A selection of antique washing machines from the collection of Lee Maxwell near Eaton, Colo.
Back in the April 2018 issue of Farm Collector, there was a nice article on Patrick Everett’s Maytag washer collection. He said, “Most of the stories are lost or forgotten over time.” How true — unless you lived through that time.
Back in 1949, my grandmother Allen bought a new Maytag J2 washing machine with the famous Maytag 72 twin-cylinder engine. It was bought in Winsted, Connecticut, from Park Place Hardware and Appliance.
She lived in a house that had a walkout basement and she had a washtub sink. The Maytag washer was in the room and she would have the long exhaust hose go out a partially opened window into a bucket of water.
I loved to watch her do her wash and sit by the washer. She always did two loads and it was a thrill for me at age 15. She used it until 1965 when she died. It makes me sad to know the washer went to the dump in running condition. I am so lucky to have the manuals and paper to this wonderful memory.
I would greatly enjoy seeing pictures of all gas-powered washing machines. Maytag washers are the most plentiful and popular, but I would like to see others as well. Briggs and Stratton made many models of stationary gasoline engines specifically for washing machine use.
William Rogers, Hannacroix, New York
Send letters to Farm Collector Editorial, 1503 SW 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609; fax: (785) 274-4385; email: editor@farmcollector.com; online at: www.farmcollector.com.