TV sitcom-family washer trivia question

[Manoravenue]

And I don't even know the answer myself, so want to know if anybody may! Does anyone know the manufacturer of the washer featured in the episode of THE DONNA REED SHOW in which son Paul Petersen (be still, my heart) tried to be the heroic repairman and was also unsuccessful? I recall they had this machine rigged to actually spit the clothing items outward and upward... or maybe it was a hollow cabinet and somebody was throwing the wet clothing items upward. Anyway... was it an early 1960's Whirlpool? Supposedly THE DONNA REED SHOW reruns have been off the air for years due to ongoing legal battles between the widows of Carl Betz and Bob Crane over past-due royalties, so I may never again have the opportunity to see a rerun of the washer episode to find the answer to the question.

 

[westytoploader]

Must be a full moon or something

Whatever it is, the psychometer needs to be repaired post haste!

 

[appnut]

The early shows had a Whirlpool set. About 1964, they got a Lady Kenmore set!!

 

[agiflow]

No one with a legitimate question should be made to feel like an outcast....what is it with some folks on this site..sheesh!

 

[mixfinder]

Fixing The Washer

In 1966 Donna reed got a whole house Kenmore Makeover including small appliances. The washer had large keys to press to make the cycle selection they were lined in in to rows one above the other. It had a timer you turned until it stopped. It had the agitator with just fins and no bottom. The matching dryer had a knob that stopped at indents
Kelly

 

[dalangdon]

That would be about the same time that Donna Reed and Shelly Fabre got those iron hairdos. Did Sears have a brand of hairspray also? ;-)

 

[panthera]

Austin,

Honey - next to me, you have the nicest way of answering folk's questions - not
I swain, there are days I'd like to send you a box of prunes. Or two <br
The question was genuine, of interest and - even if it had not been, you could just have easily answered it with your silence
I wouldn't be so p.o.'d if you didn't so often have really interesting and intelligent views on things <br
Lighten up, will ya?

 

[DADoES]

Not Donna Reed but ...

Being as the topic of sitcom washers has been bought up again, and so as to not start another thread on the topic .. <br
I don't recall if it has been mentioned that Abner & Gladys Kravitz had a pushbutton Maytag pair in Bewitched Season 1 Episode 29 "Abner Kadabra." I tried doing a screen capture of it on my computer DVD player, but the image comes up blank. :-(

 

[appnut]

It's been a long time since I saw that particular episode, wonder if it was the same Maytag pair that was in Samantha & Darrin's "apartment" before they bought the house. (the very first episode)

 

[tomturbomatic]

The credits at the end of the Donna Reed Show included the American Gas Association; I guess for the product placements in the set. At one time they had the 1958 WP pair with the thumb wheel fabric guide for proper setting of the controls. The washer and dryer were located behind the breakfast table, often behind Paul Peterson, but not included in many camera anagles. One season they had that gigantic gas combo that did not spin at all and had a 100,000 BTU burner. It was marketed under several names, including Automatic, One Minute & O'Keefe & Merit, but the O&M was the brand in the Stone household <br
Some episodes of Hazel with Shirley Booth showed the 36 inch wide Philco combo. The cooking appliances were gas <br
Good question Manoravenue. Austin is just too young to have ever known about the intimate details of the Stone residence. Thanks for the explanation of why the show remains out of syndication
Tom

 

[washertalk]

Oh, Oh, Something smells...

bad in the state of texas, again! <br
perhaps it is that FireAnts have made a home in a certain GE washer. <br
Or while actively scouting new appliances he came upon a massive sink hole from an old oil well that swallowed a fav machine. Hey I would go in after it too!
(see www.rootsweb.com/~txwinkle/WINK_SINK.htm, scary <br
I'm sure he didn't mean to be discouraging. We were all once 18 and impatient. For various reasons.

I think my most favored Washer-out-of-Control moment would be from the movie "Mr. Mom" where there coffee colored Westinghouse FLr had been CRAMMED full and was actively moving away from the wall. This is where Michael Keaton had to wrestle with the out of control flailing water hoses that became detached.
And then, I forget the single sylbol name they gave to the the Kirby Vacuum that "ate" things. It was funny <br <br <br <br <br
sink hole in Winkler Tx, ahhhh <br <br <br

 

[washertalk]

lesson: nobody likes a Sinkhole <br <br
another one close-up in Kermit,tx. And we fret when our favorite appliance developes an annoying 'pin-hole' leak

 

[seeitrun2006]

Donna Reed Show

In some of the very first episodes of Donna Reed show-the old black and white shows they had a front loading Bendix washer. Donna had gone to visit an ailing relative for a couple of weeks. Donna's the husband stuffed every dirty dish in the house under the sink, in the over and in the Bendix washer. It sat at the end of the kitchen counter to the left of the outside kitchen door. The next year or two was when the Whirlpools were introduced to the show. That sat behind the kitchen table. Then the Kenmores were the last set that was on the show before cancellation in the mid-sixties <br
Man am I telling my age or what??!!!???

 

[veg-o-matic]

Here's a vague memory-- <br
Anyone remember the Debbie Reynolds show? It was on in the late '60s or maybe very early '70s, and I don't think it ran very long <br
Anyway, Debbie had hired a maid or something (played by Julie Newmar, I believe) who was Russian and didn't understand American appliances <br
Long story short, Julie mistook the front-loading washer for the dishwasher <br
Hilarity ensued <br
veg

 

[magic clean]

Speaking of Debbie Reynolds

Does anyone remember her doing print advertising for General Electric Potscrubber III dishwashers in the late 1970's? She proclaims "Who could ask for anything more". <br
I think this timeframe coincides with the period when she was broke, thanks to her husband.

 

[Manoravenue]

Thanks for the answers!

Thank you, all, for the answers to my question. I wanted to say I recalled seeing a Whirlpool set in Donna's kitchen at some point, but didn't remember the Kenmore makeover at all. Some of you were obviously paying more attention to other aspects of the show than whatever Paul Petersen was doing in the scene at the time (my drawback). Side note, I had the opportunity to meet and have lunch with Petersen in SF in about 1996 or 1997, and sadly it was the biggest disappointment of my life. A good lesson to admire the celebrities from afar, and admire the appliances up close and always try to find out if they'll be for sale at some point!

 

[washertalk]

Gawd, Debbie Reynolds. She was Graces Mother on Will and Grace. She also played Crystal Bernards mother on Wings
I find it hard to think of her as having a 60s show.
She reminds me of my dear aunt Joan.

 

[JerseyMike]

Donna reed ...

I seem to remember at least two "washer" themed episodes from Donna Reed show. Neither episode was shown on TV Land, so they must have been late in the series run. In one episode, the youngest daughter (who appeared only in the last couple of seasons) and her friends found an old wringer washer and decided to make money by taking in laundry. The only problem was that they used a used the blades from a old rotary lawn mower as the agitator -- with predictable results. <br
The other episode was in color. The color episodes have never been shown on TV Land. They replaced their washer and dryer with a combo and the family was shown watching it go through its paces <br
I gone through the IMDB listing for the show and for the life of me, I can't find an episode that fits the details of what I remember. It would be awesome to see both shows again. <br
Mike

 

[alr2903]

washertalk

IIRC the kids called the kirby "JAWS"