Medusa’s Wringer
This is the wringer part of the first washing machine I converted to my own purposes. For years wringer was more of a decorative accessory to a Coke cooler until I got my hands on a supply of inflatable snakes. Eventually I had to fill them with Styrofoam balls to keep them firm, and I lost one of the snakes in an abortive attempt to re-populate the dwindling number of snakes in Eve.
Back in my Point Lookout days (’78-‘81) my roommate Frank and I were asked to take an old washing machine out of the apartment of a young lesbian couple that lived upstairs. One was the spitting image of John Denver. Body and all.
Halfway down the stairs I decided to bring the washer into our apartment where I promptly took out the motor and mechanisms, including the agitator and the drive for the wringer. I took off the legs as well and covered the holes on the bottom of the tub with Plexiglas and silicone. I was able to fit the inner mechanism of an old cash register into the tub along with various other objects and then fill it with water. I cut a plexi cover for the top and installed a light underneath to glow up through the murk. This “Liquid Asset” became our coffee table and was soon complimented by the “Stereo Cabinet”.
I was attempting to clean the ice out of the freezer with a screwdriver and the obvious thing happened. I told our landlord that the fridge had broken down and the repairman said that it would be close to a couple hundred to fix it. I then told him that I could find a used one for less and he said OK. I found one for $25 and told him it cost $50 when we got back with it. He was illiterate as well as an alcoholic that we could never get rid of when he wanted company, so I didn’t feel to bad. After we got the new one in I took the old one into the living room, which was also my bedroom, and started to drill access holes for wires.
For quite a while we had needed to stabilize the turntable to prevent the record s from skipping, both because the floor was old and we were both big guys. Actually, we still are.
The refrigerator was the perfect solution. The amplifier fit up in the freezer compartment, the turntable on the first rack with the tape deck underneath that. Tapes and gizmos fit on the door and we eventually put a graphic e.q. in the meat tray under the freezer. When you opened the door the light came on. It’s weight made the turntable very stable and when you closed the door we had no feedback through the phono needle. I kept these for years but they eventually went the way of all things. The only appliance part I have left from those days is the Wringer.