Mikey
I have been looking for a photo of the then Princess Elizabeth's wedding gifts which included special editions Hoover 160 (upright) and the not even launched Hoover 402 (canister) so she actually could have done a sneaky bit of headlight Hoovering
You are 100% correct about the Hoover washer - it did have its limitations but it was compact and affordable. This video never gets old
Hoover had a somewhat mixed experience with dishwashers. The machine Mike posted earlier was actually made by Zanussi in Italy. Hoover resold refrigerators and freezers bu Zanussi too. This is the actual machine shown in Mike's pictures so you can see it in action
In around 1973 Hoover launched dishwashers of their own manufacture, made in Wales. It was a commercial failure and production was cancelled - the UK dishwasher market was just too small and there were plenty of Italian machines on the market, most rebranded by British companies. The two existing UK manufactured dishwashers Colston and Swanmaid both had their origins back in the 1950s. The other major model, Kenwood launched in 1965 but by 1974 had been replaced with another Italian model. That had the distinction of being a front loader with a bottom propeller rather than the more familiar spray arms.
Actually I struggle to think of any other UK manufactured dishwashers of any era, I am not sure if the Hoover machines from the early 1990s were made here or not.
Ironically Charles Colston had been Hoover (UK) Managing Director since it's outset until the family kicked him out n the mid 50s (one of many changes in Hoover at that time) and the dishwasher his company sold for so many years has many of the hallmarks of that first Hoover washer - compact, easy to install, affordable (comparatively) although it too had some limitations. I have always wondered if it was a planned Hoover product which he got out "under the radar". But that is just speculation.
Great to have you back Mikey, we will have to see if we can dig up some more wringer machines for you
