The 1963 General Electric undercounter clothes dryer

[a440]

Awesome!

 

[easyspindry]

I've never seen . . .

. . . one of these dryers -- and didn't even know they made them. Very interesting!!!

Thanks for posting the pictures.

Jerry Gay

 

[combo52]

GE Under-Counter Dryer

I will eventually get this installed next to the washer at the museum and I will paint the cabinet pink on the washer to match. Even though pink would not have been my first color choice for this pair [ I would have chosen the brown color ], but since the dryers finish is in such great shape and it is easy to repaint the washer as it is only the cabinet that has any color and the pair has no colored porcelain parts.

 

 Hi Cory the washer is currently buried in my basement and we are currently trying to remodel the warehouse so I may not be able to get very close to it anytime soon. Maybe someone here on AW has some archived pictures that can be shared.

 

Hi Ken when I said the dryers cabinet was built with the idea of a gas dryer dryer, I meant that the punch holes were in place for things like the gas pipe where it would enter the cabinet. I am not exactly sure when GE introduced gas dryers but I thought it was around 1964, I am also not sure how long this dryer was made, but I would guess it was not long. This washer and dryer would have been not only expensive to build, but would have been a pain in the A.. for a builder to install, so I would guess that this interesting new product was pretty much dead on available and who at GE approved it was probably fired or demoted LOL.

 

Through out appliance history it has seldom worked out well when a manufacturer comes out with an interesting new appliance in only model and basically tells the customer to take it or leave it. Americans are kind of funny this way they want to see at least three choices.

 

Picture of center of top door trim, you can see that it is designed to match the console on the washer.

 

[bajaespuma]

 

 

John's painting the Combo Pink!

John's painting his Combo Pink!

When sold and bought the thing was white,

and now what do you think?

He's painting his Combo Pink!

[this post was last edited: 10/25/2012-09:20]

 

[bajaespuma]

Funny you should ask...

I would bet GE was doing really well in these years and some young Turk down in Louisville proposed these models either as loss-leaders or a gamble that quickly proved bad.

 

These two machines wouldn't have been cheap and it doesn't make sense that families that could afford these, couldn't afford enough space to house a normal washer and dryer. Maybe these were originally designed for some huge apartment complex developper. They would have been VERY appropriate for many NYC apartments, except that usually the apartment owners didn't want the added complications and responsibility of "luxury" appliances like dishwashers and home laundry. They were follies. That said, I bet they were perfect for a handful of customers and those survive to this day. They remind me of those promotional pictures GE made of Combination Washer/Dryers built into what looks like 12 feet of kitchen cabinet space. Oh well...

 

[akronman]

Strange

Quite unique model, for sure. Did the sink just drain into the laundry tub? So you had to put it into spin to truly drain the sink water? I'd love one in my collection, not in my kitchen.

 

[philr]

I guess it had a separate gravity drain.
Thanks for posting a pic Ken! I see that the timer knob looks like those of the faucet next to it and I also like the lighted red pointer!

 

[tomturbomatic]

You had to have quite specific plumbing connections for the sink to drain into the standpipe, but it was a dedicated drain. GE never called it a bar sink, but rather a laundry sink for situations where space did not allow for a laundry sink. I think it could have been designed in response to new homes built without laundry rooms with the laundry maybe in a hall closet or something and the dryer was low enough to allow for an uninterrupted stretch of counter space on top of it for folding or something, much like the Westinghouse Space Mates could be put under a counter. It does seem rather fanciful now, but you have to remember, the early 60s were a time of great optimisn, imagination and innovation and at General Electric, Progress was their Most Important Product, second only to keeping unions out of the workplace.

 

[1952crestwood]

What cool things you keep finding John!

I don't often post messages, but I'm ALWAYS in awe of the beautiful machines you are always finding. Thanks so much for sharing the pics and the details/history of them you share with us all.