The History of the Introduction of the Automatics thru Newspapers

[Unimatic1140]

I recently subscribed to Newspapers.com and found it to be an absolutely fascinating resource for historical research. The site includes newspapers from all over the United States—and even around the world—dating back to the 1701!

I quickly realized that through newspaper articles and advertisements, I could use this site to determine the true timeline of when our favorite automatic washers were first introduced. I’ll keep adding to this thread as I research each brand of early automatic washers, and once I’ve completed my work in a few months, I’ll type up a summary and update this first post.

Summary of what I've posted so far (this list will be updated as I post more brands)... First sign of their washers for sale in order of the first availability date found:
Apex: October 24, 1948
Maytag: May 6, 1949

I’ve decided to start with Maytag as it's a popular vintage brand here, even though the company was a bit late to the game—its first automatic washer was introduced two to three years after many other brands had already launched theirs.

MAYTAG PAGE 1:

The very first reference I found to the new Maytag Automatic Washer printed anywhere was in the Council Bluffs, IA Daily Nonpareil Feb 22, 1948. It seems that after Maytag announced their new automatic, they needed to build a new plant to actually be able to build the washer...


Next on May 6th, 1948 this was printed in the Des Moines Register...



Next on May 13th, 1948 this was written in the Williamsburg, IA Journal-Tribune:


Finally on May 22, 1948 The Sidney Ohio Daily News wrote this:


Nothing else was found until Nov 21, 1948 when this was printed in the Minneapolis Star...


And then 4 months later on March 6, 1949 the Minneapolis Star had this...


March 27th the Casper WY Tribune announced that the new Maytag automatic was coming soon!


Finally the very first Maytag Automatic arrived for sale in the Chicago metropolitan area. It seems that Chicago was the very first city to have Maytag automatics for sale! May 6th, 1949 the very first Maytag automatic goes up for sale in the Chicago Suburbs with advertisements from 2 appliance dealers:


and this also on May 6th, 1949...


May 8th 1949 in the Hammond Times of Hammond, IN (south eastern Chicago suburbs) features this:



Continued...

 

[Unimatic1140]

MAYTAG PAGE 2:

It appears that three weeks later the first Maytag Automatic has arrived on the East Coast on May 26th, 1949 with the Bergen Record reporting the Maytag in Hackensack, NJ going on sale first, this is first ad outside of Chicago found for the new Maytag...


Another couple of weeks and the Maytag first has reached the west coast for sale on June 7, 1949 in the San Pedro, CA News Pilot



And finally by June 16th, 1949 ads for the Maytag are showing up all over the country to come and see the new machine. In Houston the Houston Chronical prints this about the machine:


END OF MAYTAG, more to come on other brands soon.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Isn't it something to see the way a washer that does everything for you to take on the same quality as inventing the television and the automobile...

How something that made your life easier and in doing difficult and tiring household chores, in slow being welcomed, but what decades of anything that was "power"-anything powered by two strong, but weakening pairs of arms!

It caught on, and to the point, where Mr. Maytag even made these the most dependable and trouble-free, no matter how much more complicated washing machines were to get as they done more for you as more got added on...

Think of the advances made to TV's and cars, with this, as well...

Thank you, UNIMATIC, for presenting this...

 

[DADoES]

It seems that after Maytag announced their new automatic, they needed to build a new plant to actually be able to build the washer...

Presumably that doesn't mean that the automatic machine was initially a concept and they didn't have a working model until after a factory facility was built?

 

[Unimatic1140]

Presumably that doesn't mean that the automatic machine was initially a concept and they didn't have a working model until after a factory facility was built?

Good question Glenn, I have no idea although I would suspect that they would have built a prototype before designing the factory? I would think this would be an important first step but that is just a guess. Maybe others have more information on that?

 

[Unimatic1140]

NEXT UP the APEX Automatic Washer, known as the Apex Wash-A-Matic! Apex, like Maytag was late to the game, although Apex beat Maytag by about 5 months, they had a similar timeline to Maytag being 2-3 years late to the scene...

The earliest reference to the new Apex automatic was October 14, 1948 in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Apex factory was located in the city of Cleveland so it is no surprise that the Plain Dealer reported on this first...


Just 10 days later on Oct 24, 1948 the very first Apex Wash-A-Matic shows up for sale at the May Company department store in downtown Cleveland...


Also on that same day of Oct 24, 1948 another dealer in Cleveland reports having the Apex Wash-a-Matic for sale...


By Nov 19th 1948 the first ad shows up outside of Cleveland in the not too far away Akron Ohio Beacon-Journal...


By Jan 9, 1949 Ads are showing up for the Apex all over Northern Ohio, like this one...


Finally on January 31, 1949 the Apex now shows up for the first time outside of Ohio in Michigan here in the Grand Rapids Press...


Feb 10, 1949 the Apex arrives on the East Coast with the first ad in the Lancaster PA Reporter...


February 21, 1949 the Apex is now available in North Carolina for the first time in the Winston-Salem Journal:


March 2, 1949 the Apex arrives on the West Coast into the San Francisco metropolitan area with several ads appearing over the course of the next week. This was the first one in the Oakland Tribune. The San Francisco Chronical started running ads for dealers all over the city of San Francisco a few days later...


Next up is New Hampshire where the Apex shows up for sale in Concord in the Concord Monitor on March 10th 1949...


After that Apex Wash-a-Matic ads become more numerous with first sightings in these states next:

Louisiana: March 17, 1949
Indiana: March 25, 1949
New York: March 28, 1949
South Carolina: April 3, 1949
Wisconsin: April 22, 1949
Texas: May 1, 1949
Minnesota: May 4, 1949
New Mexico: May 4, 1949
Oregon: May 4, 1949
After that widespread availability comes in across the USA over the next four months.

Apex Continues...

 

[Unimatic1140]

Finally the very very last advertisement for the Apex automatic washer was printed on March 7th, 1958! Apex was one of the first early automatic washer manufactures to close and be sold to off WCI (White Sewing Machine Company then).



The only other Apex Wash-a-Matic ads found are for coin-op laundromats featuring the Apex from the late 50's into the 60's, such as this one in the Wichita Kansas Times-Record starting in March of 1958. Others found too going well into the 60's... I have a feeling from what I've seen that Apex produced their coin-op washer for a bit longer than their home models before shutting down for good.


END OF APEX.

 

[vacerator]

Golf clubs, don't forget golf clubs! Because who was the one with the wallet?
Nice to match a face to the Maytag name. Apex too. I often research the old addresses of former companies. Very few are still standing or have been converted to storage and other businesses. Like the Greyhound depot in Cleveland on Hamilton.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Next up is General Electric. GE got their automatic to market nearly 2 years before Maytag did. GE wasn't the first but it certainly was earlier than several other brands.

The earliest mention of the new GE All-Automatic Washer was in the Wilkes-Barre, PA Times-Leader on April 11, 1947. It appears that machine wasn't available for sale quite yet but was shown in a hotel presentation with other '47 new GE appliances...


The next mention is on April 17, 1947 in the Indianapolis Star, however while they show a price it's not clear if they have any in stock yet to sell...


Here too in the Purcell, OK Register on April 24, 1947 Oklahoma is getting ready for the GE automatic's introduction...


May 4th 1947 brings us what appears to be the first ad to say come in and see the new GE automatic which I assume that means they had them to sell. This is in the Allentown Morning Call.


May 9, 1947 Troy New York has now has them as advertised in the Troy Times Record...


May 13, 1947 now nearby Rome, NY has them for sale in the Daily Sentential, they also claim delivery within 10 days...


Vermont now has them on May 16, 1947 as announced in the Barre, VT Daily Times...


GE's Automatic arrives in Virginia on May 23, 1947 advertised in the Fredericksburg Free Lance Star...


Seems like the GE is in Pennsylvania is available through much of the state by May 26, 1947, here it is being announced in the Harrisburg Evening News...


By June the GE arrives in Maryland as shown in the Baltimore Sun Newspaper on June 1, 1947...


GE CONTINUED...

 

[Unimatic1140]

General Electric CONTINUED...

The GE All-Automatic arrives in Texas on July 13, 1947 in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram...


After this the First GE automatic is now starting appearing all over the country:
Alabama: June 8, 1947
Illinois: June 18, 1947
Massachusetts: June 25, 1947
South Carolina: June 25, 1947
North Carolina: June 29, 1947
Florida: June 29, 1947
Oklahoma: July 5, 1947
Utah: July 10, 1947
California: (Bakersfield first then rapidly expands in CA cities within the next month): July 11, 1947
Texas: July 13, 1947
Wyoming: July 17, 1947
Minnesota: July 20, 1947
New Jersey: July 22, 1947
After that widespread availability comes in across the USA over the next few months with hundreds of ads from all over the USA.

END General Electric.

 

[washerlover]

Fascinating and fun reading! Thank you so much for sharing and I look forward to more!

Cheers,

Todd