What Was the first vintage washer you remember seeing or started up as a child

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Hey guys long time follower, member as of 3/24....the first memories I had..Mom and Dad had an early 60's 1964 or 65 I belive kenmore that belonged to my grandfather, and when they moved out of boston in 1975 they took it, and him with them. In 1984 the pump siezed (my Dad let me keep the agitator,YAY!) and they replaced it with an 84' Kenmore 70 series which I have the best memories of (the woo woo sounds,the solenoid click when it entered the spin cycle..the dual action agitator with the fabric softener dispenser on top...) the post WW2 house they bought (which they still live in) had and RCA Whirlpool Dryer in the kitchen (which I don't remember) in 1978 they replaced it with a 1978 Kenmore 70 series which they put in utility room with the washer. in 1996 both machines had some issues, and I aquired a whrilpool Imperial mark 18 dryer and a whirlpool LDAw5800, the washer is still in use, but the dryer sadly had a ground in it somewhere and back in 2000(I still have the use and care manual..) it was replaced with a TOL WP dryer. sorry for the run on blah...blah..blahs
 
There were 2 vintage machines in my childhood, and both were owned by my grandmothers.  Grandma Wilde had the 1950 Speed Queen wringer that I now have which was paired with a 1968 GE dryer, and Grandma Baumann had a 1956 Speed Queen wringer.  Grandma Baumann never had a dryer, she line dried everything either in the basement, or outside.  She considered a dryer a waste of money.  My Mom had a 1967 GE FF w/ suds return, and matching dryer.  I don't remember them much, but they did laundry almost every day for 3 kids.  The washer was replaced in about 1983 with another FF w/ suds return, and the dryer a couple years later.
 
Ken

I love your picture, and so typical of NYC apartments at the time. I grew up in the Bronx, with "the machine" as my mother and nana called it next to the kitchen sink. Ma had a BOL one knob Kenmore and Nana had a beautiful GE V12 filter flo form the mid sixties, that was my favorite machine, and I loved seeing the machine drain into the BIG DOULBE SINKS we both had.
Mike
 
The first washer dryer set I remember......

Well that depends on which house you are talking about....the family home in Vienna Va or the cottage at Deep Creek Lake Md.  In Vienna the first washer and dryer I remember mom having was a 1972 Kenmore 800 washer paired with a 1963 Kenmore Model 70 Soft Heat Gas Dryer. The only way mom could cut my hair is if she sat me on top of the washer while it was running and my favorite part of the cycle to watch was the cool down portion of the Permanent Press Cycle which used low speed agitation as the machine filled up. At Deep Creek Lake Mom had a 1963 Kenmopre Model 70 Washer (the mate to the dryer in Vienna) and a circa 1971 GE 3 temp Jumbo Dryer that my mom bought new in the box during the summer of 1975 (when she was pregnant with me). My favorite thing about the Model 70 washer was the swooshing sound the Self Cleaning Lint Filter made and also the rythmic buzz buzz....buzz buzz the wig wag made during the spin cycle. The Jumbo Dryer was interesting to me because the only heat setting you could use with the Automatic Regular and Permanent Press cycles was high heat. If you wanted to use delicate heat you had to use timed dry (under the mark for 30 minutes there was the word Delicate). That dryer also had a very loud and annoying buzzer that would sound off for about 60 seconds before the end of the cycle and if we were watching tv I always remember someone jumping up to run down to the lower porch and turn it off LOL I also remember that due to it sitting on an enclosed but unheated porch the automatic cycles stopped work ing about 1981 That dryer did have a nice sound to it when it was running though it was very soothing. PAT COFFEY

P.S. here is a pic of the Jumbo Dryer we had...this is not our actual dryer this is a pic I saved off of Craigslist

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Enjoying this thread

It's interesting that our passions for these machines actually coincide, historically, with the genesis of these machines. Very few of us had Wringer Washers, but lots of us seem to have had experiences with first run automatic models of all brands. I'm thinking of Anne Bancroft's character in that movie, saying "Nature's first green is gold". Even though they were clunky, heavy and had flaws that would be addressed later, these machines were pearls (to split and wreck that metaphor). I keep telling people that my appliance interest really isn't that different from folks who are fascinated by antique cars and I think that's totally true.

 

BTW I've heard lots of you "dis" the Frigidaire Pulsamatics but, I'm sorry, that agitator and tub are too beautiful.  Old, non 1-18, GM Frigidaires are getting harder and harder to find around here. I want one. I still get kind of sick when I think that people in my family had a WO-65 AND a Unimatic '58 that they just let go to the krushers. Ugghhh!
 
Whirlpool

At our house, it was the 1963/1964 Whirlpool set. At Grandma's, it was the Maytag wringer and a big rinse tub. To this day, the sound of a belt-drive Whirlpool soothes my nerves.
 
Wringer washer

when i was a child 2 of my aunts had a kenmore wringer washer and by the mid 80 when they moved to a new appartment they bought an inglis librator washer dryer set the washer has this desing and is still in use today and in pic number 2 will post a pic of the dryer but the washer is an inglis liberator pic just to show the loook of the washer.

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Ken........................

Nana's GE V12 had a similar console to that of the General Electric Dryer a few posts back. The General Electric was on the upper left side of the console "cutout" where a light would be. It had three rocker switches on the left, and a knob in the middle which I believe was for the water level. Above the knob, was the V12 emblem, and on the right was the timer knob with the cycles "around the dial". The lid was on metal hinged that raised the lid off of the top of the machine. Blue filter flo pan (I think) YA KNOW, I CAN REMEMBER THIS, BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER WHERE I PUT MY CAR KEYS LOL! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?? lol
Mike
 
The very first washer I remember watching and being fascinated with was my mama's 1955 Frigidaire washer.  It had the agitator that went up and down.  I don't remember what model it was.  I was born in February 1955.  Before that my mama had an unknown type of wringer washer but decided since I came into her life she needed an automatic washer so this was the first one she bought after bringing me home from the hospital.  Mama hated that washer because it would wad all the clothes up.  My dad was a plumber and his overhalls would get tied in knots and would come out of the washer rolled up with balls on mud all over them.  Mama said she had to send the sheets and daddy's overalls to the laundry.  In 1961 she bought a 1961 Lady Kenmore washer.  This is the washer I learned to wash on.  I loved the colored pads and the light that came on over the display board.  When I could reach the knobs without having to stand on a stool Mama taught me how to separate the clothes and what detergents, bleach, fabric softeners to use.  I've been doing laundry ever since.  After helping my aunt with her wringer washer I have to admit there were times I wish Mama had never gotten rid of the wringer washer.  I loved her wringer washer and ALWAYS volunteered to help her do laundry.  I had another aunt who had a very old Maytag with the red agitator.  I thought that washer was really cool and wished Mama's LK had a red agitator.  A monumental moment in my life was when me, my mom, and my dad went to the huge Sears on Stone Avenue in Greenville, SC and bought the 1971 LK washer.  I begged and begged Mama to get the harvest gold but she wouldn't spend the extra $10.00 and went with white.  A couple of months later, though, Mama, Daddy, and I went back to Sears and Mama bought a new Coldspot fridge with ice and water in avacado and daddy said "what the h*ll" and told the salesman to add the matching 1971 LK dryer to the bill.  Mama chose avacodo for the dryer also and said she wished she had bought the washer in avacado.  I never liked avacado but I wasn't paying for it.  I've secretely always LOVED coppertone but Mama hated that also.  My dream kitchen will be pink and coppertone.     I was 15 at the time and more excited over the new modern fridge and Lady Kenmores than I was learning how to drive.  My wife thinks I am demented!
smiley-laughing.gif
  I can't wait until a wash-in in the Atlanta area.  Retromania and I are planning to attend.  My wife just shook her head when I told her.  I told her she didn't have to come with us.  She replied "thank god!"   
 
The first washer I remember seeing and using was my Mom's 1961 Kenmore 70, which is the subject of my avator pic. We had that machine from 1961 until late 1974 when the spin bearings became so loud that we could hear the machine spinning from the garage through a closed door. I hadn't seen another one of these anywhere, OR seen one again until I acquired this washer about two years ago.

I loved the machine and at such a young age, I presumed everybody's would be similar since we had a 1963 70 series at one neighbor's house, and a 1962 Kenmore 800 at another. I was fascinated by the neighbor behind us later who had a coppertone Maytag 606.

Both grandmothers had the same model 1964 Whirlpool, standard capacity with the control box panel on the right side, black Surgilator with a thumbnail cap, and a transparent magic mix filter. I enjoyed them too - they made similar noises but were diffent to look at, as was the wash action as compared to our Kenmore.

I have never really used anything on a regular basis except other belt-drive Kenmores, even to this day. I do have a 1993 Kenmore DD washer that I got new, but it mostly sits unusued. It was used a lot from fall 2006 to spring 2008, and those 18 months are the most use it's seen.

Gordon
 
My one and only from my youth, started around age 3, I wasn't even in kindergarten yet, but would help Mom and Grandmom with the wash, We had a GE FF V12 from about 1962-63 era..probably a left over...from BF Goodrich(yeah they sold Tires and Appliances)...they got it in 64 when I was born, but the 64's don't resemble the one we had......BOL....one cycle....2 wash temp/ 2 water levels....I was a big help for Grandmom because when Mom went to work I new how to start the machine, so Granny could get stuff done.....somewhere we have pics of me hanging clothes on the line with a stepladder...

that freakin machine would never die....I finally got rid of it in 1982, My first paycheck went to a Used but newer Whirlpool, from a shop I used to work at after school...
 
We had a Kenmore washer of 1961-63 vintage. I don't think it was a Lady, but it may have been the next model down. Three cycles, infinite water level, and the five-temperature wash and three-temperature rinse temp selections. It had a tub light, which went through a lot of light bulbs. It had the waterfall cartridge filter, and one of my chores as a toddler was to clean the filter; I recall it being a PITA. It seemed to stay broken a lot too. One time the water recirc hose came detached at the top and it flooded the garage. I was trying to help my dad work on it by holding the top open while he worked on it; he did something and I got an electric shock. Not a good memory. The machine lasted until 1969. I don't recall what finally sent it to its doom, but I do recall that over the years it needed a new motor, a new timer, and a new valve of some sort (drain valve?). Also, the latch that held the filter in eventually broke, and after that, my mom just ran the machine without it. My mom has told me that they had a frog-eye Kenmore when I was born. I don't remember it, but I recall her saying once that she wished they'd kept that machine. (They gave it to my paternal grandmother, who used it well into the 1970s.) The '61 machine's replacement was a '69 Kenmore about which I remember little, other than that it had the can-of-marbles self-cleaning filter.

The dryer was the 1959 Lady with the rocker controls. It had no exterior vent; it just vented into the garage, and there was always lint blowing around. My recollection was that the controls never really worked right; my mom would put a load in, start it, and come back an hour later to find the clothes still wet because it had been running on air only. In 1965 or '66, my dad got tired of it and hacked the wiring so it just ran whenever the door was closed. My parents divorced in 1970 and my dad kept the dryer until 1973.
 
Just became a member and this is my first posting...

The first one I remember was probably a Maytag AMP. Bright red agitator with a stainless cap that pushed on a black button in the lid. That was about 1963 or so. I recall my dad having to do some work on it with the mercury switches in the lid and this huge solenoid under the tub. Somewhere in a box of goodies, I still have the mercury switches with the Maytag logo etched in the glass.

I think he eventually wired it so the lid could always stay open. I would watch the clothes agitate and spin for hours. Why is that so fascinating? Even watching the videos on this site, I feel myself getting glassy eyed.

Great thread!

-Jim
 
GE Filter-Flo

I rember my Mom's 1960 GE Filter-Flo with gold trim on the back panel and a lighted control dial. It had a turquoise filter pan with a black three-vaned agitator with a black cap. I remember the lid being warm and the smell of the hot sudsy water when it was washing. It made deep moaning and gurgling noises that I found soothing. When it spun, I would rest my fingernails against the ribbed filter pan column and listen to the zzzzzz zzzzz zzzzz sound that it made. My Mom found this amusing, thank god!
 
Kenmore

Mom had some early 60's Kenmore, nibs on the agitator and a measuring cup on top of that. The filter was located at about 5 o'clock position, and was a screen sleeve. I was about 8 when we moved and left it in Florida. I do not remember the cycles or anything else at all, but would be very happy to find a similar machine, 45 years or older. On my folks' budget and 7 kids to wash for, I'm sure it was bought for big size and low price, not features.
 
Reply #32 from Gadgetgary

That's ALMOSt the GE washer that was bought to replace the Bendix.  Like I said, it looked just like that but didn't have the Filter-Flo.  A friend of my mom's, my sisters and their kids went to the same school, had the same GE washer as ours and it was paired with a Hamilton dryer. 
 
For me it would have to be my aunt's Norge Timeline circa 1956. Not the top of the line, but the control panel did light up and it had the gray tub, not the white like Robert's. That was hands down my fave. A few Brooklyn neighbors had GE's of varying vintages from mid 50's to early 60's and I recall being intrigued by them as well. Of course, didn't become acquainted with Philco's until we came to CT and I saw a Miss America in a friend's basement.
 
Late 50's GE Wringer gas powered

Is my first recollection of a clothes washer, my parents bought it from my grandmother and had an electric motor put on it ,used it until it died, then she went to a Speed Queen. It said "Automatic Clothes Washer" on the panel, like the one I have seen in Aberdeen farm photos, with the one cycle and colored panel, lasted a long, long, time. I can still hear her calling to me from upstairs when the washer started the wash cycle to "Turn the water temp to cold for me.".
 
The first recollection I had was with my grandmother's Blackstone 250. Until 1960, my family lived in an apartment, so we didn't have our own washer & dryer. My mom's aunts' had a '52 Bendix "Perfect Pair" (which looked like the original Duomatic); a '53 pair of Westinghouse "Laundry Twins," a '57 GE FIlter-Flo washer & matching dryer (in yellow, no less) and a '58 GE pair (in turquoise). My mom's first laundry machines were a 1960 Hotpoint "Touch Command" washer (with the "coffee can" filter; but no little flippers on the agitator vanes) and a matching dryer.
 
First vintage washer I remember seeing was gram and grampas late 1970's 70 series washer. I would love to help grandma do the wash! I think it had three knobs. One on the left was water level, 5 settings? 4 wash cycle or maybe 5. I do know that it had a hot-warm temp setting. The washer also had a large fabric softener dispencer white in color like the agitator. The tub was grey I think. I loved the woo woo sound it made. One thing I remeber is it BANGED into wash and would make me jump. It was thrown out in 2003 after the finnaly stuck timer and the water level switch would not work. They were thinking about fixing it but the older kenmore dryer a "soft heat" model with one knob for auto dryness setting blew the heating coils. I think the dryer has been seen on pod, sold as the neat nick secret weapon.
 
One of the first machines I remember using

Was my Great-grandma's original Hoovermatic. Would have been bought when my Grandad worked on the Co-op electrical department, so probably more likely late 50s (I believe they were sold into the early 60s though).

Bearing in mind it would have been about 30 years old when I came along, it was very much a vintage machine even when I first used it.

She had it until she passed away in 1993, not sure what happened to it after that.

Matt

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First machine I ever started up and used? Hmmm. My mum had a Colston Concorde, but I never remember using that, but she did get a second hand auto (we all did up north in 80's Thatcher's Britain)and I can't remember the model, but it was an Indesit, 450rpm, controls and soap despenser on the top, three rocker switches. We didn't have it plumbed in, so it had to be fed from the cold water tap with them mad connectors. I used to help my mum move the heavy thing to the sink, and soon after she let me connect it up and set it going, organising the clothes according to programme. Meanwhile my nana decided she would let me have a go doing her washing once a week seeing as she was getting bad on her legs. She had a Colston Coronette, the smaller version of the Concorde, and taught me how to do washing twin tub style. It broke not long after, so she got a Hoovermatic Deluxe, like the T5090 but in black. After that I was away! I was about 12 I think, around 1991.
 

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