Another from the University of Indiana--had only ever seen these stacked. Betty Furness at her best
media.dlib.indiana.edu
Westinghouse Empress--1960
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I've never known about these!!
Westinghouse!
I never saw those before interesting!
I never saw those before interesting!
Great find!
Thank you for posting...
Wonder how dryer vented as am not seeing any sort of hose.
Given how Ms. Furness had that W&D set on an interior wall cannot see how it could be a vented dryer. At least not without a run of hose going towards a window or exterior facing wall.
Betty Furness was a true trailblazer who doesn't get credit she so richly deserves today. Though largely responsible for putting Westinghouse's home appliances on the map she was badly treated by that company. It was a man's world and Ms. Furness did her best and got further than many other women at the time, but never the less...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Furness
Thank you for posting...
Wonder how dryer vented as am not seeing any sort of hose.
Given how Ms. Furness had that W&D set on an interior wall cannot see how it could be a vented dryer. At least not without a run of hose going towards a window or exterior facing wall.
Betty Furness was a true trailblazer who doesn't get credit she so richly deserves today. Though largely responsible for putting Westinghouse's home appliances on the map she was badly treated by that company. It was a man's world and Ms. Furness did her best and got further than many other women at the time, but never the less...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Furness
Pairing a Westinghouse washer with a 120 volt dryer is going to mean very long drying times and lots of moisture going into the dwelling and you would still need a separate circuit for the dryer.
Westinghouse 25 inch front load washers and dryers
These were made from 1956 through 1963. The separate units were never popular from my experience, but I’m sure they did sell a lot of them. All Westinghouse dryers were electric until 1964. The option to have gas was available and never the smaller units.
The machines could be installed vented in the picture shown of course it was probably staged for the ad, but there’s nothing to stop them from venting through the wall or into a common ventilation duct, which was common in large apartment buildings.
The real problem with having these machines is the durability of these was terrible. One of the reason you don’t see many of them around anymore. They were real handful to keep working. The washers were very prone to leaking as the water level filled several inches up onto the window, if you had the slightest leak, you had a real mess on your hand let alone if somebody opens the door accidentally.
All Westinghouse dryers could be run on 120 or 240 V in this time period Of course it takes at least three times as long on 120 V and the spin speed of the washers was fairly slow however, these 25 inch models did spin a little faster than the full-size machines.
All Westinghouse major appliances had pretty poor reliability by 1960 only some of their simple refrigerators and electric ranges were a reasonable bet for reliability. It wasn’t surprising that Westinghouse was the first big major appliance maker to fall. The problems were many, homebuilders that stuck with Westinghouse had trouble selling the houses because consumers knew they were a higher risk of problems.
John
These were made from 1956 through 1963. The separate units were never popular from my experience, but I’m sure they did sell a lot of them. All Westinghouse dryers were electric until 1964. The option to have gas was available and never the smaller units.
The machines could be installed vented in the picture shown of course it was probably staged for the ad, but there’s nothing to stop them from venting through the wall or into a common ventilation duct, which was common in large apartment buildings.
The real problem with having these machines is the durability of these was terrible. One of the reason you don’t see many of them around anymore. They were real handful to keep working. The washers were very prone to leaking as the water level filled several inches up onto the window, if you had the slightest leak, you had a real mess on your hand let alone if somebody opens the door accidentally.
All Westinghouse dryers could be run on 120 or 240 V in this time period Of course it takes at least three times as long on 120 V and the spin speed of the washers was fairly slow however, these 25 inch models did spin a little faster than the full-size machines.
All Westinghouse major appliances had pretty poor reliability by 1960 only some of their simple refrigerators and electric ranges were a reasonable bet for reliability. It wasn’t surprising that Westinghouse was the first big major appliance maker to fall. The problems were many, homebuilders that stuck with Westinghouse had trouble selling the houses because consumers knew they were a higher risk of problems.
John
Our neighbors who lived behind us at the old house moved into their new house July/August 1961 that had a Westinghouse kitchen. The dishwasher was a roll-out WashsWell model with water heat booster, 30" wall oven, and 36 or 42" electric cooktop. Family of 6 Dishwasher wore out and was replaced with an early KDS16. The KA DW was still installled and running when the widow moved our in 2003 or 2004. Oven lasted until 1980s or 1990s as did the cooktop but was replaced with a gas cooktop. We ended up buying the house across the street and moved into to our house September 1961 after Hurricane Carla.
My Aunt and Uncle had a ‘53 matched Westinghouse slant front set that they bought new and were still using in ‘64 when they sold their house with the Westie’s in it. They never had one problem with either the washer or the dryer, which was hooked up to regular household current, not 220. These machines were what began my lifelong interest in washing machines, I LOVED to watch thae washer in action, almost as good as TV was back then.
I was over there many times while the laundry was being done, it seemed that the dryer kept up with the washer and didn’t require excessive time to dry. My grandpa was always after my aunt to let him put in a 220 outlet, but Aunt Imogene was negatory on that prospect. She said she liked it just the way it was, and that she never had a problem with clothing shrinking, like many other dryer owners did back then when so many dryers seemed to get hotter than hell.
My aunt and uncles home was a tracked home built in ‘56 which they brought the ‘53 Westie set to. It had an AEK, sans DW and there were never any problems with either the Westinghouse built in oven or stove top. The oven was especially nice because the Westinghouse ovens were wider than most other built in ovens in the 50’s and early 60’s. I loved the stove top controls which had dials with colored lights to indicate what temp they were set to, red for high, orange for med high, yellow for med, green for med. low and blue for simmer. Our last home that we were living in when my Dad died in ‘62 had the same Westinghouse oven and stove top and I first learned to cook using them.
Likewise when David and I bought our first condo I was able to fulfill my life time dream of having a matched Westinghouse FL washer and dryer which we bought new for $995.00 in Oct.’87. We sold the condo in Sept. ‘94 with the WD in the home. We’d never had single problem with either machine in 7 years of use. In fact the buyer was especially jacked about both of these machines and wanted them left in the home as part of the deal.
Perhaps some Westinghouse appliances didn’t last very long, but they were sure hella nice while they were working. Just my historical tow cents worth.
Eddie
[this post was last edited: 9/28/2024-17:38]
I was over there many times while the laundry was being done, it seemed that the dryer kept up with the washer and didn’t require excessive time to dry. My grandpa was always after my aunt to let him put in a 220 outlet, but Aunt Imogene was negatory on that prospect. She said she liked it just the way it was, and that she never had a problem with clothing shrinking, like many other dryer owners did back then when so many dryers seemed to get hotter than hell.
My aunt and uncles home was a tracked home built in ‘56 which they brought the ‘53 Westie set to. It had an AEK, sans DW and there were never any problems with either the Westinghouse built in oven or stove top. The oven was especially nice because the Westinghouse ovens were wider than most other built in ovens in the 50’s and early 60’s. I loved the stove top controls which had dials with colored lights to indicate what temp they were set to, red for high, orange for med high, yellow for med, green for med. low and blue for simmer. Our last home that we were living in when my Dad died in ‘62 had the same Westinghouse oven and stove top and I first learned to cook using them.
Likewise when David and I bought our first condo I was able to fulfill my life time dream of having a matched Westinghouse FL washer and dryer which we bought new for $995.00 in Oct.’87. We sold the condo in Sept. ‘94 with the WD in the home. We’d never had single problem with either machine in 7 years of use. In fact the buyer was especially jacked about both of these machines and wanted them left in the home as part of the deal.
Perhaps some Westinghouse appliances didn’t last very long, but they were sure hella nice while they were working. Just my historical tow cents worth.
Eddie
[this post was last edited: 9/28/2024-17:38]
"Just my historical tow cents worth."
And we thank you!
And we thank you!
Westinghouse appliance reliability
Hi Eddie, you totally missed the point I said Westinghouse reliability went downhill in the late 50s through the 60s until the end around 1975.
Westinghouse was actually one of the most reliable automatic washers in the mid 50s and their dryers were fairly rugged too. They started to go downhill badly in the late 50s through the 60s.
Of course by 1987 it was White Westinghouse, and really had little to do with Westinghouse Electric, When white industry bought Westinghouse, they started improving the product immediately the biggest initial improvement was getting rid of the Westinghouse motors in the washers and dryers which were awful. They also improve quality control greatly. They also immediately got rid of the dishwashers, the refrigerators, etc.
John
Hi Eddie, you totally missed the point I said Westinghouse reliability went downhill in the late 50s through the 60s until the end around 1975.
Westinghouse was actually one of the most reliable automatic washers in the mid 50s and their dryers were fairly rugged too. They started to go downhill badly in the late 50s through the 60s.
Of course by 1987 it was White Westinghouse, and really had little to do with Westinghouse Electric, When white industry bought Westinghouse, they started improving the product immediately the biggest initial improvement was getting rid of the Westinghouse motors in the washers and dryers which were awful. They also improve quality control greatly. They also immediately got rid of the dishwashers, the refrigerators, etc.
John
Hi John, Sorry I did miss read your post about Westinghouse appliance reliability declining during the end of their production years. I just thought about how my families experience with Westinghouse appliances had always been excellent.
And yes, my ‘87 “Westinghouse” FL W/D were actually “White” Westinghouse machines. To me they were simply Westinghouse machines because outwardly they resembled the machines that Westinghouse produced prior to their demise.
At any rate, my experience with that WD set was great, contrary to what Consumer Reports used to say about them during the 80’s and 90’s when they were always rated poorly. Back then most folks were adverse to FL’s. I had always thought that FL’s were superior to TL’s back then. Times have changed. And I still wish that FL’s were like that wonderful ‘87 White Westinghouse set that I owned for 7 trouble free years.
Eddie
And yes, my ‘87 “Westinghouse” FL W/D were actually “White” Westinghouse machines. To me they were simply Westinghouse machines because outwardly they resembled the machines that Westinghouse produced prior to their demise.
At any rate, my experience with that WD set was great, contrary to what Consumer Reports used to say about them during the 80’s and 90’s when they were always rated poorly. Back then most folks were adverse to FL’s. I had always thought that FL’s were superior to TL’s back then. Times have changed. And I still wish that FL’s were like that wonderful ‘87 White Westinghouse set that I owned for 7 trouble free years.
Eddie
It was probably a fake apartment set so the suggestions John made were probably excellent alternatives.
The 1955 Westinghouse washer my dad bought my mom at Christmas lasted until sometime in 1964. I do remember the serviceman having to visit several times over the years. One time it got so out of balance, and shook so much, that the top came loose. It also liked to walk - more than once it went far enough to unplug itself. However, my mom liked the front loading design, so another Westinghouse Laundromat was purchased in 1964. It didn't require as much service, but tended to leak, so the door and bottom panel rusted quickly. It was replaced by a Maytag in the summer of 1973. So each of them lasted 9 years, much less than the Maytag that I kept until 2004.
Eddie, you're right about the Westinghouse ovens being substantially larger than other brands at the time. They used the same oven liner and door as the 30' ranges. By the early 60's they had come out with a narrower version.
Eddie, you're right about the Westinghouse ovens being substantially larger than other brands at the time. They used the same oven liner and door as the 30' ranges. By the early 60's they had come out with a narrower version.
christfr
Well-known member
actually very pretty machines. would love to see one in person some day
norgeway
Well-known member
Having had many electric ranges.
I will say , the 1959 Westinghouse i have, thanks to John Lefever, is the best overall range ive ever used, the clock even keeps time and other than replacing one surface unit switch, thanks again to John, its been perfectly reliable, the oven is much more even heating and preheats twice as fast as the new GE in the kitchen.
I will say , the 1959 Westinghouse i have, thanks to John Lefever, is the best overall range ive ever used, the clock even keeps time and other than replacing one surface unit switch, thanks again to John, its been perfectly reliable, the oven is much more even heating and preheats twice as fast as the new GE in the kitchen.
When I was a kid, a friend of my family sold their big house and bought a nice, in the early 60's mobile home that had those stacked units built in outside the bathroom. I so wished they were running then to see.
