Why do we like washers so much?

[jasonl]

I'm not sure exactly how I got attracted to washing machines but it has to do with my mom. One of my earliest memories was crawling into the utility room and seeing the glaring light of the Kenmore 800 and my mom using it. Still too young to know what it is, that image burned in my mind that the "thing" had to do with "being taken care of" and "loved". Later on in life I remember asking what the "thing" was and my mom showed me what it was. It was a washer. It was all a new thing to me but somehow the weird noises drew me in. Since then I was hooked. Of course, the final nail in that coffin was seeing the big front loaders at the laundromat that my mom worked. Not only was the place filled with Kenmore top loaders, but they had big ol' Milnors. My mom didn't need a babysitter, just someone to come and wash their clothes in the FL and I was occupied.

Even then, I knew that washing machines were a "weird" hobby so I kept my mouth shut about it. Nobody... NOBODY except for my parents, grandparents and my cousins knew. I was already teased in school for my birth defect so I didn't give any other reason for them to tease me more.

And yes, I had the "only one" complex until 2001 when I found this site.

 

[bajaespuma]

Remembrance of Things Past

One of the reasons I'm interested in Electroluxes is that everyone in our extended family had one; I still associate certain models with long since departed relatives and their families. I remember CLEARLY an Elux Model E in the first vacation home my parents rented in Great Neck NY. I'm told we left there when I was 2 1/2!I always coveted the E's and the AE's because they were stored in the basements of our cousins' houses and we used to play very happily there. Those models were dark blue and gray like the basements and had a spooky aura to them.

One grandmother owned the first L (Ivory and Green). My family had an AF, a turquoise G, a 1205 and a Teal L (my mother employed a housekeeper who we nicknamed "the white tornado"; she had a heart of gold but was brutal on all the appliances. It's one reason I have so much respect for the GE WA-750 W we owned: it stood up to Sarah for 16 years and was still working when we sold the house! The Eluxes lasted only because my father and I could take them apart and repair things like contacts and cords. By the end of their lives, they were held together by electrical tape and spit. The motors all still worked though!)

I guess from one perspective it's like any fascination with antiques: the objects' histories resonate with our own.

 

[nickuk]

Thanks to all

for your thoughtful replies and reassurances. I very much enjoyed getting to know you a little better too!

Nick

 

[mrb627]

What a great thread.

Well, for me, it started when I was a baby. Mom would put me in the laundry basket and carry me out with the laundry. She would sit me on top of our Kenmore dryer and I would watch her load and start the washer. It was a basic Kenmore with the gold straight vane agitator with the cap that said KENMORE across the top of it. Mom said that after the machine would start washing I was hooked. I would cry if she took me back into the house. Often times, she would go back in the house and leave me out there with it. (Can't get away with that nowadays) If I was cranky, teething, or couldn't sleep, she would just crank up a load of laundry and I'd shut up and watch. It wasn't long before I was old enough to do the laundry myself. She's created a monster.

MRB

 

[johnb300m]

They're machines

Ever since I was a kid I was always facinated with machines. I was quite lucky to have generally supportive parents too.
Since I was a little kid, the only machines I was really around was the washer/dryer vacuum and dishwasher. So i cut my teeth on those. I guess what saved me was my later intense interest in cars. So i guess my parents rationalized that i was just interested in machinery.

Over the years i've been critisized a handful of times for interest in home appliances. But i've always been able to defend it.
I would simply explain that i'm very interested in machines, anything with a motor, pumps water, air or an engine. I just like that stuff, i like machinery. It's what has led me to my major of Engineering and Technology. Once i rationalize it for people like that, they just go "oh, ok".

Yeah, then they'll turn around and ask me for mechanical advice on their cars and home appliances. it's no kidding that i'm my family's custodian. since i was strong enough and able enough to tackle repair of appliances, i've always been the "fix it" guy for my family. anything they have that breaks, washer, dryer, dishwasher, pool filter...etc. they always come to me for advice and ask if i can fix it...if not, i recommend repair men and recommend what they fix.

Now that i'm only a year away from graduation, all my college friends who have graduated and moved into their own places have flocked to me for appliance assistance. I've taught them all how to use their dishwashers and what possible failure symptoms to look for. washing and loading suggestions. Vacuums to look at and to avoid etc.

I've been quite lucky that my mechanical interest has been able to serve my family and friends in a positive way.

 

[westytoploader]

For me, it probably has something to do with the "fixed interest" characteristic of Asperger's Syndrome. ANYTHING that is mechanical or has something to do with water fascinates me (the "switchitis" that Glenn referred to comes to mind), from cars to vacuums to power tools to air compressors to mixers, and I am always interested in seeing how things work. Had one of those "Real Power Tool Shop" toys when I was 7 and used the hell out of it. I spent a LOT of time disassembling broken electrical items around the house and playing with them, seeing what I could make. Such as the time I ran an old hair dryer motor off of a DC transformer, took a blower nozzle and put it over the end, and made a leaf-shredder out of it. Ran MANY little motors off of DC, and also made a "pencil eraser lathe" out of a paper shredder motor when I was 10.

I remember faintly when I was little, my mom picking me up and putting me in front of the White-Westinghouse washer so I could watch it wash. Then, when I could stand tall enough to see inside the washer, I did this on my own, often watching it from fill, to wash, watching the water action and taking in the smells of the detergent and Clorox bleach on some cycles. Then when the spin came and the lid locked, I pulled up hard on it so I could still see the tub spin through the small gap. Turned the WCI/Montgomery Ward dryer on with the door open and wondered why, with clothes in it, they would fall out. Also liked to start the Jenn-Air dishwasher and feel the steam come out of the vent during the wash cycle.

As for the vacuums, you've seen the pictures, LOL. Yet another mechanical fascination from day one. We had 2 1970's-vintage Eureka uprights for each floor of the house, one red, and the other blue. Of course they were called the "red vacuum" and the "blue vacuum". I LOVED the sound they made and of course was hooked on vacs instantly. One of the many reasons why I love those "blender-motor" Eurekas; each time I use my red-orange 664A it brings back a lot of memories, though I wish we had kept the two I grew up with. Of course when I was 2 years old, that vacuum didn't feel as lightweight as it does now!

I normally keep quiet about my obsession when it comes to others (both people my age I know in school and adults) unless they end up asking what my interests/hobbies are (then I end up spilling the beans of course), or in the case of relatives or family friends, they come over to visit and of course end up seeing the collection. I get a lot of strange looks when I do tell, but then I explain to them about my mechanical fixation and the fact that seeing how the transmission drives the agitator or watching the water splash around in a front-loader fascinates me...then they usually understand where I'm coming from. Most of the time they ask more questions, and I answer them! A few who I have talked more "in-depth" with about my obsession found out my strong appreciation for vintage everything, mainly because what is made now is nothing compared to what came out of the factory 50 years ago. I then mention about that the vintage machines are much more fun to use and watch compared to what they have now, and are much more stylish as well...then comes the part about the different types agitators and mechanisms and what makes them fun, etc. As long as they can get me talking I don't mind!

--Austin