agiflow2
My old eyes can't tell whether it's 1955 or 1956 at the bottom of that ad, but the closest Consumer Reports I have to that date is August, 1958. The Sears and its twin the Whirlpool washer rated in the second tier behind the Maytag and two Frigidaires. Boy, this was indeed a cool time for automatic washers because each brand (and its badge-engineered clones) were distinctively different.
Fortunately, back then they stated how much hot water and total water was used. True, the Sears/Whirlpool washers used the most total at 37.5 but then the GE was at 37. the lowest total water was of course 26, 27 and 28 for the front loaders made by Philco-Bendix. Speed Queen was at 36.5, Maytag at 32, and the little Frigidaires were at only 28.5 but they apparently had a smaller tub. So, if these Whirlpool washers had those "seven rinses" they didn't seem to use an inordinate amount of water.
The other interesting point to me in the ratings was that it stated, "Improper care of the lint filter could result in filter falling into tub while machine is operating. On this model, at the end of the cycle, a buzzer sounds and the washer lid opens automatically."
Do you know how that washer lid opened? I mean, was it just spring loaded and some kind of tab or finger allowed it to pop open? Or was it somehow motorized?