Laundromat or Laundrymat ?

[Adamski]

Originally Posted by apartment_guy

My spell-check (both Word and WordPerfect) demand that I capitalize Laundromat. According to Wikipedia the word is/was a trademark of Westinghouse.

Guy,

Yes, Westinghouse coined the word "Laundromat" (with the capital L) way back in the 1960s or 1970s. However, like the word "Jello" which was also a trademark; laundromat has become widely accepted as a generic term to describe a coin laundry. Westinghouse has chosen to not sue those who use the word laundromat without their expressed permission.

Whenever I use the word laundromat in a sentence, I use the uncapitalized L and I have added this version to my Spell Check so that it is accepted as "laundromat".

[CanCanCase]

Originally Posted by Duane

Old post alert....

An oldie, but a goodie!
I've always tried to standardize as "Laundromat" and yes, I'm aware it's a Westinghouse trademark... Xerox, Scotch Tape, Kleenex and Elmer's Glue are all trademarks of their respective owners that have come into common language use over the years.

@Larry: I don't see why payment method has much to do with what term we use to brand our stores. Then again, every time the coin vs. card debate flares up, someone points out that this group is called the "Coin Laundry Association." Even our own Brian Wallace has been pondering the name and branding of the association.

When it comes down to it, the term "Laundromat" refers to some form of vended laundry, right? Having used many "Laundries" and "Washeterias" I've found that those terms can refer to both vended and process services. My company is called "Green Lightning Laundry." Branding 101 tells us to keep the name simple, and use it to tell people what you do... in my case, we do laundry - both vended/self-service AND attended WDF process...hence: "laundry." (Then there's the "Green" since we're using less resources to do a better job, and the "Lightning" since it's all fast and features express machinery...) I guess the generic term for my business would be "Environmentally Friendly Fast Vended & Service Laundry"... So how do we brand "EFFV&SL"???

-Case

[mjwalsh]

Originally Posted by STOUT

So which is it Laundromat Or Laundrymat? According to spell check on my computer Laundry mat is two words. Where and when did the difference come from and which is correct?

Deward & others,

I think out of respect for our European, Canadian, & even some rooted in the USA co-operators ... we should also acknowledge & even recognize the "Launderette" word.

http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/h...fm?topic=41189

Having said that ... I do acknowledge that we have strayed some from our original (1959) & still official "King Koin Launderette" Because money has been sooo very tight in recent years, we have "out of desperation" in our numerous listings to talk the advertisers into allowing "King Koin Laundry, Car n Dog Wash". Get it .... we are soooo smart to get for the same price ... all the main functions of our facility to be included. Hopefully, some will also agree & have a similar experience of including "Fluff n Fold" or whatever ... that way I do not have to feel soooo all alone!

Without getting carried away too much ... I attended a concert last Friday "Tatiana (Tajci) Cameron" & with having a chance to visit with her afterwards ... my heart strings are pulled to some extent with Europe. Especially when some of those countries kept their Faith despite the 40 year plus setback under the coercive atheistic nature of some of their governments & their mafias.

Happy Easter everyone!

mike walsh king koin of bismarck

[surfflite]

Originally Posted by Adamski

Mark,

To date, I've heard of no single term that specifically describes a card-operated laundry. Maybe the card guys would like to suggest some possible terms and then they could resolve the issue by voting for a single, unique term.

Giving credit to ESD here, but they call their card system Cyberwash. That seems fitting for a card store.

[Adamski]

Originally Posted by CanCanCase

...Larry: I don't see why payment method has much to do with what term we use to brand our stores. Then again, every time the coin vs. card debate flares up, someone points out that this group is called the "Coin Laundry Association."...

Case,

Westinghouse coined the word "Laundromat" before a card system was even a gleam in ESD's eye. I'm not trying to start another coin/card debate here. I was merely stating the history of the word and the fact that its use quickly evolved to become a generic term for a coin laundry. Again, this all happened prior to the introduction of the first card system.

Try not to take everything quite so personal. If you card guys don't want to use some kind of card-specific term like CARD-U-TOPIA to define your laundromats, that's fine with me. Feel free to use any of the terms that currently define a vended laundry.

[CanCanCase]

Originally Posted by Adamski

Case,

Westinghouse coined the word "Laundromat" before a card system was even a gleam in ESD's eye. I'm not trying to start another coin/card debate here. I was merely stating the history of the word and the fact that its use quickly evolved to become a generic term for a coin laundry. Again, this all happened prior to the introduction of the first card system.

Try not to take everything quite so personal. If you card guys don't want to use some kind of card-specific term like CARD-U-TOPIA to define your laundromats, that's fine with me. Feel free to use any of the terms that currently define a vended laundry.

Larry- Nobody's taking anything here personally - at least not me. You're the one who mentioned that card store owners might come up with a term to separate their stores from coin-ops. I happen to think the term "Laundromat" suits ALL vended laundry operations, regardless of payment system. Your statement that "its use quickly evolved to become a generic term for a coin laundry" pretty well states my point... The term "laundromat" has quickly evolved to become a generic term for any vended laundry.

Originally Posted by surfflite

Giving credit to ESD here, but they call their card system Cyberwash. That seems fitting for a card store.

Kerry- the term "cyber" commonly refers to an online or internet activity. I don't know that all card systems are capable of the online reporting and activity that CyberWash features. Now, if I were branding a laundromat with internet cafe facilities, CyberWash would be most appropriate!

Just my :two cents:

-Case

[DaveLevenson]

Originally Posted by CanCanCase

... My company is called "Green Lightning Laundry." Branding 101 tells us to keep the name simple, and use it to tell people what you do...

And here I've been thinking for some time either: that you use huge electrostatic discharges to launder something, or that you somehow launder huge electrostatic discharges. You actually use soap and water to launder clothes? Shocking!

[Adamski]

Originally Posted by CanCanCase

... Your statement that "its use quickly evolved to become a generic term for a coin laundry" pretty well states my point... The term "laundromat" has quickly evolved to become a generic term for any vended laundry...

Case,

At that time, all vended laundries were coin operated ... even those operated on tokens ... which are coins. There were no card laundries and the term "vended laundry" was not in common use, at least not by laundromat owners.

Back in the 1970s, the word "laundromat" was pretty cutting edge ... sort of like the word "tweet" today.

[apartment_guy]

Originally Posted by Adamski

Case,

At that time, all vended laundries were coin operated ... even those operated on tokens ... which are coins. There were no card laundries and the term "vended laundry" was not in common use, at least not by laundromat owners.

Back in the 1970s, the word "laundromat" was pretty cutting edge ... sort of like the word "tweet" today.

I recall that one of the highlights of my visit to NYC as a kid in the 1950's was a visit to an "Automat" coin-vended cafeteria, which seemed so ultra-moderne to a farm boy from Canada. Of course, there was really nothing "automatic" about it given that there were employees behind the cabinets replacing whatever was purchased.

The author of a Wikipedia entry concerning the Automat blames its decline in part on the inflation of the 1970's which made the food too expensive to be practically coin-vended in the days before bill acceptors...

Whoops! Thread drift!

[STOUT]

Originally Posted by STOUT

So which is it Laundromat Or Laundrymat? According to spell check on my computer Laundry mat is two words. Where and when did the difference come from and which is correct?

Guys my original intent of this post, back in 09, was to see how to properly identify my place when I changed the name that the original owners had. I wanted to make sure I spelled it correctly and labeled it correctly.

It is interesting now to look back and see what the "laundry" history has to say.