feature where I grew up. Bendix offered the "Magic Heater" in both their combos and washers, but in the washers, it was just a 120 volt element with no thermal hold. You were expected to have a supply of hot water between 140 and 160F for washing whites and were instructed to add water conditioner and soap or detergent after the washer filled. Wesinghouse offered no water heating in their washers and neither Bendix nor Westinghouse offered delayed starting. Often on the side of a house in Georgia, you would see two power meters and one was for the electric water heater. There was a special rate schedule for separately metered electric water heating before there were rates for All-Electric Homes, rates which vanished after the 1973 oil embargo sent prices through the roof so I don't think people had to worry about off-peak rates which were not offered to domestic customers by the Georgia Power Co., AFAIK. I think a lot of people coped by having a suds saver washer. A lot of people had front loaders because GaPoCo sold Westinghouse and back then, utilities let you pay for appliances on your utility bill.

Daddy told me that when we moved to Grand Ridge, IL, there was no natural gas service on the street so the house was heated with oil and the water heating was electric. It was very expensive so they tried off peak water heating, but since mom did not stay up all night to do laundry, she would exhaust the supply of hot water during the day even with the sudsaver Kenmore. My first laundry experiences were standing on a little stool and holding the hose connected to the laundry tub faucet to run cold water into the machine as it filled for rinse to save hot water because all rinses were warm. I don't remember mom ever stopping the rinse fill to completely fill the machine with cold water. As soon as gas service was brought in, Daddy got a gas water heater. I don't know if he converted the furnace to burn gas or even if it was possible or if it was cheaper in the early 50s to leave it oil-fired. When we moved to Georgia, we had gas heating and water heating.

I would hope that a modern machine with delayed start time would have a heater to raise the wash temp since there would be no way of purging the cold water out of the hot lines before the washer started and they use so little water to fill. I guess if it was a 120 volt machine, heating that cold fill to hot or even warm temps could make the cycle take a very long time. Do modern 120 volt washers that have a heater have a guaranteed minimum for warm water wash temp?

Do those of you who use the delayed start on your dishwashers and are not there to purge the cold water out of the line before starting have to set the machine for a high temp wash to overcome the cold fill or is the heating automatic?

 

[akronman]

purge the lines

Most MOL or TOL machines run 2 or more quick rinses before the detergent wash, so whether you set if for HOT /Sani or just regular wash, by the time that first wash/detergent part of the cycle starts, you've more than purged the cold from the lines.

 

[whirlcool]

In the 50's & 60's a lot of people converted their furnaces from oil to Natural Gas or Propane by changing out the burner in the furnace. It was a lot cheaper than a new furnace. My parents did this in a house they bought in 1962.

 

[polkanut]

Mark is right, our Whirlpool Gold dw does a short pre-rinse before the main wash fill. The amount of cold water in the pipes is definitely gone when the machine begins to fill for the main wash. It also heats during the wash if it senses the water isn't hot enough. I use the hi-temp boost option all the time, whether using the delay start, or not.

 

[akronman]

Hotpoint

My Hotpoint even explains in the literature that one reason for the pre-wash quickie rinses, besides getting larger chunks of food off, is to be sure hot water is at the ready when detergent and main wash start