rare GE portable garbage disposer

[steved]

In a quest to bring some normalcy to this crazy world, I thought I'd post something folks might be interested in that's appliance related.
Here are some pics I found online of a short-lived GE product from the early 60's. I think GE was trying to jump on the portable dishwasher craze by introducing this item. My dad, a GE employee, received one of these after entering a contest. Since we had a septic tank, it was never used, and I vaguely remember dismantling it. Anyway, it was very loud, but did work. I have never seen one since, except for these photos from the internet.[this post was last edited: 3/13/2020-10:02]

 

[DADoES]

 
What's the usage procedure?

 

[steved]

Usage

I believe you placed the base in the sink, add the food scraps, twist the motor assembly onto the base, turn on water, and flip the switch on the plug.

Try this:

 

[chachp]

OMG

 

<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">I haven't seen one of these in a thousand years.  My Dad was an engineer working for GE in Syracuse NY.  He was one of the engineers who helped to design this thing.  I remember he brought one home for my Mom to use and she hated it.  Too much trouble to hook it all up.  It did work just cumbersome.  As I recall he didn't think much of it either.  I remember it sat in our basement for years.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">#steved, was your Dad working in Syracuse?</span>

 

[tomturbomatic]

I remember ads for those and seeing one in our department store. What a blast from the past! Thanks! If you kept it clean, I wonder if it could have been used to shred cabbage and the like.

 

[steved]

Nope

My dad was a construction engineer working out of the Schenectady plant. He designed electrical systems for steel plants. I remember the GE electronics plant along the NYS Thruway.

 

[paulg]

Thanks for something unusual for show n’ tell

HONEY ! We’re leaving for vacation. Got the cooler? Radio? Beach blankets? Portable Disposall?

 

[paulg]

That is just gross

It’s a juicer with diarrhea.

 

[toploader55]

WOW !!!

I have only seen the magazine ads when I was a kid.

Now that is a Rare Hen's Tooth. Probably the only one in existence.

Thanks for posting.

 

[chachp]

My Dad was always bringing stuff home for my Mom to test

 

<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Most of the gadgets were mixers, toasters, blenders and that kind of stuff.  I think this PGD is probably the oddest thing I remember him bringing home for her to test.  I remember using it a couple of times but she had a regular disposer so it didn't get much use.  It worked well as I recall it was just really awkward to use.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">When I was a kid I wanted to take everything in the kitchen apart so he would bring home reject small appliances and cut off the cords for me to take apart.  The story is I only wanted to go after the stuff that she used and had a cord.  LOL </span>

 

[petek]

Wow what an oddity that was.

 

[turquoisedude]

What a coincidence!! I bought myself one for Christmas  - haven't used it yet though.  Perhaps I should make a demo video!!

 

[steved]

You did?

Paul, did you really get one??? Where??? Inquiring minds want to know

 

[DADoES]

 
I was wondering how the water-flush would work ... leastwise one doesn't have to grind up stuff then manually dump the container, although I suppose it should be rinsed after use to avoid odors and mold/mildew from residual debris being that it doesn't get recurring flushes from sink usage.

 

[steved]

water-flush

As I remember, the bottom was open to let the shredded materials flow through and down the drain.

 

[tolivac]

The other day watched a YouTube video of two guys using a Moen disposer to prepare smoothies--since the unit was brand new-contamination wasn't a concern-the thing did pretty well they used much like a blender.A blender is easier and better!They were making shakes and smoothies.They made a stand for the disposer and used their cup or glass under the discharge to catch the "drink" and put fruits,ice cream and such in the top.They would probably love that portable version shown here.

 

[turbokinetic]

Oh wow...

I never had any idea something like that existed! 

 

It's understandable that it was not a high volume seller; but maybe there were some scenarios where it would have been useful. I envision an apartment where food waste isn't allowed in household trash and there is no built-in disposer. That could be a possible use.

 

[steved]

more...

I was checking my library to see if any of the GE catalogues featured this unit. I didn't find any, but apparently at one time I found the patent!

 

[combo52]

GE Portable Disposall

Cool I haven't seen one of these since I was a kid, I remember that there was one for sale at the Greenbelt CO-OP grocery store that my Dad worked for and he thought about buying it as we did not have a disposer at home.

It was certainly a good idea but few people today have the common sense to even use it properly [ like the posted video where the poster leaves the sink strainer in place when using, LOL ]

The excuse of not using one because you have a septic tank is silly, about the best thing you can do if you have a ST is to add a lot more organic waste to it.

John L.[this post was last edited: 3/14/2020-16:20]