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Old 7th Apr 2018, 5:23 pm   #1
Tractorfan
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Smile English Electric Liberator Fully Automatic Washing Machine.

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone remembers the English Electric 'Liberator' fully automatic washing machine? I have this (rather crackly) flexidisc extolling the virtues of said machine, and Denis Norden is on the 'B' side telling a ditty about how he was converted to automated washing.
Do many of these machines still exist?
Cheers, Pete.
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Old 7th Apr 2018, 6:46 pm   #2
Graham G3ZVT
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator.

Yours may be Denis Norden but
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqbps5i8Xlw
doesn't sound like him somehow.

I had a Hotpoint Liberator. Two in fact.
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Old 7th Apr 2018, 8:01 pm   #3
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Smile Re: English Electric Liberator.

Hi,
It's the same recording as mine. That's not Denis Norden speaking on the YouTube clip. He is on the other side.
Cheers, Pete.
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Old 7th Apr 2018, 11:30 pm   #4
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator.

Mum and dad bought one in the early sixties.

First automatic washer on the street, had all the neighbours round watching it for the frst week!

There was an extra porthole in the door so a forgotten sock or underpant could be squeezed in mid-wash. The button/plunger for opening the door could be pulled out to prevent kids opening the door mid-wash. Also allowed the button to be lost

Seemed much more reliable than the hoovers which replaced it.

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Old 8th Apr 2018, 12:13 am   #5
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler View Post
Mum and dad bought one in the early sixties.
First automatic washer on the street, had all the neighbours round watching it for the frst week!
I had the same experience with my neighbour's Bendix.

Quote:
There was an extra porthole in the door so a forgotten sock or underpant could be squeezed in mid-wash.
And they are selling modern machines with that feature, and pretending it's new.
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Old 8th Apr 2018, 12:50 pm   #6
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator.

my p.arents had this machine and yes it had the little hole in the door we thought it was great fun to take it out while the machine was on it lasted many many years and was thrown in a skip still in working order when mother modernised the kitchen the 1 thing i do remember about it was the size of it larger than moderm machines
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Old 8th Apr 2018, 4:22 pm   #7
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Thumbs up Re: English Electric Liberator.

My parents have an English Electric Liberator tumble dryer. I just asked them where it came from. My father said he was employed by English Electric in 1966, and they got it new through a staff discount scheme!

Photos below show it in its current domestic setting, looking a bit shabby.

Disappointingly, my mother just said she wants it to go to the tip - as it no longer switches off when the timer finishes…
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Old 8th Apr 2018, 6:38 pm   #8
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator.

I remember them - in the middle-class 'keeping up with the Joneses' game in the 'sixties you either had to have a Liberator or (like we had), a Bendix.
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Old 8th Apr 2018, 6:42 pm   #9
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator.

My parents had a Bendix (DRS, combined washing machine and tumble dryer). I must restore it sometime (yes, I do still have it).

The name 'liberator' was not surprisingly used for many things by different companies. Without Googling it, how many here know what a Thorn EMI Liberator is?
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Old 8th Apr 2018, 7:18 pm   #10
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator.

The lady talking sounds like Katy Boyle.
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Old 8th Apr 2018, 10:28 pm   #11
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wellington View Post
My father said he was employed by English Electric in 1966, and they got it new through a staff discount scheme!
Disappointingly, my mother just said she wants it to go to the tip - as it no longer switches off when the timer finishes…
I bet that machine has never gone wrong....and there is my Bendix on it's third motor-run cap in 6 years......!

Rather than go to the tip, I think it should be donated to a museum. I'm sure there is one that specialises in domestic appliances.
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Old 8th Apr 2018, 11:08 pm   #12
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyDuell View Post
Without Googling it, how many here know what a Thorn EMI Liberator is?
Na rneyl yncgbc pbzchgre? (rot-13)
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Old 8th Apr 2018, 11:08 pm   #13
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sideband View Post
I bet that machine has never gone wrong....and there is my Bendix on it's third motor-run cap in 6 years......!

Rather than go to the tip, I think it should be donated to a museum. I'm sure there is one that specialises in domestic appliances.
I did see an old Parnell dryer like the one in use at home, in a museum.
Finally got rid of it about 15 years ago.

http://www.automaticwasher.info/TD/A...0-02-47-41.jpg
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Old 9th Apr 2018, 1:23 am   #14
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator.

Quote:
Originally Posted by julie_m View Post
Na rneyl yncgbc pbzchgre? (rot-13)
Julie - I had to Google it out of sheer curiosity! Nice

I also wonder if your 'not quite relevant to actual washing machines' post will last longer than mine did?? I hope it does... I believe a sense of humor overrides virtually every other consideration in this world!

Cheers,
Steve.
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Old 12th Apr 2018, 2:29 pm   #15
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wellington View Post
Disappointingly, my mother just said she wants it to go to the tip - as it no longer switches off when the timer finishes…
Surely not! it looks a lovely machine!
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Old 12th Apr 2018, 4:02 pm   #16
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator Fully Automatic Washing Machine.

The English Electric 'fridge we had in the 70's and 80's never actually died; my Mum just got fed up with the unhygienic cracks that eventually appeared in the liner.
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Old 12th Apr 2018, 8:26 pm   #17
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator Fully Automatic Washing Machine.

Coincidentally, my Father also worked for English Electric, from demob to retirement. I once asked him why he didn't get an EE television back when they were available. They were too expensive! so maybe that's why relatively few EE products remain.
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Old 13th Apr 2018, 12:32 am   #18
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator Fully Automatic Washing Machine.

Seeing the photo of the dryer apparently sitting on top of the washing machine reminds me that I heard that Hotpoint used to do an upside-down mounting kit for the driers they exported to Australia. Apparently stacking washer and drier like this was popular down under, and as the driers worked just as well upside-down, in that orientation the drier's controls were in a more accessible position.
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Old 13th Apr 2018, 1:47 am   #19
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator Fully Automatic Washing Machine.

I have "stacked" a fridge and a freezer in instead of a single appliance to reduce inconvenience in the event of failure where failure has become ever more common with modern appliances.
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Old 13th Apr 2018, 9:25 am   #20
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Default Re: English Electric Liberator Fully Automatic Washing Machine.

I'm glad a moderator removed my joke, since i got the punchline wrong.

It concerned Liberators having 4 engines or being stolen from The Federation, depending on what era you grew up in. Never mind, the moment is lost anyway.

i grew up with a twin tub walking across the kitchen, so can appreciate the impact of a front loader at that period.
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