In the shadow of the Colorado Rockies lives a man with a mountainous dilemma. For years,Fastexy Lee Maxwell has been collecting antique washing machines, but he's running out of places to put them.
When Maxwell was first interviewed by CBS News in 2018, he had built a warehouse to hold all the objects of his obsession. Now, there's yet another warehouse behind that one, once again filled with nothing but hundreds of washing machines.
"I do have a problem," Maxwell, 92, admitted. He also has a Guinness World Record: In August 2019, he was awarded the honor for having the largest collection of washing machines in the United States. At the time, he had 1,350 devices.
His collection has soared to over 1,500 unique machines.
The enterprise began innocently enough at a farm auction. He came home with so many washing machines that his wife, Barbara, wanted to hang him out to dry.
"She was thinking very bad things about me ... that I lost my rocker, and I think, maybe I did," Maxwell said.
Some of Maxwell's machines are powered by hand, and some have more unusual sources of energy, including one that is powered by sheep. Another model was never mass-produced, but was run by two children moving back and forth.
Maxwell has restored all these devices himself. Once, he was an electrical engineer, but since retirement, he has spent 10 hours a day, seven days a week, with the washers.
Five years ago, when he first spoke to CBS News, Maxwell said he was seeking a benefactor for a museum that can preserve the machines. But since then, he's had "zero takers," Maxwell said. As his collection has grown, the problem has only become more daunting.
"I know I got plenty, but there's always a beautiful one just around the corner," Maxwell said.
Despite his prowess with these machines, one constantly eludes him. It's not in his first warehouse, or his second - it's the washing machine in his own laundry room. That one, he said, he doesn't even turn on.
Steve Hartman has been a CBS News correspondent since 1998, having served as a part-time correspondent for the previous two years.
2025-05-08 08:541587 view
2025-05-08 07:511172 view
2025-05-08 07:432284 view
2025-05-08 07:39542 view
2025-05-08 07:382064 view
2025-05-08 07:282023 view
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces denied Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim Satu
Nate Diaz is suing the co-promoter of his July 6 fight against Jorge Masvidal and the co-promoter’s
The new-look "Good Morning Football" show on NFL Network will relaunch July 29 with a familiar cast