John:
My grandmother's was also minus the Suds-Saver feature, which puzzled me when I thought about it in later years - she was a lady with a great deal of respect for a dollar.
I finally figured it out. Prior to saving her dressmaking money (she was the best damn custom seamstress in East Point, GA, in an era when that title really meant something) up for the 800 pair, she'd been doing laundry for years with two wringer washers and a clothesline. Over the years, I helped her with laundry as much as she'd permit (which was not much), and I witnessed a lot of hassle, like laundry getting resoiled by soot or nearby construction or getting blown off the clothesline.
What I finally realized she had wanted with the 800s was to push a button and not do another damned thing. She had definitely earned that right. Her entire approach to laundry changed once the 800s were in place - she'd been sticking to the "old ways," with Clorox and bluing and Faultless starch that had to be dissolved.
After the 800s, she started using spray starch, Miracle White, all kinds of new products. The quality of her results did not suffer one whit; she was as adept with the new ways as she'd been with the old ones.
