What got you fascinated with laundry machinery in the first place?

[arbilab]

What got you fascinated with laundry machinery? Everybody here obviously is. Long story or short.

At 5 I'd pull up a chair and watch the slantfront Westy, go to neighbors and watch theirs, remember Grandma's two machines--a Thor 'magic fingers' and Easy Spindrier. The Westy was an adventure. We didn't have Indiana Jones back then or much on TV either, but an unbalanced Westy galavanting across the floor was exciting. Not long before I learned to reset the top and bottom compliance springs. At 10, replaced the timer singlehandedly.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. In second grade there was a laundry/cleaners on the way home from school. After I hung around a while they would let me operate their 25# Cooks. But not the Bosch extractors.

Tribute to Grandma's Easy, in 1973 I got a Panasonic twintub. Wish I still had it. In 1997 I got a Frigi FL in tribute to the Westys. Would have got a Neptune but NO WINDOW NO SALE. Besides those early ones turned out dogs.

The smell of detergent and the ions agitation gives off. The random motion of tumbling or swirling water. Knowing what was coming next but not how it would play out (spins). Fixing it if it crippled itself. I do like machines in general, at one point working on $1/2M broadcast video recorders. But not sure if I liked washers because they were machines, or if I liked machines because I liked washers.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Sounds..., Cycles...,--Just the neat array of knobs, pushbuttons, levers & switches...!!!!!!

Are you sure these were only built for your mother (or sometimes father) to wash & dry clothes in??????

Easy to see how when these were front-loading & had windows on 'em that they could be more fun 'n' watchin' TV...!!!!!!

P.S. The boxes the new ones came in were the most fun!!!!!!

-- Dave

 

[strongenough78]

For me it was the whole washing process. Watching the agitator swish back and forth. Trying to watch the spin cycle and hearing the machine grind and clunk into the spin cycle. My Mom had a 1976 Whirlpool in Avocado Green and my Grandmother a 1971 Lady Kenmore in white. I learned how to do laundry at an early age, just so I could be the one to control the machines lol. And it just progressed from there.

 

[cfz2882]

mechanisms

it was the machinery underneath that got me hooked-washers were the first
complex machines i had access to,got a real good look under our 1970(RIP 1981..)
solid tub hotpoint around the age of 4 or 5:wheels with a rubber strap around,
a big gray cylinder with lots of little wires inside,under that a semi-clear
thing with a little propeller visable-oh my! neat stuff!!
About the same time,Ca 1973,got taken to the yard of an old man that sold and
collected appliances;two houses-one he lived in, the other packed full of
appliances the yard littered with parts-agitators,motors,and several BD trannys
-noticed that when the pulley was turned the shaft would slowly move(years later
figured out what these were....would love to go back to 1973 and visit that
place!!)

 

[arbilab]

Yes, THE SOUNDS! The clicks, clacks and clunks!

The Thor was bidirectional. No idea how they accomplished it, but when it reversed it went BANG like a Whirlpool BD snapping into agitate but louder. I christened it the "bang washer". I was about 5yo. Grandma wouldn't let me help with that, only watch. Just as well I wasn't tall enough to reach the wringer. But I was the clutch operator on the Easy.

 

[tolivac]

Guess for me the sounds of the machines and the odors of the detergents.and the treat of one of my Moms freinds that had a Blackstone with the side by side doors on the front to allow access to the works.My Mom and her freind were talking and I was along-guess Mom couldn't get a babysitter and I wasn't going to school yet.I remember the freind opening the doors and saying--"You can watch BUT DON'T TOUCH!"so I got to see the Blackstone mechanism go thru its cycles.and I like the "mechanism" shots on this site-wish the WHOLE fronts of machines was Plexiglas or Lexan-you can watch the mechanisms,too.I wasn't tall enough at that time to look into the Blackstone while it worked.Later did get to be "Spectator" for Moms Norge Burpilator,Grammies pregnant Roto Swirl Kenmore,and My Stepmoms RotoSwirl.And at some time had a Turquoise set of GE Machines-the Filter Flow with the copper colored metal lint dish and dryer.The GE washer was neat to watch.My GrandMom would always want me to go out and play instead of watching her Pregnant RS machine.would sneak veiwing when she wasn't around.Would like to have a Norge Burpilator(The BIG Black agitator one)A KN RS,and that Copper Filter Flow.The machines of my childhood.And of course My Dads power workshop tools fascinated me.The Rotating blades and things on his Shopsmith-the watching projects come together-and the sawdust piles to play in.And then the Sunbeam mixers with its beaters and attachments-the licking of bowels and beaters at the conclusion of cooking jobs.And My Moms Singer sewing machine-that Buttonholer attachment fascinated me with its movements and funny noises.My Mom still has that Singer and it still works!And today-working on ultra high power shortwave transmitters with their HV parts and moving parts.The tune drives.And I have two Shopsmiths now-occasionally use them.One of them is just like what Dad had!

 

[arbilab]

Remember when department store washing machines had clear plastic replicas of washers running full of poker chips? Both mom and dad left me in the washer department while they went about their retail business. That was back in the day you could leave kids on their own and nothing bad would happen.

Know who designed most of those see-through demo washers? Robert Kinoshita. Who also designed Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet and B-9 from Lost in Space. FP is my favorite movie of all time and LIS is in my top 10 series.

 

[mixfinder]

The Water and the Power

Growing up without running water or much money I was left to sneak away in every store or friends house to investigate appliances.  I love to see the clothes swirl through the soapy water and hanging them crisply on the line is a rewarding eperience.  I enjoy the comparisons of sounds, action and design of every machine. I was totally mixerated at infancy and would spend hours just looking at them when I was told not bug the house wife about turning it on.  Somewhere along the line I got the clean gene so vacuums chimed in along with cleaning products.  I made my first scratch cake by myself in the 2nd grade and the rest is history.

 

[xraytech]

For me it was that lighted console and push buttons on my grams 1966 GE Filter-Flo pair, and using the wringer on my aunts second hand Maytag E2L. Oh how I wish more than anything that I could have a pair of 66 GE's

 

[aquarius8000]

my story

Was that I liked things that went round.(rotated) And when my brother came home from being born he gave me what is my casdon hotpoint wich got me stuck in.

There you have it, Chris.

 

[beekeyknee]

Maytag Wringer and Philco Automagic

Doing the laundry with my Grandmother and her Maytag Wringer Washer. I was intrigued by the process; filling the tub with a hose, pushing in the big red knob to start the agitation, digging out the clothes with a stick when it was time to put them through the wringer, watching them come out on the other side and fall into the big galvanized tub of rinse water, trying to figure out how that flip thing under the wringer knew which way to flip so the water would run back in the right tub, flipping the lever so the wringer would swing and lock in the right position and finally watching the clothes come from the final rinse, go through the wringer and drop into the clothes basket on the floor before going to the line.

Seems so primitive now, but I learned a lot about the proper way to do laundry from that experience.

Secondly, watching my Mom's Philco Automagic and wondering how the clothes moved.

 

[retromania]

I was facinated

with the way our Frigidaire went up and down and had the colored rings on the agitator. Pretty neat. I would sneak down to the laundry room and turn dial and hold the button down while it bobbed up and down. Probably not too good for the machine perhaps, but great fun for me. I've been facinated with washers ever since!

 

[MaytagA710]

I was always interested in mechanical things, but I remember my Mums Kenmore BD as a child with the bed of nails lint filter. My Nanny has a Maytag A710, loved that machine. Whenever I would visit her, we would do laundry! She saved the laundry for when I came over haha.

 

[retromania]

That was a great way to keep you entertained!

When I went to visit aunt, she had a pink Sunbeam steam iron with a pink fabric cord. I LOVED that iron. I would iron and of course do spray mist on anything in sighted that could be ironed.

 

[bajaespuma]

Dr. Freud...

When I was born, my family occupied an apartment in a building that didn't have a laundromat in the basement, so a lot of families had "illegal" portable washing machines with casters on them in the kitchens. The kitchens had large double basin sinks; the big sink was meant for hand washing laundry but many people took advantage of this second sink by hooking the rubber drain hose over the edge of it and connecting the faucet to a washing machine with a dishwasher connector. There was a porcelain enameled metal drain board specifically designed for that sink that had a corner that was beveled to allow a drain hose to be put through it. And yet both washers and dishwashers were NOT allowed in these apartments. Local appliance sellers were very savvy and cooperative here because there were hundreds of potential customers in each building (and there were twenty buildings in the complex) so they would sell people like my parents a new small washing machine (ours was a 24" wide Whirlpool "Deluxe" that, I'm told, was purchased from the old Mays department store on 14th Street) and send it over to the apartments disguised in a TV or a Phonograph/Radio console crate. Remember that back in the '50's  those were large items. If any of the building officials happened to schedule a visit, the washing machines would be rolled into a bedroom closet and that was that.

 

Up until the time I was three or so, I was bathed in that same large sink and I actually remember it as a pleasant experience. Lots of hot water and soap and the happy hum of lots of people coming and going in the kitchen. At some point, Mae, my surrogate Mom, would park me on the drain-board of the sink and I would watch the washing machine going through all of its motions. There was, of course, no lid safety switch back then to spoil my fun and I remember watching the famous neutral drain do its thing. I was fascinated by the layer of white suds that would sink down and wrap around the shiny black vanes of the agitator and wet clothes. I remember clearly waiting with great anticipation for the machine to go into its spin (which I called the"Ca-ca-ca" because of the noise the machine would make as it wound up to speed). I remember that machine fairly well; it had a gray-blue plastic cycle dial and I believe that was it; a real BOL. It didn't have a spray rinse, but that may be because it wasn't connected to separate cold and hot water valves, only the sink faucet connector. I used to run into the kitchen when I heard the thing drain so I could watch the spin happen. I remember Fab detergent being the house soap; I remember no bleach or fabric softener at all. I think because the machine and I shared the same auxiliary sink for our business a relationship grew.

 

I was crushed the day we moved into our first house and discovered that the Whirlpool was not going to join us in our new digs. My Mother had kindly given the machine to one of her fashion models who was moving into her first apartment. Although I didn't know it at the time, ahead of me was our very first Filter-flo and our very first matching clothes dryer. When I saw them I thought my parents had bought two washing machines. Hadn't seen a matching dryer before. I've had a good life.

 

[retromania]

Dr. Freud?

Nahhhh. Not Dr. Freud. He placed too much emphasis on dreams!

Loved those roll-away washing machines. Auntie had one. A little different from the one you described. And not the pink Sunbeam steam iron auntie. Another auntie. Anyway, her's was a Sears and it was a portable with a wash chamber and spin chamber. A lot of times I made sure I was at her house when she did laundry. Like you, I was facinated with it. There was another older woman on our block that too had a portable washer. Some of the houses were really really old and before the days of automatic appliances so portables dishwashers and washing machines were abundant.

Thanks for your cool story and have a great day!!!

Andy

P.S. "Ah! You say you dream of washing machines......verrry interesting, indeed!"

 

[300c]

Fascinated With Agitators and Lint Filters

I cannot fully explain my interest, but I remember being fascinated with the agitator of my Aunt's Frigidaire washer; it went up and down and had a turquoise cap and yellow and pink rings. I also remembered noticing that my other Aunt's washer, a Norge, had a beige lint filter and that it fit around the exposed agitator cap. I wondered why the fill flume didn't spray water into the filter pan (like Mom's Filter-Flo) but that water still got into it somehow. I rembered my Aunt being amused by this.

Finally, I noticed that a friend of my Mom's also had a Filter-Flo but that it was a little different from ours; it had a "prettier" filter and agitator -- the filter pan was copper and the agitator cap was pink! My Mom's washer had the turquoise pan and a black-capped agitator that was otherwise identical to the friend's prettier washer.

My Mom actually understood me and my unusual interest in washers. She was always amused that whenever we went to a store that had washers, I was drawn to them by some mysterious force and that I just HAD TO lift the lids and check out the tubs and agitators.

 

[arbilab]

And I'm sure you know what I mean, there's that new washer smell.

 

[franksdad]

From an early age I have been fascinated by watching the clothes go back and forth in the washer.  Watching the washer wash a load of clothes, especially towels,  was something "magical" for me.  I could watch all day.  Helping my aunt with her wringer washer was just the most fun!  I begged my Mama to trade her Lady Kenmore in and get a wringer washer!  Mama thought I was insane!  I loved doing laundry and by age 9 I was doing the whole family's laundry and you better believe NOBODY did a better job than me!  I loved going to the big Sears store in Greenville and going thru the appliance department and watching the washers on display wash.  Whenever we would go to someone's house I always slipped away and found the washing machine and studied on how it would work.  The detergent aisle is my favorite aisle in the grocery store.  I love the brightly colored boxes, bottles, and smells.  I don't know, I guess it's in my blood.  I love washing machines and watching them work!  That's just me.