The washers of my life...

[cycluxe]

Hello, all! Since I'm new here, I figured I'd share some memories. It all started with Mom's almond super-capacity Whirlpool. It had to be one of the last (early '80s) with the belt-drive transmission and a HUGE Surgilator with fins on the bottom that you could spin freely with your hand.

My maternal grandmother had a GE FilterFlo washer and no dryer (she didn't trust them), but my dad's mother was deluxe! She had a harvest gold Lady Kenmore set, Dual-Action agitator, dispensers, the whole nine yards.

A cousin of mine had a '60s GE V16, with a black straight-vane agitator and turquoise filter basket. It was battered, but the fluorescent tube in the back panel still lit up like a jukebox when you set the timer. This cousin later moved to a new house that came equipped with your basic '70s Maytag pair, much to the consternation of his mother, who believes new is always better (and inherited my grandmother's fear and mistrust).

Thanks for having me. Look forward to hearing other washer histories.

 

[hippiedoll]

hi there cycluxe!!

welcome to the group!! i'm pretty new here too!!

i don't have the greatest memory but i do remember an avocado green hoover twin tub washer that started out as my godmother's (mom's oldest sister), that my mom traded her 1963 volkswagen for this avocado green hoover twin tub washer. then, my dad gave it to my aunt & grandma (my dad's older sister & mom, who lived in a tiny duplex style house [that came with a murphy bed {how cool is that!}]). and i think it's my grandma that i remember, using the twin tub washer. then my aunt gave it to my other aunt, younger than her. from what i've heard, that avocado green hoover twin tub was given to my cousin in the mid-80's. from there, i don't know what ever happened to that avocado green hoover twin tub??

i know when i was in elementary school, my mom had a whirlpool washer (probably from like the mid-70's, i'm guessing 1975 or so?). it was white with a black control panel. but i don't remember anything else about it. i don't know what happened to it when we moved out of town & then, out of state. i don't even know what kind of washers we had from then on.

now as an adult, and buying my own washing machine, i've only had 2, a white hoover 0510 twin tub washer (which i gave to my aunt {mom's younger sister}) and i bought me a maytag GA208 from 1978. my mom has a newer whirlpool at the moment too. we had a newer maytag before the whirlpool. but i don't know what model or anything? that's it for me.....

welcome to the group cycluxe!!!

hippiedoll ;o)

 

[arbilab]

Late 40s Westinghouse FL and the one after that, where I learned to fix them. Hung out at commercial laundries but those machines couldn't be domesticated.

Grandma's Easy Spindry, my own '73 Panasonic twintub I wish I still had. A couple BD Whirlpools, not bad except changing the belt, ugh. Several Maytags, not bad either. Rented a couple GEs and Frigidaires, the old ones worked fine.

Still own a ElectroFrigiWhite FL from the late 90s but can't use it in this government building, stuck with the 00's coinop Maytags, disappointing.

That's right, I've been washer-conscious for 60 years. Blessing and curse, considering what the industry has become.

 

[dnastrau]

Let's see...

 

Born in '68 in NJ.  My parents had a mid-line '67 Kenmore set until we moved in '75 to another NJ town.  They bought a new Filter-Flo set that had the big-door dryer.  Moved to Indiana in '76 leaving the Filter-Flo set behind and lived in apartments until summer of '80.  Used various Frigidaire (real ones), Speed Queen, Maytag, (maybe others) in apartment laundry rooms and laundromats.  During these years, spent time watching my grandmother's '73 Filter-Flo set and my aunt and uncle's '63 Kenmore model 70 set.  Moved to NY state in '80 and my parents bought a Rim-Flo Hotpoint set in '84 that lasted until about 2010.  I got married in '93 and had a new Kenmore DD portable washer (wish I'd kept that.)  We bought a house in '95 that had a '91 Filter Flo set. Built a new house in PA in 2000 and bought a new KitchenAid top load set.  In 2007 bought a Maytag Epic 9700 (Duet clone.)  Sold the KA washer - wish I'd kept that (still using the gas KA dryer.)  Bought a clean '61 Maytag 700 in 2010 off of Craigslist for fun that I tinkered with that currently sits in our garage.  It is waiting for me to finish our basement-level bathroom.

 

Whew...

 

Andrew S.