Something's on it's way to Ogden...

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

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Roger, about the earthquake, I couldn't feel it but I heard it!  At about 12:20 AM, I was over the phone with a friend who lives about 10 miles away from where I live and we both wondered for a second or two about what was happening! My uncle who lives on the Montreal south shore (I live on the north shore) felt it more!

 

But still...

philr++10-10-2012-15-03-0.jpg
 
"....we will rebuild..."

I don't know, that might take a long time....if you get some relief money, buy a couple washers and dryers, to
clean the sweat off the workclothes you will surely go through, in such an endeavor. :-) funny photo !
 
What trick did you perform to get Hubby to allow another old

Paul, this is the forbidden machine of my childhood. I could only dream of actually seeing it in operation. My Aunt Alice had your glorious new find in pink, in her kitchen, the suds hose curled up in back. I was not allowed to go any where near the machine, even though she never had it operating when I was there. (In her later years, she mellowed into a real sweetheart, and gave me a WP Imperial Washer and a Lady K Roto-rack.)

 

Now that you have the much sought after model, I can have an ancient dream come true. Once again, you have the chance to make Aworg history, As far as I know, we have no footage of a Suds-return operation on early solid tub GE's. Come on, Handsome, you know you can do it .
smiley-cool.gif


 

Congrats on scoring a real rarity, and thanks for the sweet memory. Could you paint it pink, (giggles).

 

Your friend,

 

Michael

 

 
 
Looks like fun Paul

Can't wait for the update on this one. You gotta love those road trips, especially this time of the year. Can't wait for the photo's. Don
 
Here's a shot taken on Monday at the home where we found this treasure - it's a washer all right and possibly a Canadian-made one.

Funny coincidence - not the license plate on the Ford wagon: CGE was the abbreviation for the Canadian General Electric company for years!

I promise there will be more photos (and a money shot or two!)take this weekend. Stay tuned...

turquoisedude++10-12-2012-05-50-54.jpg
 
I just love that control panel.

 

I'll never forget the first time I saw one of these. It was in Old Saybrook Connecticut and I must have been 10 or so. Our neighbors, the Petruzellos, lived next door to us and the house was a large white beach bungalow that housed the children and grandchildren of 3 families during the summer months with the grandmother, Rose, running the whole show. The #1 son, Joseph, had many apartments for rent in Meriden CT where they lived full-time and would, from time to time, snag an old washer for his mother to use in the beach house. Many washers passed through the Petruzello's entryway on their way to the dump; a Maytag, a couple of Rollermatics (which, I think Rose preferred) but in the middle of one summer, this GE showed up in the washer spot. When I first saw it, it looked strangely familiar (I didn't notice the brand until I realized it was like ours but MUCH older {3 years was a long time back then}). When I opened the lid I immediately focused on the weird prehistoric filter pan that was made out of copper, not plastic and sat on the activator, which was the same size and shape as ours but PINK!, via a hole in the middle of it that balanced on the activator cap collar. Suddenly I noticed how much of the machine was so GE, but that everything was PINK and the control dial was in the wrong place. I was smitten and it has taken me 45 years, but now I know what this bizarre machine was all about. It only stayed there a couple of months, either broke or Rose didn't like it, but long enough for me know their was such a thing as an ancestry to these machines.

bajaespuma++10-12-2012-17-15-29.jpg
 
TOL 1957 GE Washer & Dryer

A good family friend here in Beltsville bought a 1956 custom built house in 1960 and it had a pair of these. The house was built by a just married couple and the wife died so the guy sold it and moved on, then our friend Dorthy bought the house and she always lived alone so the GEs never got a lot of use. They still only made it to about 1968-9 and were replaced by a pair of MT 606s. I always cut the grass for Dorthy and did all kinds of minor repairs around this nice house for her, she was a very generous person and I learned a lot from being around her.

 

A ten year life span for automatic washers built in the 1950s was considered excellent, stuff owners bragged about and in spite of the high cost of washers during this time period few washers built in the 1950s made it to the 1970s. Build quality and reliability got better and better through the 60s, 70s, 80s, and really started to take off in the mid 1980s. If Dorthy could have bought [ in 1957 ] a MOL WP washer & dryer that is being built today it would likely last 30 years under the same light use conditions, probably without more than a single service call. I predict that there will be thousands of today's washers & dryers around in 30 years for future collectors. This is also partly due to the large number of  people living alone and the huge # of 2nd and vacation homes where the appliances get little use.
 
Just below TOL

This washer was just below the top of the line. The top of the line had one button control for choosing one of 6 options. One of my aunts had this model pictured and it lasted over 20 yrs! She replaced with another GE filter flo and hated it! Needed 3 repairs in the first year and replaced it with a Maytag since that was what most of her friends had.
 
Just got back from Ogden and I have the pictures to prove it! I managed to get the latest GE Filter-Flo find out of the car and into the garage for inspection. I did some hunting and from what I could see - the 57 US Model had the timer dial on the left. I'll get back to the exact pedigree of this washer in a bit, though....

turquoisedude++10-14-2012-20-45-38.jpg
 
Lots of fun toggles to play with!

The 'water saver' switch is interesting - it is used to cut off the fill part of the cycle for smaller than full 10-pound loads. A little backward of GE - I had a 1950 Westy with a water level control and the 53 still in the Ogden Laundry has one too, and the 56 Whirlpool has a three-setting level control... But I digress!

turquoisedude++10-14-2012-20-50-19.jpg
 
The Money Shot!

And there you have it! A solid tub with a set of overflow drain holes at the top of the tub. The agitator is soooo different from the 'ramp' style GE's of my childhood (and the 63 V-12 that joined the collection this year).

turquoisedude++10-14-2012-20-55-24.jpg
 

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