I remember we had a "Lady Kenmore" drier like that one but it was made in 1966.

I have a 1938 Frigidare that still works, my grandfather got it at the same time my mother was born.

Countryford: When my parents moved to a new house in 1966 my grandfather gave them a set of GE appliances; fridge, freezer, dishwasher, washer, dryer; all in that copper brown. They didn't need the stove because there was already an early 50's GE white pushbutton one there. They still have the fridge in their basement.

I think it's worth pointing out that many of the places that sold TV's also sold appliances too. Especially in small towns. And, especially if they sold GE, Westinghouse, RCA, Philco, or Admiral.

Appliances would come out with a new design each year. They would continue making that design even though a newer design was being made. Mine for instance are a 1963 model, yet were actually produced in 1965. I can't remember exactly how many years the made the 1963 model.

Would that be the Americana? This is a GE Americana that I use out on the back patio for drinks.
http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/...psfa6c308c.jpg

No, theirs is a conventional freezer over fridge, but that's the color.

My grandmother had the sink top washer in that brown too.

I had another 63 Lady Kenmore set(same as the turquoise set) but it was in that same coppertone brown. I ended up trading a guy them for a 1954 Kenmore gas dryer in white.

And....on the other side of Kamakiri's room.... :D

From left to right, a 1949 Westinghouse refrigerator, that I'm in the process of cleaning up. Gotta love lead based paints.....just a little steel wool followed by chrome polish, and the rust (well, most of it) comes right off :)

Next is a Coldspot chest freezer that I trash picked during a snowstorm about 2 years ago, and finally, the 1938 General Electric fridge, that works great but needs a new door seal.

The second picture is what the Coldspot looked like when I got it. Pretty ugly, but it sure cleaned up nice! Sanding, epoxy primer, and paint. The inside is porcelain lined and keeps things frozen easily at -10 F.

By the way, on top of the GE is my agile modulator setup :)

My Insignia 19" flat screen TV also uses a small amount of power (under one watt) as long as it's plugged in. That's just to keep the channel memory and other functions from disappearing every time the set is turned off; the TV uses something on the order of 25 watts in normal operation. There is no way to disable the standby function short of unplugging the set from the line when not in use, so we are pretty much stuck with TVs that use power even when turned off. The "instant on" tube type televisions of the '70s had the same problem, but the feature disappeared by the end of the decade due to concerns over fire hazards, to say nothing of increased energy use even with the set off.

I would think that by the time the scrapper population exploded, most of those who were going to toss away vintage appliances had already done so, so the scrappers are less likely to get those that remain. Seems that major appliances being advertised here as being up for grabs to scrappers are never more than a few years old.

I saw a 1955 Frigidaire refrigerator at my local scrapyard Friday. It was complete and probably still worked. I tried to buy it but the scrapyard doesn't sell anything once it's in the yard.

And to think all the fine equipment in your photo there uses the same energy that one (1) mid-80s refrigerator!!!! That Westy is a real miser as my 1947 unit is.

Doesn't that make you totally sick? These scrap yard guys cannot be bought OR taught either:rant:
That old Frigidaire probably still had water dripping out of it - meaning: It was making cold before being junked.:tears:

It did make me sick. It looked like it had only recently been taken out of the house. But I did have some good luck, I found a mid 50's Frigidaire that's been in a shed for the past 30 or so years. It's on a friend's place and was working when stored, probably still does. It's a TOTL fridge, too. I'm negotiating a deal for it and I'll most likely get it soon.

Does yours have crisper drawers? I'm missing the bottom shelf in mine, and I can't seem to find a pic of what the rest of the inside *should* look like. Since I can't seem to find a shelf on ebay, I might have to make one.

Here's the inside of mine, before I started the rust cleaning :)

Frigidaire refrigerators of that era were notorious Freon leakers. My brother's Frigidaire, bought new in 1963, developed a leak after about eight years.
It froze the milk and other items in the bottom, while the freezer wouldn't get cold enough. A common indication of low charge. :sigh:

Blame the government?
 

Sadly, the scrap yards won't relinquish stuff that they have unless you have an 'in' with them... I think it's part of the government crackdown on old appliances... read also global warming... biggest bunch of money-making nonsense out there, designed to part you from your money. ..
Here in my town, it is now illegal to pick up appliances at the curb since the city now sells the scrap and tells us how much they are saving us from rising garbage rates... YET, every year rates rise and they send out a notice of what you cannot put out... yes sports fans... higher cost, less service... seems to be an American institution of late....
IMHO, but what do I know???... I'm just a dumb mechanic.... FWIW....

Not only that, I believe scrap yards are paid by the ton. Illegal to pick up curbed appliances? That's pathetic. If things were that way here, well, call me a criminal. What about all the greenhouse gases produced making all these crappy new appliances? It's more than what would be produced keeping the old ones going. Higher cost, less service is not merely a hallmark of the American government, we have plenty of it too.

Being a mechanic makes no difference as to whether someone is intelligent or not; hell, I work in a store. There are plenty out there with a lot of education but zero sense.

My Westy is a entry-level model and has no drawer at all, just the little icebox in the right center like yours. My 1951 Kelvinator TM-R does have a place for the full-width crisper drawer, which is missing:sigh:

I haven't seen old TVs or appliances on curbs here in my small town for some time (I've lived here since November 1999). The last old (?) television I saw was a flat-panel Westinghouse by the trash barrels in back of my apartment this past summer. Just as well, I guess, since I don't have room for old things here.

This is also the first I've heard of any community in this country now declaring it illegal for anyone to pick up old appliances, electronics, etc. from curbs. My town doesn't have a law like that yet, that I am aware of anyway. Those areas that do have such ordinances must have found out how much money they can get from scrap metal, copper, etc., and obviously don't know or care that these appliances can, in many cases, be repaired and used again for a few more years. Another example of the power of the almighty dollar. Tsk, tsk. :no:

Kamakiri

Here's a couple of magazine ads for Westy fridges in '49. One is for the TOTL model, and the other must be mid-line. Looks like the drawer fronts are different, but I bet they were same size, shape, etc. Maybe this helps.

http://books.google.com/books?id=dE4...erator&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=Vk4...erator&f=false

I've seen (and had chance to purchase) over a dozen vintage appliances in the last few years. I don't buy them though as I don't cook or do laundry and my folks don't want vintage appliances on the ground level of the house. There is no chance in heck I'm going to buy something that big and heavy that I'll barely use if at all and have to haul up or down stairs.

Though I could see having a GE monitor top in the basement as a drink cooler...

There is, or at least was a crappy modern dishwasher curbed across the street from me when I came home tonight. I went back outside immediately with tools to beat the scrappers to the motor. I probably got most of its metal by taking that one part.

About 5 years ago, I aquired a one-owner Whirlpool washer and dryer pair that is avocado, and was built in 1970. They are a matching set.

On the washer, I replaced the pump, inlet water valve, the motor belt, the tub snubber, and the fluorescent light in the cover.

On the dryer, I replaced the drum rollers, the belt, and the tensioner, along with the fluorescent lamp in the cover.

Absolutely no problems in over 5 years now.

One thing: There is no lid lock. I have to force myself NOT to open it and cram my head down into the spinning tub. I don't know HOW we managed to survive before lid locks.

The machine also has a mercury switch that will make the tub stop spinning, but not before I can cram my head into it. Imagine a modern machine with a working lid switch in 40+ years. I used to work on modern laundry appliances. All junk.

Oh yes, I bought a new WIG-WAG for the washer at the time, but did not install it. The OEM one cleaned up really nicely, so I have at least one spare part.

Reallllyyyy nice appliances wish I was that lucky keep the oldies running I use to have a washer like yours the best of luck to you...Timothy

I think mine was used primarily as a beer fridge, so it probably parted company with the drawers long ago.

I'll keep cruising eBay just in case, but I'm not really optimistic....

Doing laundry today...

One of the (newer) washers in my building has been pretty unstable for a long time, doing a lot of shaking when spinning. Today, a couple of very grumpy-looking women came into the laundry room, overloaded said unstable washer, which proceeded to do the most violent shaking I ever saw, moving itself farther back and rotating a little, then blowing its front panel clean off. I had to get building management on it. The drum is askew with a piece broken out of the top of the plastic tub.

Reminds me, do the drum springs on washing machines wear out? No matter how many times I level my old Maytag, I have to readjust the load about 30% of the time or it will start to BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG

On some machines it is a ball joint kinda suspension, and there is a movement limit thing. Both of these can use a lubricating to make it all work better.... And my favorite dry lubricant is chapstick, so lube up the 4 rubber balls, and that rubber/plastic movement limit and it may just work better...

The "genocide" affects newer stuff mostly - as in 1980s and newer appliances. The really old stuff tends to get spared because it looks cool, tends to work, and is usually moved to the basement/garage/man cave. Or ends up in the hands of retro enthusiasts.

Having worked as a deliveryman for Lowe's, and being a regular visitor to appliance junkyards, I can assure y'all that 90+% of the stuff being replaced is boring junk made within the last two decades. And the few vintage appliances you find in the junkyards are usually in really bad shape, already stripped of any useable parts.


-Tim

Tim, Thanks for the reality check. I was originally reacting to the Power Utilities "power hog" contest and thier shameful "recycle the oldest appliance" contest.

Normally a reasonable and mellow guy into pre-1970s anything, I became obsessed and enraged at this mis-characterization of vintage USA-built engineering marvels, so I raved to whoever would listen that old stuff was NOT inefficient and should be saved, and deserved a place somewhere in a home or business if not the kitchen.

I used to deliver appliances and TVs in the mid-80s while in college. I saw very few items of interest that we hauled back to the shop. The most memorable and gawd-awful heavy item was a 1950s Westinghouse Front-loading washer, I was a bit teary-eyed as it slipped off the hand truck and tumbled off the tailgate. Oddly enough, most returning stuff was 15-20 years old, even then! Even more ironic, new stuff made in those years was durable enough but also the most inefficient IIRC, even sporting the Gummint-mandated "Energy Guide" yellow tags.

I live near an "appliance boutique" that started as a Allis Chalmers tractor dealer in the 1930s. They sold RCA, GE and Zenith TVs but stopped around 2000.
The "junkyard area" behind the barn there is VERY BUSY but has had only a few "treasures" over the last 15 years I have been doing drive-by inspections.
I rescued one of them, a 1947 Westinghouse and its in my second kitchen for seasonal and event use.

Another crappy modern dishwasher curbed nearby last night, another swiped motor for me. All in a day's work.

Meh, dumped both motors. Almost impossible to separate either one from the pump. Newer stuff, made to be difficult if not impossible to repair. Also, the proprietary mount on one motor would make using it for other projects difficult.

Maybe one of you guys can help me. Through a freak accident, the timer dial/knob on my 1963 Frigidaire DW-DUF got broken. I have put a generic knob on for now, but would really like to find a correct replacement. It is
Ivory and Chrome, Frigidaire used this same basic knob up to the mid 70's
in black & silver and plain black, any of these would do also. The same knob was also used on their portables and says Dishmobile, that is acceptable also.
If is says push to start, it will probably be correct or close enough.

Vintage parts dealers have not turned up one so far, but you guys that visit
graveyards (all gone from my area) may spot one.

Have a pic?

No problem. The push to replace older appliances makes me cringe too.

Trading in a perfectly good appliance doesn't make much sense. Sure, you might get $50 off a new one, and save $25 more a year on your electric bill. But that doesn't really offset the cost of buying a new appliance, especially with the economy as it is. And the environmental impact of making the new appliance and scrapping the old one isn't factored in either. Plus that new fridge probably isn't built as well as your old one, and will need replacing/service more often than its replacement.

Essentially, these trade-in programs do more harm than good. Kind of like that "cash for clunkers" thing, but that's getting into politics....

Retro is taking off like never before. There's a big push to preserve mid-century American houses and goods. People will pay more for a well preserved 1950s rancher house than one with a hasty remodel.

I go to estate sales frequently, and see all kinds of old stuff sitting in basements still earning my keep. At two separate sales, I saw two identical 1950 Bendix dryers that still worked fine after more than half a century. Both were priced high, and both sold.

At one house, there was an ancient 1950s-era fridge in the basement that hadn't been touched in decades. I opened it up to find shelves of ice-cold pop that expired in 1992.

Retro stuff is everywhere, and it's being saved.


-Tim

Here's a website/forum just for vintage washers: http://www.automaticwasher.org/

It's a neat site and someone on there might have what you need.

I don't have a picture of my dial (it is in pieces), but I found this picture on the internet
and is identical to mine.
http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/6360/p3012018.jpg

As I said earlier, the same basic knob was used for many years, later versions were
black & silver or plain black. The portable models say Dishmobile on the front of the
knob.

If any of you see one or a junked machine in your travels, it would be greatly
appreciated.

I found an even better picture of the dishwasher and a close up of the dial/knob on
automaticwasher.org. See link: http://www.google.com/url?q=http://w...Fm9B0tECVGMbtw

GE range from mid 60's? Was this "Coppertone" popular before harvest gold and avocado?
http://lancaster.craigslist.org/app/4256947206.html

I think so, my parents had a house full of appliances in that color.

I believe it was the mid 50's that the appliance companies started making them in colors. In the early and mid 60's (before harvest gold and avocado) there were colors like Coppertone Brown and Turquoise. Earlier there was another brown, but it was a lighter color. I have a G.E. Americana fridge that is in Coppertone Brown, it is from about 1966. Actually tomorrow I'll be purchasing the G.E. Americana range also in Coppertone Brown.