Vintage Hotpoint Washer

[johnrk]

I've seen a few ads for this Hotpoint washer and dryer set. So many designs were dramatic back then that at the time it probably didn't necessarily leap out. But, like those Frigidaire units with the little control panel on a stalk, they just scream 'fifties'.

Does anyone here own one of these washers, or the pair?

 

[mrsalvo]

I have never seen this pair before. They are sharp looking, I like the color.

 

[mixguy]

Brought up for discussion before

This Hotpoint washer and dryer have been brought up for discussion before. Around the same time this model was being advertised, there were other all push button washers & dryers. Sears & Maytag had TOL models around 1959 had models with no dials. Did they both utilize a new timer mechanism that was somewhat durable? People I know had these and they kept them for over 15 yrs! While such a machine limited flexibility I can see the convenience too.

Reading other discussions of Hotpoint washers and dryers, they were not known for their durability. What was the most common source(s) of repair? transmission? selenoids? rust? bearing & seals?

Seems also that Hotpoint offered more features than GE, such as the delay timers, soak to wash, double wash, double rinse and laundry aids dispensers long before GE had the Dispense All lid.

Were there washers and dryers that were advertised and very few if any were actually for sale?

 

[cornutt]

Frigidaire had a very fancy TOL series in the late '60s that's been discussed here before; I forget what they were called. They had the controls in an overhead panel, and the washer motor had an electronic drive system with continuously variable speed. They apparently only produced a handful of them.

 

[gyrafoam]

I had one of those Frigidaire's although mine did not have the storage cabinets above. Just a really cool console.
Although I never had trouble with mine, it probably had a very short life. Most crashed early because of the clutch issues involved.

I don't know what was going on with Hotpoint during this time period. They must have kept tinkering with the mechanism. I had relatives in Florida who were very loyal Hotpoint customers. They always had a MOL washer and every two or three years from the late fifties to mid-sixties they replaced them. There were only three people in that house, so I don't think the machines were overworked. Just unreliable.

 

[bajaespuma]

There are many very jazzy Hotpoint TOL's that I've only seen in literature, those are a good example. I have heard and I think read in a thread on this website that General Electric used the Hotpoint brand as a technology bellwether in the Fifties and Sixties. These all-pushbutton machines, the Jumbo dryer, the in-oven rotisserie and the Duo-Load washer were all evidence of this. I'd love to find any of these, but unfortunately what was said above looks to be true, they weren't built to last a long time. 

 

I will add that I had two Aunts, in the Sixties, that had MOL Hotpoint Silhouette washers and dryers (one machine was the MOL version of the machine in the picture below), bought at around the same time, that lasted at least 10 years.

 

[paulg]

Can't speak for every Hotpoint but...

Dad was an engineer for Hotpoint Home Laundry at 5600 Taylor.
During their lives they had three washers.
The 1958 Hotpoint
The approx 1975-1985 Hotpoint
The approx 1985-1995 Hotpoint.
In all three cases, each washer ate a timer early on. And in each case, transmission failure ended their lives. The first two refused to spin and the last unit still worked but was so noisy you could hear it down the block. We tried fixing the 1975 Silhouette washer transmission with new clutch parts, but they would last only a week and fail again and so we replaced it.
The 1968 Silhouette dryer lasted until about 1990. It ate one timer in the early 1970s, one igniter and was fairly troublefree otherwise.
The Hotpoint fellas were their own design group in a little white building across from 5600 Taylor for many years. I am sure they shared designs by parent GE but by no means was the Hotpoint brand a rebadge. They largely did their own thing.
Just my experience....

 

[appnut]

Neighbor across the street had the dryer in that color.  She got it from her sister, who had the matched pair.  When the washer failed, she gave the dryer to her sister so she could get another matched set.  The inherited dryer replaced a 1956/1957 star burst gas Frog Eye dryer.  The Hotpoint dryer lasted until the very early 1980s when she got a an upper BOL center dial Kenmore.  Which lasted until 2012 or 2013 when she ended up in assisted living.  This is the neighbor that I posted pics of her KDS16 in the kitchen. 

 

[70series]

Our first washer was a 1964 Silhouette. Never got to see it as it bit the dust only 8 years later when I was 2. No pictures except a slide photo, which is buried away.

 

[hilovane]

My mom's first washer was a 1960 Hotpoint TOL with two rows of push buttons and a rotary timer. She also had the matching dryer. The tranny on the washer bit the big one after eight years, and was replaced with a Maytag 606, which lasted 20 years (no real surprise). The dryer was far more durable; after 17 years, it was replaced with a (GM- made) Frigidaire.

They were both replaced with a Whirlpool pair.