This laundry room scene comes from an ad in the May 1959 edition of Good Housekeeping magazine. The pipe-smoking man is doing laundry in the basement where a matching gold Whirlpool washer and dryer is located. The fun illustration is from mid-century illustrator Stan Ekman.
Why anybody can wash anything in an RCA Whirlpool
Home appliances were big business in the mid-century and companies like Whirlpool used mid-century women’s magazines to tell about their products. Here, they are talking about their modern automatic washers. The one seen here is the Mark 12 self setting washer and matching dryer. It was apparently their top-of-the-line model.
According to the text in the ad, one could buy this washer for $3.08 per week and take up to 3 years to pay. According to my calculations, that means the washer would have cost about $110. Today, you can buy a Whirlpool for around $700.
In 1959, the company formally know as simply RCA was part of Whirlpool. Whirlpool purchased RCA in 1955 to strengthen their reputation. Here are more RCA Whirlpool posts on MidCenturyPage.com
More Information
Check out this website for more Stan Ekman illustrations
https://americangallery.wordpress.com/category/ekman-stan/
Automatic washer forum
https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?72110
Mid-Century Page 
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