Old Antique Vintage Washing Machines

Old Antique Vintage Washing Machines

These days, not too many people in America can imagine washing their clothes by hand. We've gotten used to electric clothes washers and dryers that do the job for us. But, before these convenient devices were invented, people used to spend hours wringing out their clothes in machines similar to this one and then try to find space to hang them all up to dry. As you can imagine, this was an exhausting task. In the modern era, vintage washing machines are valuable collectibles for people who dream of a "simpler" era.

Of course there are places even now where electricity is not readily available and people still wash their clothes by hand. In fact you can even find many modern hand washing machines for sale on Amazon, like The Laundry POD. These are great for extended camping trips and for areas where there is no way to use a modern washing machine with electricity.

This is a video tour of many of the manual washing machines at the Lee Maxwell Washing Machine Museum in Eaton, Co.

Washing Machine History

In the middle to late 19th century, there were quite a few washing machine models floating around. Ideas and patents ranged from practical models to ones that were apparently invented by someone who has never washed a load of dirty laundry in their lives. (If you'll remember, most patents were being registered by men who, if they were married, often had nothing to do with the housework.)

A couple of ideas that never quite made it to market are a plunger-like device that had already been bypassed by more advanced models and a washer that vaguely resembled a wheelbarrow and had to be pushed to get it to work. If you have trouble imagining somebody using a plunger to do the laundry or pushing their clothes washer around the yard, you probably see why these ideas never took off.

Pictured: Antique Washing Machine photo by Rick on Flickr.

Even some of the early electric models had a distinctly vintage look. An early electric washing machine consisted of a wooden drum that clothes could be inserted into and a lever-and-pulley system that could be used to turn the drum eight revolutions one way, and then reverse directions for eight revolutions the other way. They had no lid or safety system, so the person handling it would have to be careful not to get body parts or hair caught in the moving parts. Another, slightly safer model had a clutch that would disengage the machine when the lid was raised. Much of the advertising for vintage electric washing machines touted the safety of their models, though the person operating it should still be careful to keep body parts and hair away from moving parts.

No 439,266 EP BAUGH WASHING MACHINE Patented Oct 28 1890

Many dealers in vintage household machines may have a few vintage washing machines around. Due to the cost of shipping full size machines, buying and selling online can be somewhat prohibitive but you can reach a larger audience by featuring smaller models or salesmen's portable demo machines. People who have an old vintage machine in their basement may favor eBay for unloading it. Collectors of vintage items like to shop at flea markets, local antique shops and visit the websites of people who routinely buy, sell and trade old washing machines.

Antique Washing Machines photo by Dottie Mae