Launderess
Those links to past blackstone lore are fabulous. Such fun to read. How DO YOU find them. You were right on the money about the seller. He had to move the machine because he had recently closed on the house and had to have it empty. The buyer just couldn't get it together. One knows only too well what that's like.
Remember that link you threaded shortly ago, about Mrs. Martin's laundering methods. Well I'll be a son of a bee, that's exactly the brochure that comes with the Blackstone, with the first two pages specific to BLK, the rest, generic verbatim like the pamphlet. Such synchronicity.
The hydrator has been around for decades. In '53, it was only available on the most expensive of Blackstone's 3 models. They still considered it their best performer. Perhaps they yielded to market pressure, abandoning it for the typical "regular" agitator. Or maybe, the collective opinion was that it was too aggressive. Whatever the case, it vanished, having been around since the 20's. Myself--I find it dazzling, and lacking dainties in my robing room, I have no fear.