I thought the same thing. This is by no means really trustworthy sources, just top Google results, but still:

According to http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50selectrical.html a washer and dryer set cost around 500 USD (in 1953 USD) which according to http://www.usinflationcalculator.com would be around 4500 USD in 2017 USD.

Since I'm not from the US I don't know what's popular there, but if I look at http://www.homedepot.com/b/Featured-Products-Popular-Laundry... it seems like they go between 500 and 1000 USD. So between 4.5 to 9 times cheaper than in 1953.

I wasn't able to find anything about a fridge, but some searching found a Sears catalog from 1959:

http://www.aei.org/publication/appliance-shopping-1959-vs-20...

From that page, it looks like the price of the washer, adjusted for inflation to 2016, is $1756.12. A comparable washer today, from Sears, appears to be somewhere in the $400 - $600 range, or about 30% as much as it used to cost.

Data for today's washers: http://www.sears.com/appliances-washers-top-load-washers/b-1...

And that modern washer would use less energy, water, and need less detergent, reducing the cost-per-load.

Modern washers use the same amount of water, except now you have to manually run the extra rinse program to remove all the detergent.

Try to use less soap. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/your-money/13shortcuts.htm...

I'm from the US, bought some appliances a few years ago, and can confirm that $500 is about what you would expect to pay for a decent washer or dryer.

Pretty damn good. You can still buy refrigerators built like a tank, intended for commercial environments, if you're willing to spend 4 figures.

http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/50selectrical.html

https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=329&year1=1952...

That household refrigerator that was $329 in 1952? $3024 in 2017 dollars.

And you will save a lot on heating. People forget that old tech is not known for being efficient be it electric appliances or cars.