1962 – RCA Whirlpool – Mid-Century Page

Today’s Great American Company is RCA Whirlpool. Now I’m a simple gal. I had heard of RCA (radios, TV’s, electronics), and I had heard of Whirlpool (washers, dryers, refrigerators). It wasn’t until I started putting together this post that I learned that they were deliberately branded as a single company in the mid-century. Whirlpool was making its way up the chain of American Brand royalty in the post-war world. It was founded in 1915 to produce electric washers, but wanted to expand, so it began buying other companies. As a strategic move, it acquired the cooking range and air conditioner line from RCA. From 1955 to 1966, it became known as RCA Whirlpool. Smart move. RCA was an established brand, and gave credibility to the Whirlpool appliance name.

I found several ads for RCA Whirlpool for their laundry room and kitchen appliances. The ad below is for washer model Model LJA-44 which had something called the 2 speed surgilator.

Whirlpool invented the two-speed surgilator – – – the agitator designed to make the water do the work.

RCA Whirlpool Washing Machine Ad – Good Housekeeping October 1962

Believe it or not, I was able to find a picture of an almost identical washing machine from a site named automaticwasher.org. Here’s a screenshot.

Screenprint from https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?11396

Here are a few more ads for RCA Whirlpool washers.

RCA Whirlpool Washer Dryer Ad – Good Housekeeping March 1959

No luck finding a photo of this washer and dryer pair on the internet, but here’s the next best thing. A close-up of the pink washer and dryer illustration. How mid-century is this?

Pink Washer and dryer – RCA Whirlpool Ad – Good Housekeeping March 1959

Speaking of classic mid-century illustrations, here are a few ads from a 1959 campaign with some great illustrations of everyday folks doing laundry.

Gold Washer and Dryer – Good Housekeeping September 1959

Man with pipe doing laundry – Good Housekeeping May 1959

A teenager obsessed with a phone. Who knew?

Here’s a closeup of their logo during this time. Note that the images change a bit in each of the above ads as they promote their line of home appliances.