When is the last time your local newspaper ran a feature like this?

Automatic Washer - The world's coolest Washing Machines, Dryers and Dishwashers

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What newspaper?

Most are only online now.
Still, a great blast from the past. Some local shoppers publications still.
Each store has it's own separate insert.
Hunts, Ford, and I think the Foutainbleau in Miami Beach are still around.
There were so many different companies, were contests how they tried to draw customers?
You might enter to win, then visit the local appliance dealer to see it for real, and the sales man may hook you into buying?
 
OMG!  Now there's why people bought newspapers once upon a time.  What an amazing feature section - advertorial, but cool nonetheless.  

 

So, who else beside me never saw a 'Carson House' branded washer and dryer before?  Wonder who made them... Coronado? Beam perhaps??
 
I guess my husband and I are throwbacks to another time, we have been having our local newspaper delivered for almost 35 years now. I really like starting my day by reading the newspaper, particularlly the local news, since I have lived in this community for over 53 years. Sadly the newspaper is WAY smaller than it used to be and WAY more expensive. When we first subscribed in 1981 daily delivery was $3.00 a month which the carrier collected. It is now $79.54 for 12 weeks.

That being said I really enjoyed this post. I recall seeing most of the featured washing machines at one time or another during my childhood.
 
Unless Mistaken

You'll notice not a wringer washer in sight! *LOL*

For that matter no ironers either. Lots of talk about tumble dryers though.

Post-war years seems like the heyday for appliance manufacturers. Everyone was out to get some of that GI Bill money. Hahaha....

Who would have known in 1955 that we'd be down to really only one main American owned appliance maker today (Whirlpool), and what were once fierce competitor brands now are all under the same corporate roof.
 
Even a notice for Mahalia Jackson!!

What a wonderful slice of history.

 

Did you see the primordial Peanuts "deflate-gate"cartoon underneath all of those washing machines and debutantes from Lily-White Winnetka?
 
Those prices

A gal would have to be married to a very well off man and or they used credit..

That 1956 Norge washer selling for $329.95 was big money in those days. Adjusted for inflation we are talking about $2,888.66 in 2016 money. While some high end or commercial front loaders cost that much, you can pick up a top loader for very little money.

You would need those "easy terms" to afford that Whirlpool washer selling for 239.95 ($2,100.73 in 2016). In both this and the above case this does not even include interest.

In fact there doesn't seem to be a washer advertised that cost under $200 clams. No wonder so many 1950's housewives were happy for used or otherwise second hand equipment. Am guessing many a 1950's husband didn't want to loosen up the mouse trap for that kind of money.
 
That is a great article and a huge feature money maker for a paper back then and those ads brought in quite a bit of $. Alot of times it was if you take a good size ad, we will do editorial in your favor, naturally and that filled the page. I worked in newspaper advertising and if your paper had a REAL good national guy, and could pull it together, salesman of the year. Big deal, nobody cares with tomorrows edition..
 
I have saved a lot of newspaper advertising from our family business. These laundry sections were special events (maybe once a year), in which every dealer advertised, in conjunction with the national brands. What I need is a large, flatbed scanner, large enough to scan a full page.
 
Prices

That's why, among the middle classes, there weren't that many households that had a matched set. Typical was to buy a washer first, and then a dryer after the washer was paid for. Of course, those machines were (mostly) sturdily built and servicable, so once you had a machine, you were good for ten years or so. Of course, with new features being introduced all the time, at some point the misses was going to want the latest and greatest model!

Seriously, that was a remarkable period in Western Hemisphere history. New things were being introduced all the time that were improving the average person's standard of living. These newspaper pages are a celebration of modern life.
 
Watching The Honeymooners On Television

Could never understand why the Cramdens lived in that sparse cold water Brooklyn tenement flat. Ralph's salary was only $62/wk. which meant a washing machine for Alice was O-W-T unless they saved and or purchased on credit. OTOH the Norton's did live well even though Ed made the same money as Ralph. The latter pointed out that was because of credit/payment plans.

Learned something via research; contrary to the popular belief not all women/wives were shoved back into domestic life post WWII. Many married women did work and their husband's approved. It was the only way for a good number of couples to make it into a solid middle class lifestyle. A one income household unless the husband was doing very well probably would be hard pressed to get any of the new mod cons, again without using credit.

Remember it wasn't until really recent memory where appliance prices have come down so low, that there wasn't a brisk business in second hand appliances. All those adverts above mentioning "trade ins welcomed" probably meant the old appliance would be moved on.
 

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