Born and raised in Boston, MA Jon Charles has been doing laundry for 55 years. His first washing machine memory is at age three when his father, a research scientist at General Electric, bought the family’s first 1956 GE washing machine, which was installed next to the stove in the kitchen. While his mom cooked dinner every night, she would run the washer and have little JC stand next to her on a big wooden soapbox in front of it, where he was mesmerized and where she could keep an eye on him. His interest in laundry was definitely more than that of most kids his age.
After graduating from Boston University, where he studied physics and astronomy, Jon was bartending and coming home with very dirty clothes to be washed. A friend told him about an amazing washing machine at a local laundromat. He didn’t really understand what the big deal could be since he thought “a washer is a washer!” He insisted that nothing could get the permanent pocket stains out that were caused by all the coins he handled at work. But gave it a try. He could not believe the result – all stains GONE. That miracle washer was a Jet Action machine. It immediately brought back childhood memories of his love for his 1956 GE, and this laundromat visit changed Jon’s destiny.
He decided he had to get one for his mother, but found out that they were no longer making those models. Jon then set out to find a used machine that he could rebuild to match the magic of the one in the laundromat. Success. Mom loved it, and told Jon’s friends about it. Within one year, he rebuilt 12 machines for his friends.
This ultimately led him to finding – and loving – older machines from the 1950’s, which were headed to the trash. He could not believe that people were throwing away beautiful washers. So he began collecting and rebuilding machines. Some were to sell, but many ended up going into his own museum because he couldn’t part with them.
In 1989 he stumbled across an article in People Magazine {March 6, 1989; page 277 Collector Chuck Diehl} about collecting washing machines, found four friends with the same interest, and started a club. Today, 27 years later automaticwasher.org has 3,000 members worldwide with the same passion for collecting, restoring and using washing machines.
Jon says, “At one point I was up to 60 washing machines in my collection, with secret supply storage warehouses all over New England. Today I am down to just 33 machines. It is really my passion. The oldest machine I have owned is a completely restored 1918 Easy that I found lying on its side in a barn. My newest is a Stainless Steel 2012 Speed Queen pair.”
His collection now consists of these machines, all of which have been used in testing and developing Rosalie’s Zero Suds! Among them:
- 1918 Easy Vacuum Cup Copper washer.
- 1938 Bendix, first automatic in the world.
- 1946 Easy Spin Dryer, featured in the commercial and was every housewife’s dream after WWII for its ease of use.
- 1951 Blackstone, made in Buffalo NY, and the first ever stainless steel tub in a home laundry.
- 1956 Easy Spiralator - their first automatic washer.
- 1956 Bendix Duomatic (RARE!). It washes and dries the clothes in one easy operation.
- 1956 GE FilterFlo washer, identical to the first one Jon Charles’ dad bought for his mom.
- 1956 Sears Kenmore waterfall filter washer.
- 1956 Westinghouse Streamliner bolt down washer.
- 1957 Charcoal Gray enamel Frigidiare washer and dryer, which is very rare.
- 1957 Westinghouse TOL (Top of the Line) washer with five washing temperatures.
- 1957 Speed Queen set.
- 1958 (2) Philco- Bendix Duomatics washer/dryer all in one. Daily drivers.
- 1960 Speed Queen TOL Deluxe.
- 1961 GE FilterFlo pedestal mounted washer.
- 1962 Kelvinator centric action machine, if you open the lid it’s like looking down a fire hose!
- 1965 Norge top loader – “knock on any Norge for that solid sound of quality.”
- 1969 GE FilterFlo in now rare harvest gold – daily driver.
- 2011 Speed Queen front-load washer with heating boosted wash.
- 2013 Speed Queen Imperial all Stainless Steel throughout. Daily drivers.
Prior to turning his washing machine hobby and passion into his career with the launch of Rosalie’s Zero Suds, JC owned a successful custom embroidery business for over 20 years.
JC lives in Melrose, MA with his English Bull Terrier named Artemis.
