Your first Automatic Washing machine

[ukbusdude]

It would be nice to know either your first memory of or your actual first fully automatic washing machine.
the first one my mum owned was in 1971 & it was a Philips with the soap powder dispenser at the top.
It lasted till 1989 where my great aunt owned it. A lack of programmer units had seen it off to its grave.
I found a picture of it on this forum & here it is below. Note how the bottom front end slopes outwards.

 

[chachp]

I was born in 54.

My first recollection was a Whirlpool Automatic Washer and Dryer. I don't know the model numbers but I remember there was a big square button in front that lighted up when the washer was running and you pushed that button to open the door. It was a top loader. The control panel was lighted all the way across with a fluorescent tube. It used to buzz when it was in the final spin. Being a little kid when that thing would buzz and sometimes shake a little in the final spin I would think it was a monster coming after me. As I recall, the dryer was basically the same only the door was in the front.

Ha I found a thread with the picture of the dryer! The washer was almost identical. Boy that brings back some good memories. Thanks for asking.

1950s Whirlpool Imperial Dryer

This nice whirlpool dryer is at Grays Appliance in Melrose Mass if anyone would like it. I dont think they want much they sold an old Maytag dryer to a member not long ago.Ask for Brian.

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[optima]

First Autowasher

Our 1st Autowasher was this 800rpm TI Creda way back in 1979

 

[pulsator]

Here's me!

This is me and the washer that started it all for me. This picture was taken on the day is was hauled away and replaced with a near TOL DD Kenmore. I miss both machines now!

 

[ukbusdude]

Hey thanks CHACHP, it would seem Whirlpool has been around for many years.
Shame you don't have pics of the washing machine.

And OMG I so forgot about the very ultra handsome Creda washing machines.
I would so love to see more pics of them & like the Bendix Auto Washers I'd love to own a Creda.
I find that model was so ahead of its time when it came to design & technology too.
Mind you i was blown away by my mum when she brought a Hoover keymatic Deluxe 800.
Just imagine, square plates for programmes, I was in ore of it & the clicking noises it made, cool.

 

[washman]

Pulsator that WH

is the exact twin to my mothers! Anyway, my first washer I owned was a 1999 GE Profile I bought at my local Wards. It died this year. And you can probably guess what the replacement was.

 

[aquacycle]

The first machine I remember my Mum having was a Zanussi S218T from 1979 (or thereabouts, based on info from my Mum that she bought it when my brother was born). We had this until 1993 when it was replaced with an Electra 1200 Electronic Deluxe - horrendous machine. Written off after just 2 years and replaced in 1995 when a Zanussi FJ1295. That died of bearing failure in 2006 and was replaced with a Bendix BIW105W, which remained until 2011 when it was included in the sale of Mums house.

After I moved out of my Mum's in 2008, I had a brief period with a Beko WMA510 that belonged to a rented flat, before I bought my Miele W562.

Here is a timeline of machines I've owned, minus the Beko.

NB: only the Bendix and the Miele are the actual machines I had, the others are images found online.

 

[aquacycle]

Another shot of the S218T - again, not my pic.

 

[aquacycle]

My Grandma had a Hotpoint 18371 and the matching dryer

 

[keymatic]

The first washer I remember my mum using...good thread !!
Keith

 

[norgeway]

The first one...

My folks had, Grandmother bought in 55, it was a Frigidaire Pulsamatic, it lasted until 69 when it was replaced with a Frigidaire Custom Deluxe, WCDAN, which lasted until the mid 80s and then we got a Maytag.....which probably explains my dislike for Maytags, it was a LEMON!! and I mean a BIG lemon!!LOL..I still remember Mother holding me up so I could see the repairman working on the Pulsamatic, I remember him saying it would be 60.00 to fix it and Mother saying, well, its 15 years old, Ill just get a new one!I was 4 years old and I can remember it like yesterday.

 

[turquoisedude]

The first automatic I ever used was my parent's 1964 BOL GE V-12. I remember the blue console and the toggle switches fondly!

My own first automatic was a 1984 or 1985 Kenmore apartment-size convertible. In my apartment it was rolled to the sink and I had to manually turn on or off the hot and cold water. When I bought a house a couple of years later, I was able to hook it up permanently to the hot and cold water supply - that was a real treat, since the washer was in the basement... LOL

 

[paulc]

I bought my mum her first automatic in 1986 when I left home at 17, it was a BOL Ariston similar to the picture except it had a brown facia and two option switches. (Picture originally posted by ariston4life). The first automatic I owned was a reconditioned Bendix 7133.

 

[DADoES]

 
The '62 Whirly.  Same console design as this one from archives of Darren/Aldspinboy, our model added three water levels.

The companion dryer was a couple years newer, had a gray/putty console color instead of blue.

 

[washerlover]

We had a '62 Frigidaire Custom Deluxe washer and a mid-50s Maytag dryer. The machine that really got me going was my Grandma's '62 Montgomery Ward Signature BOL machine. The sounds that thing made were intoxicating! (this was before the Norge "clunk" brake system) Burp-a-lator filter, overflow rinse, loud timer, pump that sounded like milking a cow... ran like tank until '75. My Grandma passed away a few years earlier and my Mom's Frigidaire died so she began using the Wards machine. We lived in an area that had a lot of rust/iron in the water, so the final spin/spray rinse in a solid tub machine turned white sheets, etc. into a rusty tie-dye and she opted to get rid of it. We replaced with a '75 Wards MOL machine and I remember when we first ran a load, we were astonished at the NOISE! But I loved that machine, too, and still have two Wards/Norge machines in my collection.

 

[arbilab]

A double-door no-boot slant-front gearbox Westinghouse with the 'earthquake' spin solenoid. The background picture here is what it morphed into about 15 years later. I replaced the timer when I was 9. Unsupervised.

 

[chestermikeuk]

Servis Slimline MK308 - 1978

with matching model MK309 tumble dryer...purchased in 1978 after 16yrs with a Servis MK2 Supertwin Twintub, washing for a family of 6 at least 3 times a week.
Look at that style for the era, talk about geometrics but it was the height of fashion at the time....

Hi Andy , welcome to the club, a great thread to start with, the Philips is about one of the rarest washers so was a classic to be introduced to!!

 

[jetcone]

My first washer

Our 1956 GE filter flo. Great machine, love all the noises it makes especially the groans as the tub fills.

 

 

 

[mikeklondon]

Philips Auto

Hi Bus dude

The 1st automatic I remember in my family was a Thor, semi auto. Then very 1st automatic I bought myself when I left home was the Philips same model as the one in your picture. Really good machine and I sold it with the flat when I moved. God I just thought about it I was 17 then, I can’t remember how much I paid but it was a lot of money, I got it in Arding & Hobbs Sale with my Christmas bonus. Good god thinking about that made me feel REALLY old, but brought back some very happy memories and reminded me I must give an old friend a ring. Long story but I don't have any pictures going back past the 20 years so it was really nice to see a picture of this machine from my past again.