Unique old Dishwasher with SS interior

[bajaespuma]

I don't know what this is, although the door reminds me of an old Westinghouse. The interior looks like an old Hotpoint. I figure somebody here might want this. I wish I did, when I saw the ad saying "Old retro dishwasher" of course I was hoping for a GE pull-out. Nope.

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/app/2559538282.html

 

[tomturbomatic]

It is an early Hotpoint. It dates from 1940 when Hotpoint introduced two rack dishwashers to its one rack model line. The early models in this style were non-automatic; later ones had a timer. The tank is porcelain. I don't know if the inner door is stainless or Monel. There is or was one just like it at the Atlanta estate Callenwolde in the cool pantry part of the kitchen. There are two separate kitchens; the hot kitchen with the big gas ranges and the cool pantry part with the sinks and refrigerators and cabinets. This dishwasher is in there. In the early 70s, it was a decorators' show house to raise money for the Atlanta Symphony. My mom was on some committee from the American Assn. of University Women connected with it and had lots of tickets and access so I had time to examine the dishwasher. The home also has a huge pipe organ in it with chambers all over the place.

Callenwolde was built in the 20s by Charles Candler, one of the sons of Asa G. Candler of coca Cola fame. The name means Candler's Woods. His widow lived in the house until she died, but just in a small part of it, a bedroom wing on the second floor. I was there during the day and once in the evening. The living room held over a hundred people easily. A friend and I were walking on the second floor across the courtyard from the living room into which we could see through a large window. As the evening wound down and the crowd thinned, all of that empty space became erie and we could see why she retreated to a smaller suite of rooms.

 

[easyspindry]

This was the first . . .

. . . dishwasher I ever saw. Our neighbor had one -- it was an electric sink type thing.

The upper rack had to be lifted out and set on the counter above the dishwasher. Then you loaded the bottom rack -- the silver basket was in the center just above the fan that sprayed the water.

Then you put the upper rack back in place and loaded the glass, coffee cups, bowls, etc.

There was no timer dial. Just a button. Push the button, and the water started running in. The whole cylce took about an hour including drying.

The soap dispenser was in the door, but there was no cover -- just 2 holes into which you poured the dishwasher soap.

The cleaning was fair. Of course, the hotter the water, the better it cleaned.

Some other people moved into that house. They had never had a dishwasher. The wife had heard about using only dishwasher soap -- but surely just one or 2 small drops of liquid Joy wouldn't hurt anything.

I've never seen so much suds -- coming out the vent, around the door . . . suds were everywhere.

I was about 8 or 9 when all this was happening -- early 1950's. Brings back a lot of memories.

(This was the same neighbor who had the Electrolux vacuum that, when the bag got full, it would open its rear end and shoot the full bag out into the room -- a subtle hint that it needed changing. She also had a Bendix bolt-down that emptied into a sump with a pump that pumped the water out into the back yard. It was fun running up the stairs when the sump pump started to see if I could beat the water to the back yard. There was also a GE dryer with one timer dial -- one heat setting.)

Jerry Gay

 

[bajaespuma]

A new one on me

OK, what is "Monel"?

 

[jetcone]

One amazing metal

Monel was invented in 1906 and is still a high tech metal today in the aerospace industry until we start buying Chinese made rockets!!

 

The Titanic's steam kettles in the Victualing Department were made of Monel metal , one of the first commercial cooking applications!

 

Invented by David H Browne, patented by Ambrose Monell patent #811239 in Google patents.

 

 

[this post was last edited: 9/18/2011-20:00]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monel

 

[circlew]

Monel in kitchens

My dad's aunt & uncle built a new house in 1936, with steel cabinets and Monel sinks and countertops made by Whitehead Metal Products. The section with the large double bowl sinks was 8' long. These sinks and tops still looked new when we sold the house following the uncle's death in 1990. Don't know if they're still in place or not, but would expect them to still look good as long as not abused. I've heard of a couple other houses in the area having the same sinks and tops, but they weren't very common as they were rather expensive even then. I would estimate such a sinktop would probably cost well over $10,000 to have custom fabricated now.

The link is to a fascinating 1937 booklet about Whitehead and Monel kitchens. Shows Westinghouse appliances including dishwashers and electric water heaters with Monel tanks.[this post was last edited: 9/18/2011-22:36]

http://www.archive.org/details/WhiteheadWorkSavingKitchens_667

 

[tomturbomatic]

Before WWII, GE offered a 60" wide range with 8 surface units and two full size ovens. The top was Monel. Monel water heater tanks were about as close to permanent as possible.

 

[jetcone]

Tom neat link

I'll have fun reading that thanks!

 

[bajaespuma]

The Victualing Department!!! Love it.

In other words, the kitchen! (Granny, of course, would have used the word, "vittles"). Ah, the kitchen on the Titanic; I wonder how many of them made it into a lifeboat.

 

I love learning new stuff like this. I don't know how I've lived this long and never knew about this wonderful alloy.

 

[tomturbomatic]

sorry for this side trip to the bottom of the ocean

Did you know that the Titanic also had a Kosher kitchen? There was an article decades ago in one of the food mags about the kitchen and the dimentions of the coal ranges were awe-inspiring.

As to whether any of the kitchen staff escaped with their lives, I remember reading that in the finest of British bigotry, the Italian staffers were LOCKED in their quarters each night to prevent theft. Whether some were still working in the kitchens, assisting bakers who were preparing the next day's baked goods, I don't know, but all of the films about the ship have shown the locked gates that prevented the non-first-class passengers from gaining access to first-class-only areas of the ship.

 

[bajaespuma]

The wealthy haven't changed.

 

[jetcone]

The Chief Baker made it

 in fact he was the very last one off the ship as he rode the stern rails under the water, he was smart enough to get roaring drunk so when he stepped off, yes stepped off the stern rails. into the 28 degree water, his body didn't go into shock and he was pulled into a lifeboat sometime in the next 45 minutes. Way too long to ever survive 28 degree water, --now who says whiskey is evil??