POD 9/21/2016

[brucelucenta]

Not surprising that Frigidaire was among the first to introduce a top load automatic washer. This is another machine I could have picked up back in the day, but did not. I thought it too antiquated at the time and left it. I truly do believe that if Frigidaire had overcome the tangling issue with their early machines, they would have been the leader of the appliance industry and history would be different now. They already had the advantage of GM backing them up and "Frigidaire" was synonymous with refrigerator. Had the washers not tangled clothes so badly, there would have been no reason for people to dislike their washers at all. They washed very well and spun the clothing out exceptionally well. What a shame that they tangled clothing so severely. Unfortunately many people who bought the earlier machines hated them because of the tangling and would NEVER buy Frigidiare again. Pity...

 

[gyrafoam]

Yes. I have memories of women untangling all the knotted laundry and cursing.
It could have been reduced with better loading habits, and also reducing the wash time. With all that roll-over the Frigidaire really didn't need as long as other machines to do the cleaning. No problems with most towels, underwear,short sleeved shirts, and short pants. People in South Florida only dreaded washing sheets and jeans.

Back in the late 1950's it was a pretty common sight to see an old Frigidaire "Flat-Top" cast-off on the side of the road awaiting disposal.

Not to be forgotten------would be the Westinghouse Slant-Front that could make a solid rope out of a load of clothes------ with ease.

 

[vacerator]

Sadly,

the 60's were the heyday of Frigidaire. Their Flair ovens and ranges were higher end, and costly. I never even saw any until I was about eight, at my second cousins house. Her husband was a GM purchasing manager. All of our immediate relatives had Tappan, Kenmore, Whirlpool, or Magic Chef. I was amazed by their "jet Cone" washer.
I think had more home builders packaged kitchens with Frigidaire, GM would have maintained a better market share, and not decided to sell to White Westinghouse.
Manufacturers give large volume discounts to builders, so Maybe Frigidaire didn't have the production capacity. Pulte homes seemed to use more Tappan 400's, GE, and Kitchen Aid dishwashers. Lower end builders used a lot of Hotpoint.
The Frigidaire line was more custom.

 

[gansky1]

Tangling Saves Time Unloading!

CU rated these machines "Unacceptable" for years.  The odd thing is, with only minor design changes to the tub, pulsator and rings, by 1958 the Frigidaire was their top rated brand.  

 

I've had some pretty good knots in my Unimatics with all kinds of loads, you can do everything right and load according to "Hoyle" but you just never know what you're going to find when you open the lid.  Sheets are their own category in most any machine, I'm looking for a picture of a particularly bad knot I had in a Kenmore BD washer not all that long ago.  You'd think a Boy Scout jumped in to practice.

 

 

 

[tomturbomatic]

The biggest cure for the tangling was the loading instructions porcelaininzed onto the underside of the lid beginning in 1957, I believe. Once the tub was pictured divided into 4 sections, tangling was greatly reduced. It also helped to roll sheets before placing them in the tub.

As far as CU was concerned, the Frigidaire's greatest fault was that it was not a Maytag.

 

[combo52]

Early Automatic Washers

The Sears Kenmore and Whirlpool AMWs came out in 1947 as well and Sears already a big selling Wringer Washer brand had a huge advantage in selling prices, distribution, service and financing, and most of all they had a machine that worked better and users liked so much better that Sears was the leader almost from the beginning in automatic washer sales.

 

The WP built Automatics were more ecomical to run with their Suds-Saver feature which millions of new automatic owners loved because it gave them a similar savings of detergent, water, and hot water like their WWs had done without all the work.

 

GE was the leader from the beginning with their GE and Hotpoint brands for large scale builders, Frigidaire was just a little too expensive for most homes.

 

[frigilux]

My first front-loader was a mid-80's Frigidaire (which, of course, was a rebranded WCI/Westy). It began tumbling in one direction as soon as you pulled out the cycle dial and didn't stop 'til the end of the final spin. I remember a few noteworthy incidents of severe roping. Reverse tumbling took care of that problem for the most part. Loads of kitchen & personal whites get a 70-minute wash tumble at my house and there's rarely any tangling or roping. A load subjected to that long a wash tumble in the old Westy's would have emerged as tight as a ball of twine, LOL.

A neighbor replaced an early Frigidaire with a '58 with promises from the dealer that the tangling issue had been alleviated by a new pulsator design. The neighbors were quite upset when they found it still tangled unmercifully. I don't remember if they were loading it quadrant-style or not, but they were pissed! I wanted to trade our Kenmores for their '58 set, but no go.

 

[appnut]

I can think of only two houses on our street that had Frigidaire kitchen.  The houses that had electric cooking in the kitchens were either GE, Westinghouse, and Whirlpool (and those had gas cooktops in them).  Everyone else with gas cooking, it was O'Keefe & Merrit.  There were probably 5 houses I never got to go in.  Now, 3 blocks over and houses that were built 3 years later, I think just about the entire street was Frigidaire Kitchens--Deluxe or Custom Deluxe cooktops, Flair single wall ovens, and Custom Deluxe spin tubes. 

 

[appnut]

I can think of only two houses on our street that had Frigidaire kitchen.  The houses that had electric cooking in the kitchens were either GE, Westinghouse, and Whirlpool (and those had gas cooktops in them).  Everyone else with gas cooking, it was O'Keefe & Merrit.  There were probably 5 houses I never got to go in.  Now, 3 blocks over and houses that were built 3 years later, I think just about the entire street was Frigidaire Kitchens--Deluxe or Custom Deluxe cooktops, Flair single wall ovens, and Custom Deluxe spin tubes. 

 

[askolover]

Every house on our street had a Frigidaire kitchen!  Most of them had Maytag laundry though.  The mayor of our town at the time our subdivision was being built (he financed it) also owned the local Frigidaire/Maytag store.  The store is still in business and owned by the children and grandchildren of the founders.  My father and grandfather built most of the houses on street!

http://greens-furniture.com/

 

[vacerator]

Greg,

that story is proof that it's follow the money. I bet the mayor also sold the land to the developer.

 

[askolover]

Mr. Green (the mayor) was the developer also!  My dad and granddad worked for him directly. 

 

[circlew]

Greg, as I've mentioned before, I've been through Loretto on Hwy. 43 quite a few times. I remember one of the towns in that area had black lamp posts with round globes. Was that in Loretto, Leoma or St. Joseph?

I may have seen Green's at some time, but the store I mainly remember is Story & Lee on 43.