I think Desi’s suits were beautiful his hats, too. but the suits always seemed one size too big, or off the rack. They looked great but never seemed tailored to fit well…maybe he just had a plump body without much shape?
So this was 1959. That's amazing. Throughout the 70s I remember some people still having old rounded refrigerators, which I assumed were from the 50s. But I guess they could have been from the 40s. This is pretty cool. I always loved the interaction among those characters too. Good stuff. I'm glad these old recordings have survived.
My mom bought me a portable dishwasher in 1992, which I still have. The '75 equivalent would have been 1945. When I think in those terms, I feel old. Prices for comparable appliances really haven't gone up that much in the last 60 years. That dishwasher and washing machine would be a little more than double, now. I make just about 10 times as much as my first full year out of college in the late 80s.
Nowadays, all refrigerators have a magnetic closure unlike the older models which the doors latched closed. My paternal grandparents had one such icebox at their home. Very likely, any child could play hide and seek by hiding within such an appliance ans, being UNABLE to get out of it, likely to die of suffocation. Possibly, today, it is a liability issue for today's manufacturers.
My grandmother had one of those old rounded refrigerators from the 1930s with a tiny freezer at the top.. But in the 1950s they were sleek like the ones we have today except they lasted longer.
About the time this commercial was made, my parents bought a new Philco refrigerator with square corners and "sold" their old rounded corners Kenmore refrigerator to family friends for $5. The friends moved away about 10 years later, taking the Kenmore with them.
I think what many and like yourself also missed is that much of our appliances were made here! Not in some far away country. Thanks to the bidenomics many of you don’t realize that support for that side is why we are no longer independent. Thus, why our appliances and other products are so cheaply made
I'm sorry, but my circa 1949 Philco Advance Design refrigerator stopped working in 2023. It needs a recharge and new gasket. After only 74 years of service. 😂😂😂 Edit: I'm 72 and still doing okay, however. 👍
That 1949 refrigerator reminded me of the one my parents had until my sister broke it when defrosting it in 1970. Yet, up to that time my dad spent thousands on a hi-fi stereo console system and newer upscale cars to impress the neighbors, but, he deprived his family of the convenience of a modern refrigerator with a separate frost-free freezer compartment until 1970. It was paradoxical until one understood that some American men, of that era, were prone to be flashy with showing-off material items; where a newer model refrigerator/freezer was not flashy to show off.
In the early 1980s, I ordered a new white refrigerator from Sears. Twice, it was delivered laying on its side in the truck and, consequently, didn't work. The third time delivery was attempted, the refrigerator was also on its side and I refused delivery. Then, I bought a used brown refrigerator from a Pennysaver ad and picked it up myself. I left it in the apartment when I bought a house with a refrigerator in 1991. Sometimes used is okay but Fred seemed to have bad luck buying used things - like the 1924? Cadillac he bought when the foursome were driving to Hollywood.
OMG I love that washer, and the dishwasher on wheels is amazing -- didn't even know that was a possibility. And yeah, the commercial is super witty and they all look amazing. Thanks so much for sharing this.
My Aunt Shirley had one of those portable dishwashers. The advantage was there was no need to remodel your kitchen to incorporate it into the cabinets. You rolled it up to the sink, fit the water connection over the faucet and the drain hose over the sink, plugged it in, turned it on. A bit cumbersome and you still had to have someplace to put it when not in use.
One of the selling-points of the portable dishwasher was that you could roll it into the Dining Room, right up to the table, and load the soiled dishes and silverware directly into it. It was annoying because you could not use your kitchen sink while it was running.
We had a Maytag portable dishwasher for years. It sounded like Niagra Falls when it was running but it washed all the dishes and pots and pans beautifully.
Since 1956 we are only on our 3rd refrigerator. Thank God we don't have to buy new fridges every 5 years. Betty Furness was one of those early TV personalities that everyone loved.
Similar to my mom. Until she moved to a senior living independent attached home in 2015 (where the fridge was provided), she only had 3 refrigerators: a 1959 GE when my parents got married, then a 1982 fridge (the '59 expired!), then a 2000 (the 1982 was still working but went to a new house and into the garage).
This was featured at the end of "Lucy's Summer Vacation" [June 8, 1959] on "THE WESTINGHOUSE LUCILLE BALL-DESI ARNAZ SHOW" {repeats were titled "THE LUCY-DESI COMEDY HOUR"}.
I think that's part of the Westinghouse marketing.. if you didn't think much about the price you could be led to think that prices were better in 1959 vs 1949..
Mom bought a 4 burner, double oven, double broiler, griddle in the middle Wedgwood gas stove shortly after WWII. And, then, we moved to an area without gas service. Dad wanted to leave the stove behind. Mom told him that she had bought the stove with money she earned during the war and that he could go wherever the h*ll he wanted to without it.
That’s why they lasted forever and were better build because they were that expensive. At that point in time a hundred dollars was close to the modern equivalent of a thousand dollars now. A new appliance was as a used car so yes people got excited about buying a new one.
@@jamesreynolds5776 they were already starting to streamline the production and lowering the cost to make them plus in 1949 it was still the postwar buyers market ( money they saved during the war) and all the prewar appliances were worn out so they were less concerned about the price they were just happy to be able to buy new ones again. By the late 1950’s they had to reduce prices to get consumers to buy or add features to make them think they needed to buy new ones.
I was a baby when my parents bought a chest freezer in 1959. That freezer lasted all the way through my childhood and my college years and beyond. I wound up selling that chest freezer along with a small refrigerator for 100 bucks ten years ago when we moved my mother out of her house and into a home. I suspect that the freezer is still going strong and maybe the reefer too. I only wish I could have taken the fridge we had in the kitchen with me to my apartment but I doubt it would have fit. The kitchen fridge was a late 70’s model built really well and included an ice maker! It shows my parents bought for quality and not just the name. Longevity makes all the difference.
Love this! I wonder if this was written where Ricky and Fred were separate from Lucy and Ethel because Lucy and Desi were separated and headed to divorce at this point. Not to mention the fact that Vivian and William despised one another.
@@Lizzypoohxo After I Love Lucy they did 13 special hour-long episodes of The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show (aka The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour) over 3 seasons. These specials were part of the Desilu Westinghouse Playhouse series and featured Ball, Arnaz, Vance, and Frawley as their "Lucy" characters. They were estranged during those years and had lots of arguments and shouting on the set. This caused a lot of tension and stress for everyone working on the specials. Lucy filed for divorce the day after they filmed what would be the last special. It was the last time that The Ricardos and Mertzes were ever portrayed. Lucy and Desi never worked together again though they did manage to get on good terms and remained very close to each other. Lucy was taping episodes of the game show Super Password on the day Desi died in 1986. Betty White was the other celebrity player taping episodes that day and she has said that Lucy performed well while the cameras were rolling but was taking it hard during breaks. There are some youtube videos of those episodes and you can tell Lucy just doesn't seem herself (public self at least) at all.
In the mid 1960s my aunt had an old refrigerator that would--occasionally shock the fire out of you when you grabbed the handle to open it. It was entertainment to watch people go to the refrigerator and see if they'd get bit!
Why would anybody want to stay here forever? I'm sure those who have gone before us are very happy where they have moved on to....as we all will be too. We're meant to only be here temporary and I think that's a good thing because there's lots of other places to go to after this! :)
These were the good old days .......even the appliances were made to last you got 20 years out of most of the appliances back then ......also the cars were made better not like today everything is plastic not made to last so you have to keep buying a new one and much more expensive !!!
Too bad prices ain't this good anymore. Back then in 1959, these were considered expensive. Now it's cheap. The same type of washer or fridge is at least $1800.
I just ordered a French door GE. No matter what you get there's usually something negative about it. I hope it turns out better than I think it will. I don't like change.
People where so stylish when shopping for appliances in 1959. Not like today when people show up in pajama bottoms, sliders, T-shirts and baseball caps for church. Good taste and good fashion went out with the Kennedy Administration.
Eduardo Ramirez, it’s just a damn shame nobody impeached JFK for causing people to go shopping in pajamas. Especially when trump gets impeached for the petty little matter of trying to sabotage the election!… Seriously, if your understanding of presidents is so shallow as to try to make partisan such a nonsensical matter, then please stop trolling a video.
I know what you mean. When we used to go to church up to 1979 when I started college, the men were dressed in suits and ties and the women mostly wore nice dresses. About 10 years ago I went to my friend's church services and people were coming in T-shirts and shorts and sandals. Well, I guess I can't complain too much about sandals, after all, didn't Jesus wear sandals? LOL
Check out people in 1940s and 50s baseball stands and see how nicely people are dressed, Now they dress like slobs. And check out some You Tube People of Wal Mart videos. People shop in barely there outfits, exposing body parts that shouldn't be exposed, Massive amounts of flesh pouring out, some of them really should be arrested for indecent exposure.
1949 On 29 August 1949, the Soviet Union secretly conducted its first successful weapon test (First Lightning, based on the American "Fat Man" design) at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan.
Yeah, and you'll be lucky if you get a 3-5 year run with today's appliances. My mom and dad bought a new Frigidaire refrigerator in 1963. After my parents passed away, my brother and I put their home up for sale. Part of the sale of the house was that Frigidaire which had been moved out to the garage. This was in 1999 and after 36 years that refrigerator was still working.
Sir, how long will it last? There is a frig that was my Grandparents in the Garage. Guess what? it still works. It's round and the handle was hard to pull.
I remember my parents purchasing the same refrigerator...no more old Coldspot ....that refrigerator found its way in the basement and it kept food just as cold except it wasn't frost-free.
When the same people producing the show are also producing the commercial, they can cut it to fill what ever time they want. They can even write the show script a little short if they want. It's not like today when every commerical has to fit in a :15, :30, or 1:00 minute slot.
Good question. In the mid-century many hones still did not have modular cabinetry as well as space to set in a permanent dishwasher nor the plumbing needed to set a permanent set. Dishwashers were also not considered a left in place appliance if a household sold their home or moved (renting.) They were considered a family appliance that you took with you mainly due to the fact that $300 was a lot of money then. (It still is today to plenty of us. Lol) So having an appliance you could move and store at your convenience (my great grams kept her's in pantries throughout many apts in the New York area. ) was easy enough to manage, as well as light enough for moving day ( Annual relocation was a major part of life for a good portion of the population. ) yet also sturdy and lasting were all major selling points on a dishwasher.
@@grootgroove9529 My parents got rid of a cabinet between the stove and the refrigerator to make room for a portable dishwasher back in the early sixties. A portable dishwasher lived in that same spot for almost fifty years. . .
Imagine you have a small kitchen and don't have any cabinet space you want to give up. We had the roll about model. You simply rolled in front of your sink and hooked one gadget (double hose) to your sink spigot. That took water in from the spigot through one hose and emptied water to the sink through the other hose. Ideally, anyone would prefer the built in model but if that wasn't an option, this worked like a portable kitchen island because the top became a countertop.
That is a $3,578 refrigerator taking 65 years of inflation into account. You can get a Frigidaire 13 cu. ft refrigerator, more efficient, for $580 at Best Buy today. (No, I don't work for either Frigidaire or Best Buy and am not endorsing either. Just an example.) And people are complaining about how expensive things are today?
That quick cutting back and forth between scenes to make a funny joke is brilliant. Betty Furness’ mid-atlantic dialect makes me laugh like all fads do. I love clear and proper speaking voices, but she sounds exaggerated and fake.
@@Robert08010 that is because you are used to it since you grew up there, maybe? It sounds pretentious and embarrassing and totally fake to most Americans. I guess in the US, you’re never good enough as-is, and you have to fake it…it is very sad.
@@Mister_Listener Let's just straighten you out right here. YOU don't get to be embarrassed for what you perceive as someone else's flaws. That's pretentious and rude. YOU are only embarrassing YOURSELF by your own attitude. Frankly, I love the various accents around the US except for that god awful valley girl mess but I'm usually too polite to bring that up. This woman's accent is classic and you're just ... Oh... I just realized you're a troll. Go back under your bridge and if I need you're services, I'll bring you a shrubbery.
She said about $50.00 les than 1949 price of $300, so about $250.00. That's about $2,200.00 in today's dollars. Of course, they were built to last and built in the USA then.
Yes! Very true about the true cost of items back then. Nowadays when people marvel at what appears to be bargain prices back in a by-gone era, they don't factor in what the wages were for that same era.
Their sense of 'progress' is hard to understand from the point of view of 2024. We live in a world they could not have imagined in their worst dystopia science fiction novels.
Seeing Desi Arnaz in these film clips, I always marvel at how well styled and tailored his suits were, which nearly put a timeless quality to them.
Yes! Wasn’t he always dressed with class and elegance? Timeless.
I like Fred's better.
I'm hoping, people could dress nice again 😊
Especially the women
@Jean Carroll they rarely do..however, I think midi dresses should at least make a partial comeback
I think Desi’s suits were beautiful his hats, too. but the suits always seemed one size too big, or off the rack. They looked great but never seemed tailored to fit well…maybe he just had a plump body without much shape?
So this was 1959. That's amazing. Throughout the 70s I remember some people still having old rounded refrigerators, which I assumed were from the 50s. But I guess they could have been from the 40s. This is pretty cool. I always loved the interaction among those characters too. Good stuff. I'm glad these old recordings have survived.
My mom bought me a portable dishwasher in 1992, which I still have. The '75 equivalent would have been 1945. When I think in those terms, I feel old. Prices for comparable appliances really haven't gone up that much in the last 60 years. That dishwasher and washing machine would be a little more than double, now. I make just about 10 times as much as my first full year out of college in the late 80s.
Nowadays, all refrigerators have a magnetic closure unlike the older models which the doors latched closed. My paternal grandparents had one such icebox at their home.
Very likely, any child could play hide and seek by hiding within such an appliance ans, being UNABLE to get out of it, likely to die of suffocation. Possibly, today, it is a liability issue for today's manufacturers.
there is one in the garage I grew up in. And it was my Grandparents. It still works!!!! Has that handled that you really had to pull on to open
My grandmother had one of those old rounded refrigerators from the 1930s with a tiny freezer at the top.. But in the 1950s they were sleek like the ones we have today except they lasted longer.
About the time this commercial was made, my parents bought a new Philco refrigerator with square corners and "sold" their old rounded corners Kenmore refrigerator to family friends for $5. The friends moved away about 10 years later, taking the Kenmore with them.
It's amazing how we enjoy old commercials.
I never saw this before, I'm happy I did.
They missed the most important feature unknown back then, that those appliances would last for years and years.....unlike today's!
My SubZero has a 25 yr warranty
I purchased a black and white tv set made by Sears roebuck and it's all tube and still works
And MADE IN NORTH America
I think what many and like yourself also missed is that much of our appliances were made here! Not in some far away country. Thanks to the bidenomics many of you don’t realize that support for that side is why we are no longer independent. Thus, why our appliances and other products are so cheaply made
I'm sorry, but my circa 1949 Philco Advance Design refrigerator stopped working in 2023. It needs a recharge and new gasket. After only 74 years of service. 😂😂😂
Edit: I'm 72 and still doing okay, however. 👍
That 1949 refrigerator reminded me of the one my parents had until my sister broke it when defrosting it in 1970. Yet, up to that time my dad spent thousands on a hi-fi stereo console system and newer upscale cars to impress the neighbors, but, he deprived his family of the convenience of a modern refrigerator with a separate frost-free freezer compartment until 1970. It was paradoxical until one understood that some American men, of that era, were prone to be flashy with showing-off material items; where a newer model refrigerator/freezer was not flashy to show off.
Daddy issues.
Both men and women do this stuff, sorry.
It's sadly so easy to puncture a coolant tube when defrosting with a screwdriver or ice pick! Did your Mom tell her that?
What a nice blast from the past.
That washing machine is so cool, I LOVE the way it chimes when it's finishes washing
Them good ol’ days when everything seemed to be still okay. 👍🏻😉
Well...it wasn't but most of us like to think that way, esp if we were kids then.
@@marysheeran519 The lack of internet and social media meant that we just didn't have as much info.
After the commercial was filmed, Fred went out and bought Ethel a USED refrigerator from Honest Al's Appliance Mart.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
😮
In the early 1980s, I ordered a new white refrigerator from Sears. Twice, it was delivered laying on its side in the truck and, consequently, didn't work. The third time delivery was attempted, the refrigerator was also on its side and I refused delivery. Then, I bought a used brown refrigerator from a Pennysaver ad and picked it up myself. I left it in the apartment when I bought a house with a refrigerator in 1991. Sometimes used is okay but Fred seemed to have bad luck buying used things - like the 1924? Cadillac he bought when the foursome were driving to Hollywood.
@@RobertJarecki It's a convertable!!!
@@Robert08010 Yes, it was a convertible! And a Cadillac, too! Much more prestigious than that Pontiac convertible that Ricky bought!
OMG I love that washer, and the dishwasher on wheels is amazing -- didn't even know that was a possibility. And yeah, the commercial is super witty and they all look amazing. Thanks so much for sharing this.
My Aunt Shirley had one of those portable dishwashers. The advantage was there was no need to remodel your kitchen to incorporate it into the cabinets. You rolled it up to the sink, fit the water connection over the faucet and the drain hose over the sink, plugged it in, turned it on. A bit cumbersome and you still had to have someplace to put it when not in use.
D ODay
I think that sounds amazing! I was wondering how it worked. I can't believe they aren't still an option. I would totally have one.
@@cwbrooks5329 They are still widely available, and cost about the same as built ins.
One of the selling-points of the portable dishwasher was that you could roll it into the Dining Room, right up to the table, and load the soiled dishes and silverware directly into it.
It was annoying because you could not use your kitchen sink while it was running.
We had a Maytag portable dishwasher for years. It sounded like Niagra Falls when it was running but it washed all the dishes and pots and pans beautifully.
Since 1956 we are only on our 3rd refrigerator. Thank God we don't have to buy new fridges every 5 years. Betty Furness was one of those early TV personalities that everyone loved.
Similar to my mom. Until she moved to a senior living independent attached home in 2015 (where the fridge was provided), she only had 3 refrigerators: a 1959 GE when my parents got married, then a 1982 fridge (the '59 expired!), then a 2000 (the 1982 was still working but went to a new house and into the garage).
This was featured at the end of "Lucy's Summer Vacation" [June 8, 1959] on "THE WESTINGHOUSE LUCILLE BALL-DESI ARNAZ SHOW" {repeats were titled "THE LUCY-DESI COMEDY HOUR"}.
The prices actually seem high to me for ‘59, much less ‘49. No wonder it was a big deal when my parents bought a stove.
I think that's part of the Westinghouse marketing.. if you didn't think much about the price you could be led to think that prices were better in 1959 vs 1949..
In 1998 we paid $320. For my Maytag washer and d4yer. Washer still working. Those prices Back in 49 59. We’re very very high.
Mom bought a 4 burner, double oven, double broiler, griddle in the middle Wedgwood gas stove shortly after WWII.
And, then, we moved to an area without gas service. Dad wanted to leave the stove behind. Mom told him that she had bought the stove with money she earned during the war and that he could go wherever the h*ll he wanted to without it.
That’s why they lasted forever and were better build because they were that expensive. At that point in time a hundred dollars was close to the modern equivalent of a thousand dollars now. A new appliance was as a used car so yes people got excited about buying a new one.
@@jamesreynolds5776 they were already starting to streamline the production and lowering the cost to make them plus in 1949 it was still the postwar buyers market ( money they saved during the war) and all the prewar appliances were worn out so they were less concerned about the price they were just happy to be able to buy new ones again. By the late 1950’s they had to reduce prices to get consumers to buy or add features to make them think they needed to buy new ones.
1:25: With inflation, that fridge would cost over $3600 today.
And most fridges are not cheap today, but no where near $3600!
i just saw an 18.1 cu foot at best buy for $499!
I was a baby when my parents bought a chest freezer in 1959. That freezer lasted all the way through my childhood and my college years and beyond. I wound up selling that chest freezer along with a small refrigerator for 100 bucks ten years ago when we moved my mother out of her house and into a home. I suspect that the freezer is still going strong and maybe the reefer too. I only wish I could have taken the fridge we had in the kitchen with me to my apartment but I doubt it would have fit. The kitchen fridge was a late 70’s model built really well and included an ice maker! It shows my parents bought for quality and not just the name. Longevity makes all the difference.
Women looked so elegant and ladylike back then!
329 in 1949 was more than $3500 today! That's insane. Definitely for the upper and upper middle classes.
cost more than most used cars!
Ricky Ricardo was an Orchestra Leader and could probably afford it!
These prices are very high for 1949.
Enjoyed!
But are the prices low enough for Fred?
I laughed inappropriately loud at this.
And are the trade-in allowances high enough?
Fred would gripe at 1929 prices. LoL
🤣🤣🤣🤣
No
Appliances were quite expensive back then. I guess this was considered new technology.
Love this! I wonder if this was written where Ricky and Fred were separate from Lucy and Ethel because Lucy and Desi were separated and headed to divorce at this point. Not to mention the fact that Vivian and William despised one another.
That's interesting. Didn't Lucy and Desi work together for a while during and after the divorce? Maybe only because of contracts though
@@Lizzypoohxo After I Love Lucy they did 13 special hour-long episodes of The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show (aka The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour) over 3 seasons. These specials were part of the Desilu Westinghouse Playhouse series and featured Ball, Arnaz, Vance, and Frawley as their "Lucy" characters. They were estranged during those years and had lots of arguments and shouting on the set. This caused a lot of tension and stress for everyone working on the specials. Lucy filed for divorce the day after they filmed what would be the last special. It was the last time that The Ricardos and Mertzes were ever portrayed. Lucy and Desi never worked together again though they did manage to get on good terms and remained very close to each other. Lucy was taping episodes of the game show Super Password on the day Desi died in 1986. Betty White was the other celebrity player taping episodes that day and she has said that Lucy performed well while the cameras were rolling but was taking it hard during breaks. There are some youtube videos of those episodes and you can tell Lucy just doesn't seem herself (public self at least) at all.
Ricky and Ethel were dating at this point.
The end was near for Lucy and Desi by this point.
Maybe that's why they were never on the screen at the same time in this!
In the mid 1960s my aunt had an old refrigerator that would--occasionally shock the fire out of you when you grabbed the handle to open it. It was entertainment to watch people go to the refrigerator and see if they'd get bit!
Nobody ever considered putting on a oven mit?
@@Robert08010 What would be the memorable fun of that? We anticipated what would happen with every opening of the fridge door--like a lottery!
The ones I remember from that era had a wringer on the top of it since it did not have a spin cycle then!
It is beyond sad how time kills everyone.
David Brown I sooooo agree.....ain't none of us making it out of here alive....it's really sad
Meaning we lost an age of classiness and hope for the future. Sad how we have evolved
I'm realizing that it's the worst part of getting older. Very sad yet inevitable
Why would anybody want to stay here forever? I'm sure those who have gone before us are very happy where they have moved on to....as we all will be too. We're meant to only be here temporary and I think that's a good thing because there's lots of other places to go to after this! :)
@@Christopher070
You have an extremely valid point...but lots of places to go though?
👍🏽🤔💯
If Fred would buy it,then its a real good deal
What I wouldn't give for a new set of L-6 Westies. My parents set lasted for 40 years.
These were the good old days .......even the appliances were made to last you got 20 years out of most of the appliances back then ......also the cars were made better not like today everything is plastic not made to last so you have to keep buying a new one and much more expensive !!!
My mom was 22 in 1949 and my dad was 25.
Lucy and Vivian seemed to do everything together--commercials, promos, TV shows, game shows.
Clarence Hodges y
Using an inflation calculator, $330 in 1949 would be $4,052 in 2022.
Too bad prices ain't this good anymore. Back then in 1959, these were considered expensive. Now it's cheap. The same type of washer or fridge is at least $1800.
I’m pretty sure that washing machine does not have a programmed computer in it.
I just ordered a French door GE. No matter what you get there's usually something negative about it. I hope it turns out better than I think it will. I don't like change.
People where so stylish when shopping for appliances in 1959. Not like today when people show up in pajama bottoms, sliders, T-shirts and baseball caps for church. Good taste and good fashion went out with the Kennedy Administration.
The first half of the 60's was completely different from the latter half in so many ways.
Eduardo Ramirez, it’s just a damn shame nobody impeached JFK for causing people to go shopping in pajamas. Especially when trump gets impeached for the petty little matter of trying to sabotage the election!… Seriously, if your understanding of presidents is so shallow as to try to make partisan such a nonsensical matter, then please stop trolling a video.
@@brianarbenz1329 I strongly believe you have no sense of humor. The line comes the character of Fay from the nineties sitcom “Wings”.
I know what you mean. When we used to go to church up to 1979 when I started college, the men were dressed in suits and ties and the women mostly wore nice dresses. About 10 years ago I went to my friend's church services and people were coming in T-shirts and shorts and sandals. Well, I guess I can't complain too much about sandals, after all, didn't Jesus wear sandals? LOL
Check out people in 1940s and 50s baseball stands and see how nicely people are dressed, Now they dress like slobs. And check out some You Tube People of Wal Mart videos. People shop in barely there outfits, exposing body parts that shouldn't be exposed, Massive amounts of flesh pouring out, some of them really should be arrested for indecent exposure.
Oh wow, I Love Lucy cast!
Betty Furness at the end of her tenure as the long time pitchman for Westinghouse .
$329.95 in 1959 was extremely expensive. I am writing this in 2024 and I can get a refrigerator for $300+ now.
1949
On 29 August 1949, the Soviet Union secretly conducted its first successful weapon test (First Lightning, based on the American "Fat Man" design) at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan.
Love it Betty Furness Remembers of June Lockhart
Their voices are very similar.
It's like $3500 for a freaking refrigerator, or washing machine! I'll take 2021 prices thank you very much.
Yeah, and you'll be lucky if you get a 3-5 year run with today's appliances.
My mom and dad bought a new Frigidaire refrigerator in 1963.
After my parents passed away, my brother and I put their home up for sale. Part of the sale of the house was that Frigidaire which had been moved out to the garage. This was in 1999 and after 36 years that refrigerator was still working.
Sir, how long will it last? There is a frig that was my Grandparents in the Garage. Guess what? it still works. It's round and the handle was hard to pull.
Yes.
But. Some things were still affordable until the early 70s
My mother bought a fridge in 48 and lasted till late 60s
I remember my parents purchasing the same refrigerator...no more old Coldspot ....that refrigerator found its way in the basement and it kept food just as cold except it wasn't frost-free.
My mom has a fridge and dish washer each 30 years both work fine
Why were these commercials so long? They are more like infomercials.
When the same people producing the show are also producing the commercial, they can cut it to fill what ever time they want. They can even write the show script a little short if they want. It's not like today when every commerical has to fit in a :15, :30, or 1:00 minute slot.
The new crop of dishwashers has a sliding tray for cutlery. Does it wash cutlery better?
Westinghouse was 9 times in four minutes.
as opposed to hearing a phone number delivered 5 times in 15 seconds.
There is a longer video in color with Westinghouse appliances in Lucy's dressing room.
Where?
These appliances could last 20+ years. Now they are designed with too much technology and complexities that they dont last more than 5 years.
Is Betty taking into account inflation in her 1949 prices?
Probably not since she's advertising for Westinghouse
What's the point of having a rolling dishwasher? Isn't it connected to pipes?
No. I'm sure it was connected to the faucet at the kitchen sink. They still make portable dishwashers today.
Good question. In the mid-century many hones still did not have modular cabinetry as well as space to set in a permanent dishwasher nor the plumbing needed to set a permanent set. Dishwashers were also not considered a left in place appliance if a household sold their home or moved (renting.) They were considered a family appliance that you took with you mainly due to the fact that $300 was a lot of money then. (It still is today to plenty of us. Lol)
So having an appliance you could move and store at your convenience (my great grams kept her's in pantries throughout many apts in the New York area. ) was easy enough to manage, as well as light enough for moving day
( Annual relocation was a major part of life for a good portion of the population. ) yet also sturdy and lasting were all major selling points on a dishwasher.
Jaimil: the rolling dishwasher was about being able to store it away when not in use.
@@grootgroove9529
My parents got rid of a cabinet between the stove and the refrigerator to make room for a portable dishwasher back in the early sixties. A portable dishwasher lived in that same spot for almost fifty years. . .
Imagine you have a small kitchen and don't have any cabinet space you want to give up. We had the roll about model. You simply rolled in front of your sink and hooked one gadget (double hose) to your sink spigot. That took water in from the spigot through one hose and emptied water to the sink through the other hose. Ideally, anyone would prefer the built in model but if that wasn't an option, this worked like a portable kitchen island because the top became a countertop.
They hang on to them because they still work, they won't have to part with money and they wont be filling up the garbage dump.
Betty was a great saleswoman
I have a 25 year old Kenmore refrigerator that is stll going strong.
That is a $3,578 refrigerator taking 65 years of inflation into account. You can get a Frigidaire 13 cu. ft refrigerator, more efficient, for $580 at Best Buy today. (No, I don't work for either Frigidaire or Best Buy and am not endorsing either. Just an example.) And people are complaining about how expensive things are today?
Wow...$299 was more than 3k in 1949!
1949 5 years before my parents married
Can we bring this machine back and at the same price? ;)
Have a dishwasher, never used it.
$300 then is roughly equal to over $3000 today. That seems kind of expensive.
A year later, Lucy divorced Desi for being a skirt chaser.
Then, I was just a thought in the mind of God.
Trade in allowance for appliances.
I just bought that fridge in 2020 lol looks exactly like it
That quick cutting back and forth between scenes to make a funny joke is brilliant. Betty Furness’ mid-atlantic dialect makes me laugh like all fads do. I love clear and proper speaking voices, but she sounds exaggerated and fake.
Being from the mid-atlantic myself, I take exception to that. She only sounds a tiny bit overpronounced.
@@Robert08010 that is because you are used to it since you grew up there, maybe? It sounds pretentious and embarrassing and totally fake to most Americans. I guess in the US, you’re never good enough as-is, and you have to fake it…it is very sad.
@@Mister_Listener Let's just straighten you out right here. YOU don't get to be embarrassed for what you perceive as someone else's flaws. That's pretentious and rude. YOU are only embarrassing YOURSELF by your own attitude. Frankly, I love the various accents around the US except for that god awful valley girl mess but I'm usually too polite to bring that up. This woman's accent is classic and you're just ... Oh... I just realized you're a troll. Go back under your bridge and if I need you're services, I'll bring you a shrubbery.
Inflation was only 22.43% between 1949 and 1959. What about nowadays? It’s that much every year. 2024
I have never seen any of these commercials
$300 for a washer in 1959? Most were lucky to make $100 a week. Today I can buy a better washer at Home Depot for $650...
She said about $50.00 les than 1949 price of $300, so about $250.00. That's about $2,200.00 in today's dollars. Of course, they were built to last and built in the USA then.
Yes! Very true about the true cost of items back then.
Nowadays when people marvel at what appears to be bargain prices back in a by-gone era, they don't factor in what the wages were for that same era.
no prices are low enough for fred 😁😁
What a cheap screw, lol!
Fred Mertz is so cheap, he'd make Ebenezer Scrooge look extremely generous with his money. 😄😄😄😄😄😄
Who would compare old, outmoded products...with the new
..so long...slow...
Foxes? Bitches? Free market economy at work. My ex has a fridge in the (I thinjk it's) Westinghouse museum for still running some fifty years?
Christ!. This is more entertaining and has more value than many of the 60 minute "woke" shows of today!
No need to take the Lords name in vain 😊
Yes it's entertaining and informative but nothing to do with politics..
@@kaitlinski493 Get over it snowflake!
@@jamesreynolds5776 No mention of politics. It a commercial/
Just goes to show how wildly OVERPRICED they were in 1949!!
Their sense of 'progress' is hard to understand from the point of view of 2024. We live in a world they could not have imagined in their worst dystopia science fiction novels.
Isn't technology wonderful?