# Ever heard of a washateria? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 14, 2026, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-heard-of-a-washateria/1030058 "2026-05-14T02:35:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2026, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-heard-of-a-washateria/1030058/21 "2026-05-14T21:23:12Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > For a few years the laundromat I used was attached to a… bar - probably a bad idea. When I was a kid my brothers and I would get our hair cut at a barber shop that was attached to a bar. The barber would hear someone come into the bar, excuse himself, go through a back door, pour a drink and make small talk, then return to finish the cut. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2026, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-heard-of-a-washateria/1030058/22 "2026-05-14T21:24:38Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > There was indeed a portable washing machine in the 1920s called “The Washerette.” Have not been able to identify who manufactured it, but the ads for this breadbox-sized doohickey tout: Do you have a photo? I collect items made by the Vidrio Products Corp of Cicero, IL. Their specialty was small appliances with glass parts but they did make a few without glass. They had a whole line of counter top clothes and dish washers. I have a number of them. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2026, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-heard-of-a-washateria/1030058/23 "2026-05-14T21:37:50Z")
Sorry, no. Only thing I was able to find was some [crude newspaper drawings.](https://imgur.com/a/5QbE2BC). ---
**Author:** ![corudstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@corudstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corudstr)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2026, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-heard-of-a-washateria/1030058/24 "2026-05-14T21:41:42Z")
Still a common thing in rural Alaska. Lots of remote villages do not have water and sewer services. People go to the washeteria to bathe, do laundry, and get water to haul home for cooking and drinking. Houses in these villages typically use a “honey bucket” for human waste needs. Honey buckets are then hauled and dumped at a common disposal site outside of town. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2026, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-heard-of-a-washateria/1030058/25 "2026-05-14T21:53:32Z")
Here’s a slightly better image along with the manufacturer’s name, Bernard E. Finucane Co. in Rochester, NY. [![](https://www.periodpaper.com/cdn/shop/products/HB2_171_f0b96d13-2198-4ad7-8b10-06c0ca3f22d9_900x.jpg?v=1571708750) ](https://www.periodpaper.com/cdn/shop/products/HB2_171_f0b96d13-2198-4ad7-8b10-06c0ca3f22d9_900x.jpg?v=1571708750) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2026, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-heard-of-a-washateria/1030058/26 "2026-05-14T22:04:17Z")
Putting the baby through those rollers has got to smart! * * * According to Google, $15 around 1910 would be about $521 today. Not a cheap appliance. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2026, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-heard-of-a-washateria/1030058/27 "2026-05-14T22:16:58Z")
Heh..kinda like being reborn. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2026, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-heard-of-a-washateria/1030058/28 "2026-05-15T00:48:53Z")
[Bernard E. Finucane](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/174035704/bernard-emmet-finucane) (1889-1989) was in the banking industry and in 1930 sold his “Rochester Electrical Supply Company” to. . . Westinghouse. Chap lived to be 100. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2026, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-heard-of-a-washateria/1030058/29 "2026-05-15T17:26:18Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Putting the baby through those rollers has got to smart! I don’'t think they are rollers, just a small drum powered by a “motor” running off the water pressure. There were other household items powered by water also. The washers made by Vidrio Products sat on the stove and heated the water. They had an actual agitator. Here is a link to one: [https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-electric-portable-washer-467781073](https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-electric-portable-washer-467781073) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-heard-of-a-washateria/1030058.md?page=1)