classiccaprice
Well-known member
Great info Launderess, thank you!
Pre-war automatics
- Thread starter classiccaprice
- Start date
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Here is original patent for Westinghouse front loader of early 1940's (filed in 1938).
Reading though gives you an idea of just what is (or was) involved in creating an automatic washing machine. Since these patents long have expired (CBS had them last), many from various manufacturers have been referenced or picked up by appliance makers today. LG Electronics apparently nosed around this Westinghouse patent bank in 2002 for their front loaders.
https://www.freepatentsonline.com/2296257.pdf
Reading though gives you an idea of just what is (or was) involved in creating an automatic washing machine. Since these patents long have expired (CBS had them last), many from various manufacturers have been referenced or picked up by appliance makers today. LG Electronics apparently nosed around this Westinghouse patent bank in 2002 for their front loaders.
https://www.freepatentsonline.com/2296257.pdf
eurekastar
Well-known member
My Dad grew up in a house with no electricity or running water. They didn't get electricity until he graduated from high school in 1953. Even a gas powered Maytag wringer would have been a huge blessing, but my Grandmother used a good old fashioned washtub for many years after they got electricity!
My dad's father and stepmother lived in town, so he always lived in a house with electricity and hot and cold running water, from the time he was born in 1912. A few years after he graduated and left, they moved to a farm about three miles out of town to raise turkeys. There were no utilities there, so at first they installed a Delco light plant that produced 32 volts. It had a generator that charged batteries. Evidently it wasn't large enough to suit their needs, so a generator that produced 115 volts- I think an Onan - was installed. Sometime around 1946, utility power was available on that road, but about that time they moved back into town.
