POD 1/19 Kenmores

[mtn1584]

One knob BOL 24inch Kenmore

Back in the day, my mom took my brother and me, by bus, to Sears on Fordham Rd in the Bronx. They had huge floor to ceiling windows, and what seemed like endless rows of washing machines that you could see thru the windows. My mother bought the "BOL" one knob 24 inch Kenmore with the "box" design over the Kenmore chrome name on the left. The machine went right next to the doluble kitchen sink in our apt, and the water temp was controlled by the faucet. My mother replaced an RCA Whirlpool that had died after many loads of diapers. I HATED that Kenmore, I wanted her to either get one with more bells and whistles, or a GE V12 filter-flo like my nana had. My mother was always a BOL aplliance shopper, so I bought her last three washers. 1. GE Filter Flo 1991-1999, 2. WP Sup Cap Accu Wash 1999-2009, and finally the best washer I ever bought a TOL SQ TL. Anyway thanks for listening. That Kenmore only lasted about 4 years before she sold it when we moved.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

Funny about BOL machines -

As Charles said, his mom wanted water level and temp adjustments, multi-speeds, and more capacity. She sounds like most moms in that regard. It sounds like she replaced her BOL with a 'bread and butter' MOL Kenmore 70 which almost everyone else was buying from Sears. By 1986, I too bought a Kenmore 70, but for me, it wasn't by choice so much as what I had to buy.

I could use and be happy with a BOL machine I think. The BOL early 80s belt-drives had timer set temps, standard OR large capacity, and a standard Normal cycle. My '86 has 2 speeds but I hardly ever use Delicate. I have never even tried the Perm Press cycle, nor have I in an of my other Kenmores (big waste of water for me). Once in a while I use the Pre-Wash because it's there but I wouldn't miss it. So, I could probably get along fine with a BOL, especially in standard cap. since I can easily fill a standard machine. BUT, by the time I got to the sales for as a real customer, the BOL machines were DD and I was not going near one. Instead I bought the entry level BD which since late 1983 was a five-cycle 70 series.

I think one day I'll have a true BOL machine around though - their unassuming simplicity fascinates me too much not to. What's interesting is that the 1960s BOLs did not have automatic temperature selections but had manual water-fall filters, whereas the BOLs of the later 70s forward had no filter at all, but they gained fully automatic water temperatures.

G