When my parents bought their first house in 1950 her parents gave them their "old" refrigerator which they had bought right after WWII ended and when they upgraded to a new one. When Mom passed away in 2014 that same Westinghouse fridge was in her garage and still running keeping the soft drinks cold. Now it's in my sister's garage still running and serving the same purpose.
Everything seemed so possible and optimistic in the 50s. Even their commercials are cheerful. And the stuff they're buying looks like it would actually last, unlike the cheap junk we get today.
Probably 1959, before Lucy-Desi announcement of divorce around the time the U-2 was shot down (May 1960). Can still remember Desi saying: "You can be chure if it's Wettinhouse". Toward the end of Betty Furness's reign as Westinghouse Queen. She was previously an RKO contract actress (Swing Time) and later a very good consumer reporter on New York local flagship network local station.
We had a Westinghouse "Laundromat". Ours was and older model with a porthole style window instead of a square window. Had that washer for years. Finally got a new Frigidaire washer on Oct. 1961. It was $300.
Back in the day when an average family size refrigerator was probably under $500 and not the $2,000-$3,000 it cost today. Everything was just so much more easy going back then. Even appliances !
That is because it was the greatest USA made, not cheap Chinese JUNK appliances today that break and die in 3-10 months, those idiots are filling our landfills- BUY USA MADE VINTAGE!!!
That refrigerator was $200 in 1959, which is the same as $2100 today, inflation-adjusted. Appliances back then were built better because they were expensive items, people expected to get what they were paying for. You can buy a basic 14-15 cu ft fridge/freezer similar to that for $600 today, less than 1/3 the price in 1959, which explains why modern appliances are junk.
@@mahumike7531 But, I also read by 1955, Ethel (Vivian Vance) demanded she wore nicer & more stylish clothes than she wore during her first three seasons on the show
WHo needs all that junk in a washer anyway! I was ALL my clothes in cold, regular wash, I wash bedding and blankets, socks and underwear together in a wash with clorox added, I NEVER use any of those ridiculous other settings on the dial for perm/press, colors, delicates, extra rinse, soak, whatever LOL
Westinghouse used to build elevators & escalators I believe Schindler bought them out in late 1980s The Merchandise Mart(1930)& The Willis (Sears Tower) (1973) in Chicago had them They have been extensively been modernized & changed Many bldgs had Westinghouse yrs ago
Por lo mas parte, fueron blanco pero en todos anos algien podria encontrar en colores. En Como 1955, en rojo como camion de bomberos, amarillo brillante, turquois. En otros epicas en colores como crema, chocolate, verde de limon verde y otros. Edit: Verdaderamente, originalmente algunas neveras tenien exterior de madera.
The original Westinghouse manufacturing company stopped making radios and televisions in the 1970s. The television broadcasting standard changed from analog to digital and they will no longer work without a translator box. There are still vintage examples being sold online. The currently manufactured Westinghouse radios and TVs are made by a different company and I don't even know how they got rights to the name.
It was just a gimmick to make the sales, back then they just crushed and scrapped or went to the dump, no EPA stuff to recover refrigerant etc They gave maybe $25 for the old appliance a little while after raising prices on the new ones $25 LOL!
There is no way that washing machine had a “computer” in it. The microprocessor hadn’t been invented yet and if it ran on vacuum tubes it would have been the size of the room.
That "programmed computer " dryer was probably not to elaborate. It could have had transistors and a very crude integrated circuit with a quartz crystal for the clock....These were already out by 1958 and the transistor by 1950.
Actually that's not entirely correct- if you have seen a comprehensive video on youtube about antique/vintage mechanical pinball machines you would be astounded at what they did with mechanical relays! They were able to have the machines keep score for each player, move all the works that do things, score dials, and light the lights, and keep the high score winner and much much more- all done with literally HUNDREDS of mechanical relays and miles of wiring and contact switches. The narrator explained the workings and showed the diagrams of the electrical etc and it was mind boggling, even after he explained it, it was still too complex! So if they could get a pinball machine to do what it did in the 50s and 60s using just relays no computer/electronics, then wash cycles on a washer is a cake walk This is the pinball machine video, it details the WIlliams "Aztek" which was the last all E/M machine manufactured- 1976, so by 1976 the electro-mechanical devices were being replaced by electronics;; ua-cam.com/video/ue-1JoJQaEg/v-deo.html
the appliances here - vintage USA in this video are SUPERB they were always SUPERB, not like today's Chinese JUNK appliances that die in about 6 months
When my parents bought their first house in 1950 her parents gave them their "old" refrigerator which they had bought right after WWII ended and when they upgraded to a new one. When Mom passed away in 2014 that same Westinghouse fridge was in her garage and still running keeping the soft drinks cold. Now it's in my sister's garage still running and serving the same purpose.
Probably eats electricity like its going out of style!
@@skipstalforce Yep, not exactly energy efficient. Glad I don't pay the bill.
Everything seemed so possible and optimistic in the 50s. Even their commercials are cheerful. And the stuff they're buying looks like it would actually last, unlike the cheap junk we get today.
Absolutely true!!
Because it was well built, coashddjj2.
My thought too! Great yesterday and junk today!
This originally appeared at the end of "THE WESTINGHOUSE LUCILLE BALL-DESI ARNAZ SHOW" episode "Lucy's Summer Vacation" (June 8, 1959).
This must be some parallel Lucy universe with Ethel thin and Fred willing to pay for new appliances!
All the early shows Ethel was thin
Probably 1959, before Lucy-Desi announcement of divorce around the time the U-2 was shot down (May 1960). Can still remember Desi saying: "You can be chure if it's Wettinhouse". Toward the end of Betty Furness's reign as Westinghouse Queen. She was previously an RKO contract actress (Swing Time) and later a very good consumer reporter on New York local flagship network local station.
The sign in the video says 1959 Appliances at 1949 prices, At this time The Show was called "The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour"
Don’t forget Betty Furness was a great spokeswoman for the Westinghouse company.
I'd like to see anything today last 10 years
My Summit FF refrigerator freezer is 15 years old, not one problem.
My Emerson microwave bought new in 1987 is still in use
A friend's parents are still using a huge 1980s microwave with vinyl woodgrain exterior and dials rather than a keypad. I hope it doesn't leak!
When I bought a new Kenmore washer and dryer in 2007, the washer had the same cycles. The Kenmore set was replaced in 2022.
We had a Westinghouse "Laundromat". Ours was and older model with a porthole style window instead of a square window.
Had that washer for years. Finally got a new Frigidaire washer on Oct. 1961. It was $300.
That's like 3500 in today's money. Wow. We have it good now.
Old fridges lasted 70 years. The new ones last five years max.
This would be considered an infomercial today. 😂
Yep. That is what I was thinking.
Exactly! 😄👌
I'd still watch this gem for the cast of 'I Love Lucy' being in it!
Back in the day when an average family size refrigerator was probably under $500 and not the $2,000-$3,000 it cost today. Everything was just so much more easy going back then. Even appliances !
That is because it was the greatest USA made, not cheap Chinese JUNK appliances today that break and die in 3-10 months, those idiots are filling our landfills- BUY USA MADE VINTAGE!!!
That refrigerator was $200 in 1959, which is the same as $2100 today, inflation-adjusted. Appliances back then were built better because they were expensive items, people expected to get what they were paying for. You can buy a basic 14-15 cu ft fridge/freezer similar to that for $600 today, less than 1/3 the price in 1959, which explains why modern appliances are junk.
Well, if anyone paid attention the sign says "'59 Appliances, at '49 Prices"
The old fridge, ironically, is also a Westinghouse, but the washer is a Maytag
Ethel looks thin and so stylish in that commercial. In the series, she used to look heavier and kind of frumpy.
The frump was in her contract.
@@patrickparrott2453 yup. Lucy wanted her less attractive then she
@@mahumike7531 But, I also read by 1955, Ethel (Vivian Vance) demanded she wore nicer & more stylish clothes than she wore during her first three seasons on the show
Back when things had been built to lasts....
Dishwasher: Fred can’t even afford rubber gloves…
Fred has Ethel do everything
Lucy: "What's a programmed computer, Betty?"
Fast-forward: 1986 -Life With Lucy
Lucille installs a computer in the hardware store...
The washer my mom bought new in '77 didn't have this many features. WTF ?
WHo needs all that junk in a washer anyway! I was ALL my clothes in cold, regular wash, I wash bedding and blankets, socks and underwear together in a wash with clorox added, I NEVER use any of those ridiculous other settings on the dial for perm/press, colors, delicates, extra rinse, soak, whatever LOL
Well, now I want to buy a Westinghouse refrigerator, except in 1959.
Westinghouse used to build elevators & escalators I believe Schindler bought them out in late 1980s The Merchandise Mart(1930)& The Willis (Sears Tower) (1973) in Chicago had them They have been extensively been modernized & changed Many bldgs had Westinghouse yrs ago
Interesting!
que color es el refrigerador originalmente
Bright orange
Avocado, burnt orange
Por lo mas parte, fueron blanco pero en todos anos algien podria encontrar en colores. En Como 1955, en rojo como camion de bomberos, amarillo brillante, turquois. En otros epicas en colores como crema, chocolate, verde de limon verde y otros.
Edit: Verdaderamente, originalmente algunas neveras tenien exterior de madera.
The TVs and such must have not held up because how many vintage Westinghouses do you see ?
The original Westinghouse manufacturing company stopped making radios and televisions in the 1970s. The television broadcasting standard changed from analog to digital and they will no longer work without a translator box. There are still vintage examples being sold online.
The currently manufactured Westinghouse radios and TVs are made by a different company and I don't even know how they got rights to the name.
Very Good!... #41 ✝ {7-8-2022}
What would they possibly do with the old appliances besides sell it for scrap which wouldn't amount to much.
they STILL work, believe me- people restore the outside and they still run without dying, not like today's Chines GARBAGE app,liances
It was just a gimmick to make the sales, back then they just crushed and scrapped or went to the dump, no EPA stuff to recover refrigerant etc They gave maybe $25 for the old appliance a little while after raising prices on the new ones $25 LOL!
"...BUT...we will give YOU..." (whispers to Fred: "27c")"...for your old refrigerator."
hebneh she also whispered to Lucy
I think these commercials were in 1958 or 1959
from what year is this commercial?
1959
How far our quality has fallen with cheap foreign crap. Would rather have one of these appliances
What the hell happened to good ole female role models like Ethel Mertz ?
There is no way that washing machine had a “computer” in it. The microprocessor hadn’t been invented yet and if it ran on vacuum tubes it would have been the size of the room.
It could have been some type of analog computer.
That "programmed computer " dryer was probably not to elaborate. It could have had transistors and a very crude integrated circuit with a quartz crystal for the clock....These were already out by 1958 and the transistor by 1950.
Actually that's not entirely correct- if you have seen a comprehensive video on youtube about antique/vintage mechanical pinball machines you would be astounded at what they did with mechanical relays! They were able to have the machines keep score for each player, move all the works that do things, score dials, and light the lights, and keep the high score winner and much much more- all done with literally HUNDREDS of mechanical relays and miles of wiring and contact switches.
The narrator explained the workings and showed the diagrams of the electrical etc and it was mind boggling, even after he explained it, it was still too complex!
So if they could get a pinball machine to do what it did in the 50s and 60s using just relays no computer/electronics, then wash cycles on a washer is a cake walk
This is the pinball machine video, it details the WIlliams "Aztek" which was the last all E/M machine manufactured- 1976, so by 1976 the electro-mechanical devices were being replaced by electronics;; ua-cam.com/video/ue-1JoJQaEg/v-deo.html
Or, like the 19th century "computers," could have been mechanical.
No trade ins today people want them for extras out in the garage
The appliances were nicer then I would expect back then.
Youth really is wasted on the young!
the appliances here - vintage USA in this video are SUPERB they were always SUPERB, not like today's Chinese JUNK appliances that die in about 6 months
55:55
Everyone on this show is so awesome for Desi is overrated
Sorry that Westinghouse has dropped their appliances down to size.
It's coo the good old days let's not forget the racists shyt that happened
Betty Furness was HOT!!!!
Sales is so gross.