POD 4/28/2017

[brucelucenta]

These machines were among the most interesting ever made. It was the day of new designs in automatic washing machines and this one was definitely different than the rest. I have never actually seen this model, but it appears to be the fanciest of at least that year model. Most of the Philco machines I came across were from the early 60's with a perforated tub and had 4 cycles, each automatically selecting the wash and rinse temp and speed combinations. Consumer reports gave them a glowing review and rated them right up there with Norge in '58 and '59 for washing. Having worked on and used several of these, I would say they were fairly good machines. The beginning machines didn't dispose of sand and sediment, but that got better with the perforated tub models later. They also were not great at water extraction, but adequate. One of their downfalls were all the rubber parts that had to do with the agitator. When those would wear out or tear, it was difficult to replace and later on impossible to find parts for. They were certainly an interesting machine in their day though. There were several machines that washed clothes in unusual ways and they were one of them.

 

[frigilux]

It was a time when some manufacturers offered really unique washing actions/systems: Frigidaire, Philco (with the flapping agitator), ABC/Kelvinator, Apex, Bendix (with the rubber tub that squeezed the water from clothes rather than spinning them).

How did Philco ever get permission to use the term 'Miss America'?!

 

[mayken4now]

Eugene

Good question on "Miss America"  Have always wondered that as well.

 

Right Bruce, they did shine above all as far as appearance and display.

 

[gansky1]

No markings on the timer to show where you were in the cycle or what the machine was doing, just the time-left indicator below the timer. There was a Miss America model on the SD farm but the sun and weather had taken it's toll on the all-plastic panel and it was nearly destroyed.

I have a 1960-61 MOL Philco in storage that needs a full-restore job if anyone is interested. First year of the perforated tub, previous models from 59-60 were solid tub with perforated liner.

 

[gyrafoam]

IMO the solid-tub machines were better performers.
Mark had a nice one he sold-off years ago, however, I don't remember who bought it.

Would hate to try and track down parts for one at this point, but you never know. Somebody might be sitting on a pile of them.

 

[brucelucenta]

Philco was one of the brands Otasco (oklahoma tire & supply co) sold back in the 50's & 60's. I remember when Philco had stopped making washers and dryers. The ones they had in stock they sold at greatly reduced prices. They had already lost Leonard washers and dryers when Kelvinator quit making them. Leonard had been replaced with Speed Queen and Philco was replaced by GE. They still had the Norge rebadged machines as Tempmaster.

 

[twintubdexter]

I remember the first time I poked my nose in one of these Philcos out in the parking lot of the appliance store I worked at. After seeing so many Frigidaires I thought the bottom part of the agitator was warped from extremely hot water. I don't remember ever hooking one up to the extension cord that I plugged into one of the parking lot lights (there was a panel at the bottom with a receptacle). I do remember plugging in a couple of Apex Wash-A-Matics. Not familiar with how they agitated, I thought "boy is this thing shot!"

 

[twintubdexter]

I remember the first time I poked my nose in one of these Philcos out in the parking lot of the appliance store I worked at. After seeing so many Frigidaires I thought the bottom part of the agitator was warped from extremely hot water. I don't remember ever hooking one up to the extension cord that I plugged into one of the parking lot lights (there was a panel at the bottom with a receptacle). I do remember plugging in a couple of Apex Wash-A-Matics. Not familiar with how they agitated, I thought "boy is this thing shot!"

 

[supersuds]

Consumer Reports for February 1959 had this to say about the Philco Automagic Model W298:

Washing ability: Very good
Sand disposal: Poor
Linting: Heavy
Unbalanced load: No effect
Water extraction: Fairly good
Probability of small items escaping into the tub: Slight
Water consumption: 22.5 gallons hot/31 gallons total
Duration, regular cycle: 39 min.
Door safety switch: No
Delicate fabric cycle: Yes
Slow speed setting: Yes
Cold wash water setting: Yes
Type of fill: Metered
Usable with floor drain: Yes
Guarantee includes labor: No

Their listing of washers with "high overall quality" in order, was Frigidaire, Maytag, Sears Kenmore, Whirlpool, Hamilton, Norge, Philco, and Hotpoint.

Interestingly, GE and Westinghouse didn't make the "high overall quality" list...