Video of the First 2 Hours of the 2001 Washer Convention

[Unimatic1140]

I've been going through some old VHS tapes and found the video I took of the 2001 convention, the first one that was larger than a wash-in. It was here in Minneapolis in my old house on August 17-18, 2001. I set up the camera in the corner of the basement and just let the camera go. Lots of memories and familiar faces for sure from aw.org. It's over 2 hours long so you'll probably want to fast forward through it, gets more crowded by the end.

 

[appnut]

Robert, what a wonderful surprise. Now I can see what all I missed that first evening since I was stuck in Dallas due to stormy weather. So greatfaul to get there the next day.

Seeing faces who are no longer with us.

 

[maytag85]

I wish I could have been there but I was only 2 years old at the time in 2001. I did however go to my first wash in back in 2019 and met Norgeway (Hans Craig), volvoguy87 (Dave), classiccaprice (Will Moore), spiraldasher (Chris), speedqueen (Richard), glhturbo2 (Tyler), and a few others at my first wash in convention back in August of 2019.

 

[foraloysius]

That you Robert for posting this. It brings back great memories! So great to see the familiar faces from back then. We were so young! lol

I remember you arrived a day later Bob. A miracle you survived that delay ;-)

It was a great event, we had so much fun. And it was also great to see those American classics in reality, the machines I had only seen in the pictures we shared.

 

[chestermikeuk]

AW Convention 2001

Wow, a blast from the past there Robert, it was my first conventio and one abroad, I flew from Manchester UK to Amsterdam Schipol Airport and flew with Dutch airlines KLM Boeing 747 on their new business class service direct to Minneapolis.

Scott collected me and we headed downtown for dinner before heading over to Roberts home for my first convention before many more and many friendship made.

Heres a few photos I took , can others post their photos here as well, they can get lost over the years with moving platforms etc.

The 2001 AW Convention

The first convention I attended in Minneapolis, a great time had by all!!

www.flickr.com

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

My goodness. Check out all the 35mm cameras and early digital cameras!

 

[kb0nes]

Robert, Thanks for sharing this. It was fun to watch through and remember.

Our family was well represented with 4 of the 5 brothers in attendance and our mom who looked good back then.

I showed up fashionably late at 1:47 with my girlfriend in tow and sporting more hair than I recall having. I'm curious who I was droning on to about amateur radio at the very end of the video...

It is amazing to look back at everyone 20 years ago.

 

[oliger]

That westinghouse laundromat looks so much smaller than I expected. The set I once saw on "Father knows best" looked massive in my memory.

 

[foraloysius]

Thank you Mike for the link to those pictures. Was there a Norge to the right of the early Whirlpool?

 

[Unimatic1140]

Was there a Norge to the right of the early Whirlpool?

Love the pictures Mike! Louis there was a '56 Frigidaire dishwasher next to the right of early Whirlpool.

 

[foraloysius]

Ah yes Robert, you're right. But I also remember a noisy timeline Norge. Was that somewhere else or was it later in your basement?

 

[Unimatic1140]

Hey Louis, yes it was there you are remembering correctly. You can see the '56 Norge Timeline in Mike's pictures next to the Bendix Dryer...

 

[appnut]

There's the Bendix washer with the timer that had issues Saturday evening when I used it.

 

[foraloysius]

Thanks Robert, how blind can one be... lol

I had in my mind that it was on the other side, so I didn't pay attention much to the spot next to the Bendix. I loved that Bendix dryer btw, I used it during the convention.

 

[sudsmaster]

Wow, never saw this video before. I will add my thanks for sharing it.

When and where will be the next wash-in and/or convention?

 

[lovestowash]

Hidden camera...

had I known it was there, I wouldn't have eaten my lunch in front of it...wonderful video, wonderful memories...looks like Jeff and I were civil to one another...thanks Robert!

 

[helicaldrive]

Just curious

Robert, when did you move?

Have you scaled down your collection or increased it?

 

[Unimatic1140]

Robert, when did you move?

I moved in 2003 to my current house. I lived in my old house from 1998-2003. My collection has increased in the new house since my basement space went from 800 to 1200 square feet and my kitchen is much larger in my current house as well.

I'm considering a move to Tucson, AZ area in a few years which I hope to have a 1000-1200 square foot garage/out building space for the washers into my retirement. The biggest challenge will be to move all the machines I want to move 1650+ miles. I'm thinking on some ideas for the big move well ahead of time. I thought about a major downsizing of the machines, but I really don't want to have to do that especially if I have lots of time for the machines in my retirement years. We will see a lot change change in a few years.

 

[thomasortega]

Robert, what about a container?

Shipping ONE heavy washer is expensive, but a whole container isn't that expensive.

You can probably fit all your machines plus part of your house in a 20 HQ container.

We do that all the time in the company, sending containers to the other warehouses believe me, the cost is silly, even with the prices skyrocketing because of the pandemic.