Trying to recall a dryer I saw at a friend's house as a kid

[superocd]

I had a friend back in second through fifth grade whose parents had a mismatched washer/dryer set. One was a late 80s-early 90s Magic Chef washer, but the brown dryer was much older. It had a slanted control panel like a 70s-90s Whirlpool, had some pushbuttons and a largeish cycle dial but was NOT a Whirlpool (that much I remember). There was a full-width light between the bottom of the control panel and dryer top which I thought was really cool. All I remember verbiage wise was something along the lines of "signature". Anyone know what kind of dryer I'm describing?

This may be a shot in the dark -- I've tried searching the web for something like it but can't find a match. I will say that it didn't resemble anything that Maytag or GE would have built, wasn't a Kenmore either. Not sure if it was a Frigidaire/WCI product or some oddball extinct brand like Hamilton?

I smelled Downy the other day (I personally don't use any fabric softener) and it instantly brought me back to the overly permeating smell of Downy when that dryer was running. In retrospect, my friend's mom probably went really overboard with the stuff and it never really came out of the rinse cycle, so it wafted out of the dryer as it was heated.

 

[appnut]

The Signature was a brand name for Montgomery Wards Dryers and these dryers were produced by Norge. Sounds like this dryer could be from 1964-1967, top of the line or near top of the line. Our Norge control panel was slanted just like that and had a ful-width fluorescent light.

 

[rp2813]

Our Signature dryer was purchased in late 1967. 

 

It had a slanted console that was mainly fake stainless and fake wood, cheap looking white timer knob with a pointer that had an orange stripe down the middle.   Similar knob for tumble/no tumble.  No buttons that I can recall, but the matching washer had a bunch of square white buttons.  The dryer's console light was at the bottom with an opaque rectangular lens about 8" wide and used an incandescent bulb, presumably with a bayonet type base.

 

As with all Norge dryers back then, the lint screen was at the very bottom behind a nearly full-width drop-down access door.

 

Nice that the scent of Downy reminds you of that brown dryer.  Ours was gas, and after a few years it smelled like a diesel was idling in the laundry area.  It wasn't as loud as a big rig though, but the end-of-cycle buzzer could knock you out of your chair.  It also created annoying static (both audio and video) on the TV whenever the the gas flame was engaged, something no amount of Downy could ever fix.

 

Ah, what a pair those machines were.  A match made in/that put us through Hell.  I still suffer from Post-Traumatic Signature Disorder some 50+ years later.

 

[maytag85]

Reply #2

What caused the Norge gas dryer to small like diesel? Was it because the burner wasn’t burning properly or was it another issue?

 

[appnut]

Did the angled control panel look something like this? This is a Wards Signature washer from around 1965-1967. Norge brought out this style/angled control panel in their 1964 line.

 

[bajaespuma]

That's an interesting panel; thanks for that picture Bob. Did real Norges ever look like that? What does the touch and wash button do?

 

[rp2813]

Bob, that console is the same shape as our Signature pair had, including the vertical treatment across the top.  The configuration of the controls isn't at all the same as I recall, but the pictured washer appears to offer less features so that might be why. 

 

I also suspect the simulated wood grain across the sop section has been scrubbed off.   IIRC, the embossed wording was raised above the wood grain background.  Without the wood grain, it's not easy to read, which would have been a poor branding decision.  Then again, we're talking Ward's here . . .

 

[DADoES]

 
Touch n Wash button runs a rapid-advance motor to set the timer.

 

[appnut]

Ken, this is from the 1964 Norge training manual that is in the "library". It's 2 models down from our TOL DispensoMat washer.

 

[appnut]

Ken, here's a copy of a vintage appliance ad Louie found that's for a 1965 Norge.

 

[rp2813]

Bob, the console light lens on the B&W photo from the library is the same as the one on our Signature dryer, as is the push button switch for it on the right hand edge of the console.

 

And, in my highly biased opinion, that "Touch and Wash" system is 100% BS.  Twisting a timer knob is faster, more efficient, makes more sense, and I could go on and on with my Snorge bashing, as you well know.

 

[superocd]

@appnut

Yes it did! It had woodgrain at the very top IIRC and was silver/black(?) elsewhere. I'm assuming from some of the things I'm hearing about Norge machines here that they weren't the greatest, which is why I probably had trouble finding a picture of what I was trying to describe as they've probably all been long turned into toasters over and over again. Seems like Whirlpool/Kenmore machines of the same vintage are much easier to come by, relatively speaking. I wonder how a dryer of seemingly dubious reliability made it long enough to live well into the early 2000's (and maybe beyond, I remember them loading it into the U-Haul when they moved to Iowa).

What was weird is that my friend's house was built in the late 1980s, just like ours and all the other houses in the neighborhood, so it was obviously bought secondhand. The much more modern Magic Chef washer next to it seemed era-appropriate for the home.

Speaking of the Magic Chef, was it built by Norge too or was it a Maytag product by then?