April 18th 1934, the first Laundromat (called a "washateria") opened in Fort Worth, Texas. Wonder what types of machines they used?
Jon
Jon
Today in history
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laundromat
Well-known member
Who knows? They could have been Bendix,Aldwash,Launderama,or Westinghouse.
It's also the 102nd anniversary of the great Bay Area earthquake and San Francisco fire. Fellow residents, are you prepared? I know I'm not.
Would love to see pix of an early washateria. I wonder how much it costed for wash & dry back then.
Would love to see pix of an early washateria. I wonder how much it costed for wash & dry back then.
Hmmm, this explains one thing . . .
When I was a child in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, some self-service laundries were called "washeterias", while others were "laundromats". I have no idea which name was most common in the '60s and '70s, but I've always felt both were great names. I had noticed that "washeteria" didn't seem so common in other parts of the country, and this explains it.
When I was a child in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, some self-service laundries were called "washeterias", while others were "laundromats". I have no idea which name was most common in the '60s and '70s, but I've always felt both were great names. I had noticed that "washeteria" didn't seem so common in other parts of the country, and this explains it.
laundromat
Well-known member
Because of the way their signs were labled,the Westinghouse coin laundries which used the Westinghouse Laundromat brand washers,were miss represented by being called "laundromats"and became a household name like Kleenex,Frigidaire and Bandaid.The actual places of service were known as coin laundries,washaterias,commercial laundries,and most were open 24/7.There were different brands that called their places different names.their was of course the Westinghouse Laundromat equiped licensed coin laundries,Norge World,Coin-Clean by Frigidaire,AldWash,Sudsville by Launderama,Sunshine Laundries by Philco Bendix,Whirlpool Fabric Care Centers,and Speed Queen Speed Clean
Let us also remember---
The Maytag Highlander Center!
Lawrence/Maytagbear
The Maytag Highlander Center!
Lawrence/Maytagbear
I remember
A period of roughly one year when my parents were spending every cent on helping a family member with cancer. Everything was budgeted, if it couldn't be fixed, used up or made do, you did without. The washer (our last Unimatic) died, there was a landr-o-mat around the corner. Mom did the numbers, decided it was cheaper to wash there until the next big sales.
This was back when things were still decent and people regarded publicly available services as something you took care of.
I liked all the machinery, plumbing and wiring - the owners let me (with hands in my pockets and a solemn promise to keep them there) go through the service tunnels and rooms. Neat!
My mom liked that an entire week's worth of laundry could be done from beginning to end in one hour.
When we bought the new Frigidaire (a turquoise rollermatic) I missed the landr-o-mat. My mom switched laundry day from Saturday morning to three times a week, my job.
To this day I can remember the smell of the detergents and the signs on the wall explaining in careful detail that it was really cheaper to come to the landr-o-mat than to roll your own.
160° Hot water, machines always working, dryers which dried in 15 minutes not an hour...
The place, today, is still a coin-operated laundry. But even my size, even if I were armed and had two bodyguards, no way I'd be caught there. One, wrong ethnic group. Two, wrong language. Three - the filth on the floor tells you all you need to know about what's in the machines.
Robert Heinlein was right - about the time a culture lets public places get trashed is about the time you know the rest is going to hell in a handbasket.
Anybody remember Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke in "My Beautiful Laundrette?" Very do-able, very.
A period of roughly one year when my parents were spending every cent on helping a family member with cancer. Everything was budgeted, if it couldn't be fixed, used up or made do, you did without. The washer (our last Unimatic) died, there was a landr-o-mat around the corner. Mom did the numbers, decided it was cheaper to wash there until the next big sales.
This was back when things were still decent and people regarded publicly available services as something you took care of.
I liked all the machinery, plumbing and wiring - the owners let me (with hands in my pockets and a solemn promise to keep them there) go through the service tunnels and rooms. Neat!
My mom liked that an entire week's worth of laundry could be done from beginning to end in one hour.
When we bought the new Frigidaire (a turquoise rollermatic) I missed the landr-o-mat. My mom switched laundry day from Saturday morning to three times a week, my job.
To this day I can remember the smell of the detergents and the signs on the wall explaining in careful detail that it was really cheaper to come to the landr-o-mat than to roll your own.
160° Hot water, machines always working, dryers which dried in 15 minutes not an hour...
The place, today, is still a coin-operated laundry. But even my size, even if I were armed and had two bodyguards, no way I'd be caught there. One, wrong ethnic group. Two, wrong language. Three - the filth on the floor tells you all you need to know about what's in the machines.
Robert Heinlein was right - about the time a culture lets public places get trashed is about the time you know the rest is going to hell in a handbasket.
Anybody remember Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke in "My Beautiful Laundrette?" Very do-able, very.
Heinlein?
Panthera, you're a Heinlein fan too? WAY COOL!
And 160F hot water - another bygone thing. (I'm glad to have a tankless hot water heater at home, it means you can have any temperature of water at any time instantly).
Of course, my favorite phrase of Heinlein's goes without saying...
Nate
Panthera, you're a Heinlein fan too? WAY COOL!
And 160F hot water - another bygone thing. (I'm glad to have a tankless hot water heater at home, it means you can have any temperature of water at any time instantly).
Of course, my favorite phrase of Heinlein's goes without saying...
Nate
