Spring = Pink!

[mickeyd]

A TOL turn of the Decade Lady K

A Push Button Rapid Advance Timer

A movie first, with multiple demonstrations of the Rapid Advance

In alluring Pink

A working suds-saver

A video demo of the Sud-Return struggling back to life dry. IT WORKS !!!

Are I dreaming, or as Chris Farley famously said: THAT is what you would call...... a .......HOAX......?

When you get her wet, the suds valve will be clanging like a church bell. Love all the sliders switches. So over-the-top- cool.

Did I miss the story about how you found these and their history? Please tell or re-direct

The Senator from Iowa strikes again. Thank you, Ben, the envy of Automatic Washer.

 

[westingman123]

Awesome!

How cool! They'll make a sweet addition to your gallery of beauties. Did you say they came from St. Louis? I missed those (not that there's any more room at THIS inn!)

Congrats!

 

[turquoisedude]

Wow, Ben, Congratulations on these finds!! The LK set is to die for!! Hope it's up and running come early June ;-)

Looking forward to seeing more...

 

[rickr]

Nice score Ben!!

 

[tomturbomatic]

The Frigidaire dryer was in a friend's house. It was basically a Hamilton with the door window reverse-mounted so that the window was at the bottom of the door plug instead of at the top. It was weird watching the clothes land in the bottom of the cylinder and then start the ride upward. I hope yours works. Like older Hamiton machines, it should be very quiet, except for the front mounted exhaust which allows more noise into the room than a rear exhaust.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Wow, beautiful finds Ben! Congratulations. I absolutely love the '59 Lady Kenmore set in Pink!

 

[frigilux]

I've watched that video about twenty times, now. I just love that the dryer has a rapid advance, as well. And I didn't oversell the wonderful percussion solo that is the rapid advance on the washer, did I? It has wonderful, multiple levels of ticking and clicking going on.

Oh, and two more things:

1) Love the high-pitched spaceship-worthy "oooooooooo" sound made by the tub holes when the tub is spinning empty.

2) Ben, that bottle in the console of the dryer is not to be used as a Popper. Learned that one the hard way.**

**I am s-o-o kidding of course.[this post was last edited: 4/29/2013-19:54]

 

[mickeyd]

" I just love that the dryer has a rapid advance, as wel

When I first read Ben's post, I thought, Oh my God, this machine has TWO rapid advance timers. You gotta be kiddin' me.!

Then during the movie, I understood.

Even if you're not a dryer person, isn't this the bomb. Identical Buttons, just as many as the washer. The later Keyboard Dryers were such a disappointment to us inveterate Buttoneers, when opening the garage door, Oh no, only three, or is it two.
Never knew they made an equally tricked out dryer. How wonderful. Amazing. This place just NEVER EVER gets old.

This dryer could turn a person.

 

[rollermatic]

love seeing those beautiful

pink appliances wrapped in their plastic! it's like christmas and i know that exciting feeling well! have fun with em! love the pink!

 

[swestoyz]

Ok, ok, ok....

I know, I know. You guys have been waiting on baited breath, and I've been holding back the goods. Since I got back on Saturday things have been CRAZY busy. BUT, I got around to shooting some photos of the machines last night, and let's just say - even I'm pretty impressed by the way things look.

First off - a big thanks to everyone. This set is certainly a dream come true. I've been on the hunt for a '59 Lady K since I first saw one years ago, here on AW. I don't know if it is the styling, the buttons, or something else, but this machine really caught my attention from the get-go. I originally had picked up a '59 Eighty from Jetaction years and years ago, but I still was yearning for a true Lady.

The story on this set actually can be tracked back to AW. A fellow posted this set about 3 years ago, after finding them in a second hand junk shop in the St. Louis metro area. He had been the first (and VERY lucky) responder to a Craigslist ad. Mr. Modtomic is a collector of many sorts, but I had actually been following him prior to his revealing on AW via his blog:

http://mistermodtomic.blogspot.com/

So, when he posted the set after following his blog for sometime, I was impressed, but more importantly, I had never forgotten this set.

Back in February, while down in St. Louis procuring the '56 Hotpoint, I had contacted Mr. Modtomic to see if he still had the Kenmores, but and more importantly, to to see if he was willing to sell. Long story short, after making him an offer, we made tentative arrangements for me to come back to St. Louis to get the set in April.

So, after waiting three years to see this set, after driving 6 hours along US 218 and US 61, here they were, in the flesh, in his garage. I had never seen a 1959 Lady Kenmore before.

The new guy and his Pink 1959 Lady Kenmore Washer / Dryer

Hi folks, just wanted to introduce myself and my new Ladys. The Ladys were listed on C-list for all of about an hour and a half when I found the post. Unfortunately they were holed up in a thrift shop that, while they listed a phone #, closed immediately after posting the ad! I called and...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[swestoyz]

Modtomic was a very gracious host, and I encourage you to check out his site. Not only does he find some really neat stuff, but it is usually stuff I've never seen before.

The road home was a wet and dreary one at best, but here they are, safe, now in Waterloo.

 

[swestoyz]

I couldn't get over how cool they looked. I had folks over on Monday night for a gathering. Most could care less about vintage appliances, but even these appliance non-lovers thought the Ladies were stunning.

 

[swestoyz]

Washer panel lit.

 

[swestoyz]

Dryer panel lit.

 

[swestoyz]

Close up of the buttons. One of a few issues with the washer is the buttons, which can be an issue for these 59/60 push button Kenmores. The colors have faded/changed over time, and the writing can rub away with a careless hand armed with the wrong wash cloth.

Either way, I'm still happy.

 

[swestoyz]

Dryer panel buttons.

 

[swestoyz]

Washer money shot. There's some work to be done here!

 

[swestoyz]

Dryer money shot. I just LOVE porcelain dryer drums.

 

[swestoyz]

Close up of the rarely seen '59 Lady K Self Cleaning recirculating filter dispenser.

 

[swestoyz]

Model tags for both machines. Can anyone date these - or does that apply to a later serial production year?