Washing Machine Tales

I thought I'd give you the whole washing machine saga starting with 55 years ago. When you are done rolling your eyes, we will begin.

When we were first married, it was laundromat land. We lived in tiny masonite campus housing affectionately called "the shacks." They were demolished the year we moved. This is a good thing.

We moved to Michigan to a much larger house than the shack, but no washer. My Mom brought me her old Easy Spin Dryer which was how she washed all our family clothes until I was about ten. This is not that machine, but it's the exact same model. The large side is an agitator tub , then you transferred the clothes to the spin dry side. When I was a kid, we also had a separate wringer (mangle) that we would put the clothes through to get them even dryer before hanging on the line. This machine was new in the 1940s and now it's 1970 when I'm trying to use it.

If you are local, you'll remember Briggs Hardware, and Woody Briggs. He was so awesome. He had a basement room full of all kinds of parts for pretty much everything that was out of date. At least twice he helped me fix that washer until it finally gave up the ghost.

We bought one of these. It's a little Hoover Twin Tub washer that used the same principle. Wash on one side, transfer the clothes and then spin them. It hooked to a sink faucet. It worked well enough, and was adequate for two people. Mine was brown. I think it cost in the neighborhood of $55.

I just looked at the pictures of when we moved to this property, and that is the washer we brought here. However, it wasn't long after that we started taking in foster kids. There is no way you could do enough laundry for a family in that little machine. I don't remember if it died, or if we sold it. And I don't remember how we got our next machine or what kind it was. It was probably not new. I think the Griffis family from Pentwater might have gotten it for us. Roy was either still doing appliance sales and repair, or had recently switched to carpeting.

Anyway, that one really and truly died in the summer of 1977. Marie was visiting me. So we had three adults, three small boys, and an assortment of random teenagers that sometimes stayed here, usually ate here, worked on bicycles here, and generated mucho laundry.

This created a total crisis. I was doing about two loads of laundry every single day. I'm telling you all this because it led to an unusual (for me) situation. There was still a Sears catalog store in town, and they did have appliances on the floor. Instead of doing careful comparison shopping and thinking about the purchase for at least days, if not longer, Marie and I went to Sears. They had a large capacity washer on sale, and I brought it home somehow. I believe it cost $250, and I also have no idea how we got it here. I must have borrowed a truck from someone.

Anyway, that is the washer I'm still using. It has actually worked for more years than the Easy Spin Dryer.

It has had to have some serious repairs one other time. At that time, the repairman (the same one who came yesterday) said, "You want to keep this washer running as long as you can because the new ones just aren't anywhere near as good."

When he came yesterday, he said the new ones are even worse than when he was here before. He still had a few parts that would fit this one in his storage. It got a new pump and a new belt. We think it should be good for another 10 years, which is all I'll need it to last. If you can see the belt, there are a bunch of the teeth broken right out of it.

This is Steve, of AC/DC Repair Service. No web site. Call 1-888-736-7872. He's willing to actually fix your older appliances if he can get parts. He also kept my stove going when the oven failed a few years ago. And if that stove goes, I may give up cooking altogether.

Today's news is almost all research for the book. I did errands from Scottville to Ludington, went to a number of places trying to find information that I want for the book. And I took a walk. No actual writing, but I think I'm ready for the next segment.