Why does everyone think Westinghouse is so great?

[mrcleanjeans]

Well.the tradition starts again. I just had to ask. Westinghouse appliances were wonderful, and yes of course were fun,but began to cheapen in about the mid 1970s,then really went to hell when WCI (you know Woo-cee)took them over.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Wussy?
LOL. Again, a great mock-name!

The only Westinghouse in my family was a 1955 fridge that survived until 1991 when it was evicted and sent the curb. Still ran great!

Westinghouse was created by someone that was with GE. He and Edison (I think it was Edsion himself) had a falling-out over managment stye, practices, structure. I think we can all see GE was run just a bit better and endured!

 

[toggleswitch2]

I can't find evidence at this moment of the split over managment styles, but only found this....

War of the currents - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[norgeway]

BUT!!!

Look at a westinghouse range or refrigerator from the 50s or 60s, they are much heavier and better built than G.E.

 

[mr_jms]

Westinghouse

In May, 1985, I purchased a top of the line front-loading washer with matching dryer. Both machines had pushbuttons on the rear console, washer had bleach and fabric softner dispensers. The machines worked perfectly for 20+ years. I rented the house and just a couple of years ago the tennant replaced the pair with other machines. Not sure what happened to the Westinghouse pair...he didn't say.

 

[bajaespuma]

Uh,

No one thinks Westinghouse is so great.

In 1969, for some reason, Consumer Reports rated the Westinghouse washer #2, right underneath the venerable Maytag A606(and two rungs above the venerable A206). IIRC that was the last and only time that happened. I always thought their "Lost in Space" fabric softener dispenser looked kind of kool, but they were unremarkable cleaners, lousy extractors and, if it weren't for the "Weigh-to-Save" lid feature, not noteworthy.

 

[turquoisedude]

Westinghouse served our family well!

Growing up, we had quite a few Westinghouse appliances that were rebadged as store brands here in Canada. We had a workhorse of Westinghouse top-load impeller-wash dishwasher (a Viking rebrand) that we had from 1966 until I foolishly tossed it in 1989 when I moved into a house with a built-in dishwasher... We had a Baycrest (Hudson Bay Co) rebadged range and refrigerator that were bought in 1974 and were still working when sold in 2006!
Some questionable ones were a 1960 Westinghouse range that was in a house we acquired - it featured a "Blue Flash" broiler unit so we sent that one to the crusher quickly... LOL
I also had a matched Westinghouse washer/dryer set for about a year until the washer started spewing oil onto clothes, so I tossed it and sold the dryer... Yep, I still regret that!
And of course, I have always loved the Westy slant-front washer and dryer which just scream "vintage"! I hope to find out the L5 washes very shortly!!!

 

[lotsosudz]

Westinghouse Fryer

My family had a 55-56 Westy dryer. That thing was a beast. It seemed to eat thermostats. we had it until about 1969, and probably went through about 4 thermostats. It would also decide on monday mornings to not heat when you needed your gym suit to be dry for school, but quite often would fry your clothes any other day of the week. The timer went out, and we used it that way until it finally bellied up, and was replaced. The other bad habit it had, was to run 240V through you, even though the ba***rd was properly grounded. When it went to the great poop pile in the sky, I did a little dance as I was the one it liked to shock the most.

 

[mrcleanjeans]

I thought their dishwashers were great until the mid 70s.Then they got rid of the filtering system, replacing it with a so called soft food disposer which was simply a snap out course
food strainer and at that point put very large holes on the wash arm and redsigned the power turret-tower,all not for the better. In 1976 tests they were dead last in the ratings of Confusion Reports-who happened to be right on this one.

 

[appliguy]

ToggleSwitch.... Westinghouse and GE were NEVER associated..

George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison were RIVALS!!!!!...George Westinghouse started the Westinghouse Electric Co. in 1886 to advocate a new kind of current called alternating current which had been developed at Westinghouse by Nichola Tesla in the form of an electric motor. Edison had invented direct current in the form of the light bulb. AC current is superior to DC current becasue it can be produced miles form a customer and sent to them over high tension wires where DC current can only go a few blocks before it starts to lose its power and needs to be boosted by a power station. This fact also makes AC power cheaper to produce than DC power. Edison and Westinghouse got in a huge battle of over which current was superior, AC vs. DC. By 1889 one of Edison's consultants even went to the point of advocating the legal use of AC power for state electrocution and strongly reccomended the use of Westinghouse alternerators for the purpose.. When tha was accomplished Edison launched a smear campaign trying to associate AC current with death. Of course this did not work as the public eventually came to see AC power as less threatening and its attributes became more popular and won out in the end. In turn Edison's backers eventually turned on him. In 1889 Edison Electric was reorganized as Edison General Electric. In 1892 Edison General Electric was merged with Thomson-Huston Electric Co. to form General Electric. At this point Thomson-Huston's President Charles Coffin became president of General Electric and Thomas Edison was shuffled to the back of the company.

THE INFORMATION IN THIS POST COMES FORM THE BOOK GROOVY KITCHEN DEISGNS FOR COLLECTORS 1935-1965 BY MICHAEL J. GOLDBERG

PAT COFFEY

 

[norgeway]

Dryer and Fridge

We had a 52 slant front dryer that ran till about 80 and a 50 fridge that we used till 72, my uncle took to his cabin in Montana and was still working when he sold the property about 5 years ago,I wish he would have brought it back,I would still have it,if he had, Westinghouse refrigerators would keep ice cream hard,Frigidaires and G.Es would not,im talking about early 50s and late 40s models,with one door,not ones with seperate freezer compartments,they were almost silent too,my aunt still has her first fridge, a 55 top of the line Westinghouse,never seen a serviceman,still going.

 

[mrcleanjeans]

Westinghouse appliances were generally superior-in the 1950s that is.

 

[mrcleanjeans]

In the 50s-Westinghouse appliaces overall were superior in quality and workmanship.

 

[rp2813]

My parents bought a new Westy stove (model E64-49) and fridge (model D9-49) in 1949. The fridge (long ago relegated to the garage) gave up a few years ago during a heat wave. 55 years of service out of that one. The stove has been in continuous use and is still fully functional, currently cranking out meals in the kitchen of a fellow AW member who took it off my hands about a year ago. My guess is that the 60th anniversary of its deployment happened about a month ago. And then there's the cute little '39 Westy fridge (model H3-39 IIRC) that I had for many years, which quit last summer just shy of hitting 70 years of continuous service.

I think Westinghouse was still a quality badge up until the 70's or so but it seems fewer of their vintage machines have survived compared to other big names.

And what's not great about a vintage slantfront laundry pair?

 

[launderess]

Had A Vintage Westinghouse Iron

That lasted ages, well until one dropped it one to many times and it gave up the ghost.

In their heyday, Westinghouse appliances were quite good, and performed well. After all you can be sure if it's WESTINGHOUSE!

Methinks also many consumers must have felt if the electric power people built an electric appliance it must be good. After all they "invented" electric power, didn't they?