Whirlpool Corporation 100 Years at a Glance 1916 Upton Machine Company sells its first order of washers to Sears, Roebuck & Co.— 1911 beginning a long business relationship. Upton Machine Company is founded by Lou and Emory Upton in Benton Harbor, 1917 Michigan, to produce electric motor- Lou Upton writes a company letter to driven wringer washers. Lowell Bassford employees’ wives instructing them to provides the needed capital. enjoy some time with their husbands, who were given a paid vacation—a concept unheard of at the time. This strong sense 1912 of community and responsibility remains Upton Machine Company receives its central to company’s core values and the first order and contract with the Federal Whirlpool Way. Electric division of Commonwealth Edison. When Upton unknowingly delivers an early order of washing 1918 machines with defective transmission The trade name KitchenAid® is created. gears, the company recalls the machines The Hobart Manufacturing Company and replaces the faulty parts at no cost. registers the name in 1920. This show of integrity and commitment to quality so impresses Federal Electric that it doubles its order. 1911 Whirlpool’s First Electric Wringer 1919 Bauknecht is founded. With seed capital Founder and President Louis Upton 1914 stock, they gain the plant, equipment, of 500 marks, Gottlob Bauknecht forms inventory and goodwill of American his first electrotechnical workshop in Upton Machine Company is under Tailfingen, Germany, developing electric threat of closure when Federal Electric Tool Works. Upton Machine Company begins producing camp kits, ironers, and 1915 motors to make manual labor easier for begins manufacturing its own washers the masses. to offset impending costs of World toy guns. Maytag develops a multi-motor War I. Lou, his brother, Fred, and Emory gasoline-powered washing machine, The first residential KitchenAid® stand Upton realize that to survive, they must affording customers in rural areas mixer is introduced, ushering in a new purchase another company. Thus, they without electricity the opportunity to era for the domestic kitchen. make their first acquisition. For $20,000 utilize the technological conveniences in new Upton Machine Company of the automatic washer. 2 Company faces the crisis of being unable to repay the loan. However, the unique 1925 working relationship between both Upton Machine Company becomes companies forges a mutually satisfying Sears’ sole supplier of electric- and agreement. Sears agrees to cancel the gasoline-powered washing machines. 1921 loan in exchange for shares of stock in the Upton Machine Company. Sears loans the Upton Machine Company $87,500 for a plant 1929 expansion—enabling the company 1924 Sears’ growing demand requires to build more washers. Then, in the Upton Machine Company to merge years following World War II, the U.S. Gottlob Bauknecht opens his first sales with Nineteen Hundred Washer economy goes bust. Sears washer sales office in Stuttgart, Germany—adding a Company of Binghamton, New York. drop 65 percent—forcing them to cancel successful sewing machine motor to his The new firm, The Nineteen Hundred remaining orders. Upton Machine electric motor business. Corporation, adds large manufacturing 1931 Maytag Model F facilities in Michigan and New York. The Washing Machine Binghamton plant closes in 1939. 1936 1932 The Nineteen Hundred Corporation’s Gottlob Bauknecht’s bestselling products enter the global marketplace and versatile Landfruend motor is when Sears International is established— developed—revolutionizing industrial delivering Kenmore brand washers to and agricultural tasks of the time. England, Sweden and the Canal Zone. Simultaneously, the then–Nineteen Hundred Corporation partners with 1934 New York–based American Steel Export Company to handle the Kenmore line Amana Refrigeration Inc. (then the through the firm’s foreign distributors Electrical Equipment Company) is in Europe and Asia. Exports cease from founded by George C. Foerstner. 1940 to 1947, due to World War II. George Foerstner of Amana sponsors competitions offering mutual fund 1935 shares and other “financial investments” The Nineteen Hundred Corporation is as prizes (becoming an industry pioneer listed on the Cleveland Stock Exchange. in advocating financial literacy, profit sharing and developing a precursor 1920 Lou Upton with Display Truck model to the 401(k)). 3 labor markets shift, pulling women Nicknamed the “Jeep,” Sears introduces onto factory floors. War fosters greater 1945 the Nineteen Hundred Corporation’s first employee camaraderie, and employees Bolivian-born Miguel Etchenique automatic washer. work together to pick up the slack. immigrates to São Paulo, Brazil, and Amana (then the Raytheon Company) founds Companhia Distribuidora invents the first microwave oven. After an 1937 Geral Brasmotor to distribute Chrysler employee naming contest, the microwave The Nineteen Hundred Corporation’s automobiles in Latin America. When oven line is called “Radarange”. Housed application for listing is approved by Chrysler grows tired of the frequent in refrigerator-sized cabinets, the first the New York Curb Exchange (American political strife in Brazil and severs microwave ovens cost between $2,000 Stock Exchange). the partnership, Etchenique sees an and $3,000 and were sold by Raytheon opportunity. His sons, Antonio and Hugo primarily to the commercial marketplace. The Nineteen Hundred Corporation’s Miguel, are instrumental in transitioning application for listing is approved by the the company to refrigerator production, Chicago Stock Exchange. forming the Brastemp® brand, which later becomes central to Whirlpool 1938 Corporation’s global expansion. Whirlpool Corporation (then the Nineteen Hundred Corporation) invents the first 1947 washer with motorized agitation, Companhia Distribuidora Geral ushering in a new era of time savings and Brasmotor enters the large appliance convenience. market as an importer of Kelvinator, Bauknecht launches the Allfix food Norge, Alaska and White Star processor, launching the start of a small- refrigerators. kitchen-appliance market. Brazilian auto repairmen Guilherme Holderegger and Rudolf Stutzer work 1939 Whirlpool Wringer Washer in a small shed in Brusque, Brazil, until 1941 Consul Carlos Renaux asks them to repair The Nineteen Hundred Company, his new kerosene-powered refrigerator. Bauknecht and Maytag shift operations The mechanics have never seen such to support World War II production 1943 a device. To learn how it works, they efforts until war’s end—gaining new World War II forces Guido Borghi and dismantle the refrigerator and put it competencies. Maytag improves designs his family to emigrate from Milan to back together, piece by piece. In 1950, and manufactured components for Comerio, Italy. They rent a summer the Consul® brand is launched. military airplanes. With men at war, home on Via Orocco and open Guido 1947 “Jeep” Washer Borghi and Sons’ Ignis Appliances Shops to manufacture irons and cooktops. 4 markets the Ignis® brand via early 1950 corporate sports sponsorships. 1952 Aligning with its new Whirlpool® brand Indústria de Refrigeração Consul is Whirlpool Corporation acquires the push, the Nineteen Hundred Corporation founded by Rudolf Stutzer and Wittich Clyde Porcelain Steel Company of Clyde, is renamed Whirlpool Corporation. The Freitag in Joinville, Brazil. In its first year, Ohio. The facility is converted into 1948 company offers more consumer options the company produces 22 kerosene- a washer production plant. by adding automatic dryers to the The Nineteen Hundred Corporation powered refrigerators under the Consul® Whirlpool Foundation awards first college company’s product line. (Whirlpool Corporation) successfully brand name. scholarships to sons and daughters of launches the first Whirlpool® brand Investing in the industrial development Whirlpool Corporation employees. name automatic washing machine— of artisan villages in Varese, Italy, transitioning the company from a Giovanni Borghi builds a factory for 1951 manufacturer with one major trade 200 employees to manufacture not Whirlpool Foundation is established to customer (Sears) to launching its own only ovens and cooktops, but also an address global social concerns through 1954 branded appliances. Dual distribution— appliance previously unknown in Italy: grants, volunteerism and leadership. Companhia Distribuidora Geral one line of products for Sears, another the refrigerator. Ignis workers produce Contributed resources enable the Brasmotor changes its name to for The Nineteen Hundred Corporation appliances for third-party companies company to demonstrate its intrinsic Companhia Industrial e Comercial under the Whirlpool® brand begins like Fiat, Atlantic, Philco, Emerson and sense of social responsibility by investing Brasmotor. The newly named company dual manufacturing and distribution— Philips. Borghi builds lakefront pool and in the very communities that drive the embarks on a revamped business model, fundamental for future growth. recreation area in Comerio to support company’s success. developing and producing its own line of employee and family work-life balance, household appliances. The name chosen and constructs one- and two-family LaPorte, Indiana, plant is acquired, and for the new line is Brastemp®: Bras for 1949 houses (Borghi Villages), a sports center becomes the company’s worldwide parts “Brazil,” and Temp for “temperature.” and a health center in Cassinetta. Borghi distribution center. The Nineteen Hundred