trip true memory lane for kenmore dishwashers

[pierreandreply4]

Hello to all aw members here is a trip down memorylane for kenmore dishwashers if you have any memorys of your fav 1980 and earlier kenmore dishwashers feel free to share them my biggest memory is growing up with this particular kenmore dishwasher that was harvest gold credit to paul turqoisedude for the picture i will use

 

[pierreandreply4]

second pic for those that remember the rottating second rack

this second pic is for those that remember the rottating rack models

 

[wayupnorth]

That Lady Kenmore was the first d/w I owned. Got it for $100 from Sears Warehouse from a repossesion. Cleaned everything perfectly everytime. Only downfall was no air dry. So a timer was set for 22 minutes on normal and then hit cancel, spin the roto rack and everything was ready to put away

 

[danemodsandy]

That's IT!

That Lady Kenmore portable/convertible was the model I bought my Mom in '73, I think it was. $280 was a bunch of money for me then! *

It lasted her up till about 1990, by which time Dear Mah-MAH The Appliance Killer had been so cruel to it that Sears refused to renew the service contract that had kept it going as long as it did.

Once she was back on her own nickel, she bought a lower-MOL GE portable/convertible, and complained bitterly about its performance for the next ten years, and about how she missed the Lady K's features.

Ever try taking care of things, dear?

* It ain't bupkis NOW, come to think of it.

 

[turquoisedude]

Here's the full story behind the avocado Kenmore dishwasher in the picture:
It was purchased for Christmas, 1978 by George Bush Sr... I kid you not, George Bush and his wife, Ruth lived on Yonge Crescent in the Valois neighbourhood of Pointe-Claire.... When I was at CEGEP (college) I met George Bush Jr while taking a tennis class. We started playing tennis regularly and hanging out in the early 80s - that's when I first 'met' the Kenmore dishwasher! The Bushes hardly used it - no kidding... Their kitchen was renovated in the mid-80s and the dishwasher was not included in their plans - it was moved to the basement and got used even less... Fast-foward to 1995 - Hubby and I took our first dive into joint real estate and bought a small lakeside house in Brownsburg. I wanted a dishwasher and was tipped off by my father, who still lived in Pointe-Claire at the time, that the Bushes were moving. I bought the dishwasher from them (this was the first instance of Hubby's "Good grief, what the hell is THAT?" and it lived in our 'Brick House' until we moved out in 2007. We only used that house in winter, so the machine got fairly light use from us - pinkgurl and her family probably used it more when they stayed in the Brick House while they built their dream home. Well, the machine got moved to Ogden and has not been used since... It will be moved to Ontario next week and I know it's going to a good home!!

 

[frigilux]

This LK was the dishwasher my stepfather purchased for our house when he moved in. This would have been late 1973. It was noisy. The Roto-Rack was great fun. It was a rust bucket when I replaced it with a TOL Kitchen-Aid about an hour after my mom's funeral in 1984. Seriously; I stopped at the appliance store on the way home from the luncheon!

Oh, and our LK was coppertone.

 

[danemodsandy]

By The Way:

The pics in this thread show the start of the Great Cheapening that began in, I think it was, '75.

The big change on DWs was the elimination of the bulletproof extruded-aluminum hose console in favor of a plastic one. What had felt solid and beautifully designed and luxurious was now MEH! And the new console's door was hard to slide open, to boot, at least when new. It felt cheap, because it was cheap.

That was the beginning of my disenchantment with Sears. By '82 or so, it was complete.

 

[rollermatic]

i used to spend hours looking at

these machines in the sears catalog the way most young men looked at playboy! i was fascinated with that upper rotating rack.

bought my first one in 1976 for 50 bucks used while at O.S.U. as a student. remember replacing the pump seal and it was a real pain to get the old impeller off, made of pop metal back then with the longer motor shaft that was quite stuck on the impeller. but i got it and that machine went everywhere with me for 5 years till i gave it away!

i have 2 of those now, one a front loader and my favorite a sears lady kenmore top loader with a rotating top rack and a really festive looking console complete with lighted dial and buttons! love those d&m kenmores!

 

[rollermatic]

my favorite part of this machine

is the control console on top! the cycles on this one are pre rinse, lite wash, normal wash and sani wash. it also has 3 lites on the right that indicate the temp of the water. they are cool, normal, and sani.

this one had mice in the control panel and they chewed thru many of the timer wires. but i got em all back in place and repaired and i gave it a new motor and pump seal. i use it frequently, it is so much fun!

 

[rpms]

Ah, Pierre. Thank you for this thread!
This is the machine that started my fascination with appliances.
Picture it, 1976 and a wee lad like me, went to visit my favourite aunt and uncle. Uncle Eldon claimed, 'women spend too much time in the kitchen' and he bought his wife (Aunt Doris)her first dishwasher. It was a Christmas present.
Living in a small town,going to Newmarket/Aurora was the 'big city'.
To get to their house, you had to pass the Sears store. Back then, there wasn't much of a mall, just Sears. We would arrive late, on Friday night, busy Saturday and drive past Sunday, closed, before Sunday shopping. The Sears store had two small ponds in front with fountains and lights. I would have my face plastered to the car window, longing to go inside.
This picture was taken late 90's. I was at my aunt and uncle's and they were talking about the reno they were doing on the kitchen. I was so upset cause all the appliances were going to the trash. During the bbq, I did what most normal guys do, I searched the kitchen for Aunt Doris's butter tarts and then stole the cutlery basket, utenstil basket and one divider out of the dishwasher. By then, the trim holding the panels had come off and the dishwasher started peeing on the floor. Aunt Doris was always a 'rinser' when it came to loading the Lady K. Only plates,cups,glasses and cutlery got in. Everything was rinsed by hand and then the pile of other stuff was washed. The dishwasher was done before she was. The best part was the funky light show the dishwasher did as it changed cycles. Tick,tick, tick, pause, Vroom. Quiet fill then, WHOOSH. You could hear it on the dining room wall on the other side.
When I was at their house when I took this picture, Aunt Doris was still struggling to use the dishwasher. She only used the short wash. Since it wasn't working properly, she would fill the sink up with water, wash the dishes, put them in the dishwasher and turn it on. The dishwasher would tick, tick, tick to the light wash, rinse, rinse and half wash and then, die. Aunt Doris would put detergent in at the first rinse. When the dishwasher would quit, she would hit,cancel/drain and it would advanvace. Of course the dishes were wet so that ment, towel drying. How she thought she was saving time is beyond me?
The tin foil pan on top of the dishwasher was a President's choice lasagne. Bland, but lots of it.

 

[rpms]

Fast forward to 2000. When I lived in Kitchener,(home of the largest North American Octoberfest), I used to cut through an appliance store's parking lot, on the way home from the local, Boozer.
I saw this Lady K and had to have it. I was working at Sears a few blocks up and called them. I asked if the Lady K was for sale in the parking lot? I was told it was not for sale, it was scrap.
Again, being a normal guy, I borrowed a fridge cart from, Sears and went to the the parking lot and 'stole' the Lady K. I rolled that beast 18 blocks and up two flights of stairs. I sent her out to be fixed and she worked for 6 months. Now, her electronics have froze. I should try to get them fixed? She is behind me as I type. If Only there was someone, somehow I could find another Lady K? I would even take one in Avocado Green! Fingers crossed!

 

[pierreandreply4]

thank you for posting this pic rpm the pic you posted was the excat model my godmother had when i was a kid she pssway now but she replace it by an inglis model until she moved to a house where she had a 1970 inglis dishwasher if i had to by vintage i would try to fine in portable harvest gold or twany gold that particular model

 

[pierreandreply4]

who whould prefer to have one of these classic kenmore dishw

hello to all aw members who would prefer to have in there homes one of these classic kenmore dishwashers rather then the modern version that comes with filters me if i had a choice i would rather have one of these true kenmore dishwashers that do an auto purge before the cycle unlike the kenmore i have today where i have to do a manual purge before starting the cycle credit to the orginal taker of the picture i am using it would be in harvest gold of course and the portable model

 

[peteski50]

Kenmore!

Yes I am a D & M Kenmore lover also!
Peter

 

[danemodsandy]

I Will Say This:

Mom's Lady K that I bought for her was the perfect machine for her while it lasted. If it was run on the longest cycle, it would take care of anything she threw at it - with spotless, sparkling results. She was not remotely a pre-rinser; we thought we were doing well to get her to take the turkey carcass off the platter when it came time to do Thanksgiving dishes.

But for a wonder, she saw the reason for Jet-Dri and kept the dispenser filled. When she first got the machine, it came with some Jet-Dri, and she loved how nice the dishes looked. But when the initial supply ran out, her cheapness gene kicked in and she declared she wouldn't be refilling "that silly gadget." Until she saw the difference!

She went back to buying Jet-Dri.

 

[rpms]

That Lady looks fantastic in Coppertone.

 

[pierreandreply4]

more down the kenmore memory lane

here are a few more pictures down memory lane credit to some of the original poster if its some of there pictures

 

[pierreandreply4]

another picture

here is another picture credit to robert for this picture