“The sheer look and lovely pastel colors, as well as gleaming white, make it possible to have the laundry room or unit as attractive as any other work area in the home,” the Terre Haute Tribune wrote in 1958.
The appliance makers were all in on the idea. “Manufacturers, husbands and commentators asked, ‘Why not? Why should everything in the kitchen look like an antiseptic room in a hospital? Why do we have to have everything white? Why not a revolution? Why not color?'” wrote the South Bend Tribune in 1954.
“Frigidaire’s Mayfair Pink appliance color is a favorite of homeowners,” a columnist for the Fort Lauderdale News wrote in 1957. “Gentle and warm to the eye, but no less exciting, pink serves to brighten the kitchen and gives it an air of spaciousness.”
With enthusiasm like that, huge numbers of colorful appliances were installed in homes nationwide.
When it came right down to it, those pink washers & dryers worked just as well as the white or blue or yellow appliances. The whole point of the color is because they were meant to supply something loads of laundry didn’t usually deliver: a little bit of “pretty,” at least in the eyes of the beholder.
A happy 1950s housewife with her pink washer & dryer
… and a pink cabinet full of pink towels and sheets.
The 1956 GE Filter-Flo washer
… gives you cleaner, brighter clothes… and no lint fuzz! Amazing Filter-Flo washing cleans and re-cleans the water as you wash.
Striking new GE washing machine & dryer design (1956)
Fingertip selectors for wash speeds, temperature, water. Over 50% more clothes capacity than many automatics.
MORE: What was a vintage washing machine like in the ’50s? Check out the features on the ’57 Kelvinator
Westinghouse Space Mates: Frosting Pink stacked washer & dryer (1956)
Space-Mates do two 8-pound loads at the same time … automatically! Laundromat below — dryer above, work together in a space 25″ wide.
Laundromat gives you the famous New Way to Wash for complete agitation 50 times a minute. Plus soap and water-saving!
Electric Dryer has fast, Direct Air Flow… so good for clothes, so economical, too.
Space-Mates “belong” in closet, bathroom, hall, dressing room. They’re that quiet! Install as separate units or build them in, vertically or side-by-side. Space-Mates line up to fit in a counter. Buy both now, or one now and add the mate later.
In Sugar White, Nougat Gray, Lemon Yellow, Mint Aqua, Frosting Pink.
Maytag cold water automatic washing/dryer (1957)
You may have read of this new Maytag feature in “Good Housekeeping.” After weeks of testing, they report that cold-water washing in the thing for all those “wash and wear” type garments — lets you wash them automatically without losing their no-iron feature.
Pretty pink washer/dryer combo from GE (1957)
Easy to install! Free-standing General Electric Washer-Dryer lets you create a laundry center wherever it’s most convenient in your home — utility porch, hallway niche, or at the end of a counter.
No venting needed with the General Electric Combination. Lint and moisture go down the drain automatically. Glass observation window lets you see General Electric’s efficient washing and drying.
MORE COLOR! 20 glamorous ’50s housewives who REALLY loved their toilet paper
1959 General Electric High-Speed Dryer
Dries a typical load of family wash in less than 35 minutes… fast, perfect drying that’s automatic! Just set the dial to suit the fabric.
Delicate slips and blouses dry perfectly in only 8 minutes. Clothes come out so smooth and wrinkle-free, you’ll be surprised how little ironing is needed.
You can even set the same dial to damp dry shirts, etc., for easy ironing instead of sprinkling separately.
Turns itself off the moment clothes are dry.
This General Electric Dryer knows when clothes are properly dried. Then — and not until then — it turns itself off. No under-drying, none of the over-drying that leaves fabrics brittle. Automatically — each fabric gets just-right care.
1959 Filter-Flo Washer & matching high-speed dryer
1956’s pink Hotpoint Home Laundry (washer & dryer)
Everything they’re wearing (yes, everything!) will be perfectly washed and dried in their Hotpoint Home Laundry
This, you can see, is a happy mother. Everything her family’s wearing — even to father’s suit — she’ll safely and beautifully wash and dry. And do it automatically in her Hotpoint Home Laundry!
Style-matched Pushbutton Pairs! Every Hotpoint Automatic Washer is beautifully matched with a Hotpoint Electric Dryer that automatically dries fabrics soft and fluffy. Hotpoint sealed drying chamber keeps heat, lint, and moisture out of the room, yet no outdoor venting is necessary. There’s a style-matched pair for every budget. See then, soon!
GE washing machine and dryer (1961)
If your laundry piles up and up… the 1961 General Electric Filter-Flo Washer gets a bigger-than-ever load — 12 pounds — truly clean!
NOW SEE THIS: How to be a perfect ’50s housewife: Laundry edition
5 Responses
My grandmother had the ’56 Westinghouse stackable washer (but not the dryer); hers was turquoise blue, and it was in her kitchen, with a countertop over.
I have a 1956 GE washer/dryer unit . If your interested,
Rogersoscar1122@gmail.com…
I have a light pink Westinhouse Dryer no washer. Can’t find any other on line.
So do I & it works
I am looking for a 1957 or newer Frigidaire washer that had the agitator that went up and down..