Would you believe that back in the 1930s, my father was "the loneliest man in town", the Maytag repairman, except back then, about 50% of the washing machines were gasoline powered! This experience served him well because his next job developed into a career as an aircraft mechanic. . . which resulted in his being a technical writer for the US Air Force, writing the instruction manuals for repairing, servicing, and piloting many jets you'd recognize. He also had to assist in investigating accidents when those planes crashed.
What a great story and memory. Awesome history. Didn’t realize there were such things as gas powered washing machines. Always thought they went from the old wash board to the agitator type with a wringer which we had when I was young.
Remember asking my mom how she knew when clothes were ready to take out of the wash tub and put in the rinse tub. She said the whites were ready by the time she made up a batch of egg noodles, the towels were ready by the time she had finished making the crust for a homemade pie for dinner, the colors were ready by the time she finished making bread pudding which went in my dad’s lunch pail every day and had it ready to go in the oven. Amazing parents we had.