A Brief History of Maytag:
F.L. Maytag came to Iowa as a farm boy in a covered wagon, joined with three other men to found the company in 1893. The firm produced threshing machine band-cutter and self-feeder attachments invented by one of the founders of the company. Operations were housed in an abandoned, 30 x 40 foot stove works in Newton, Iowa.
After the turn of the century, the company became involved in several sidelines. The farm equipment line was expanded to include hay pressses, hog waterers and numerous specialized feeders and harvesting equipment. Between 1907 and 1911, F.L. Maytag produced 'Maytag-Mason' automobiles in Waterloo, Iowa. As late as 1916, Maytag Company briefly produced farm tractors.
The first Maytag clothes washer was built in 1907 as a sideline to the farm equipment line. It was intended that this product would solve seasonal slumps in the farm equipment business and fill the need for a home washing machine.
The 1907 'Pastime' washer had a wooden tub with a hand crank that turned an inside dolly with pegs, which, in turn, pulled the clothes through the water and against the corrugatged tub sides.
About this time in the company's history, F.L. Maytag became sole owner of the firm. Improvements on the first washer came steadily. A pulley mechanism was added so the machine could be operated by an outside power source, and, in 1911, a model with an electric motor was unveiled.
Three years later, Maytag developed its Multi-Motor gasoline engine washer that became a boon to rural homemakers who did not have access to electric power. In 1919 the comany succeeded in casting the first aluminum washer tub, producing what was called in the trade 'the washer tha tcouldn't be built,' and eliminating problems inherent in the wooden tub construction.
Expansion into a national company and world leadership came during the first half of the 1920's under L.B. Maytag, a son of the founder, who served as company president between 1920 and 1926. He was a member of the board of directiors from 1940 until his death in 1966. He also conceived a new washer design that replaced the dolly under the lid with an agitator in the bottom of the tub.
Howard Snyder, a former mechanic whose inventive genius had led him to head Maytag's development department, worked out details of the new design and came up with one of the most significant inventions in laundry appliance history. His revolutionary washing principle was to force water through the clothes with a vaned agitatior mounted on the bottom of the tub, rather than drag clothes through the water with a lid dolly. Maytag first introduced this type of washer in 1922 and it was a great success.
The new washer design put Maytag exclusively into the washer business, prompted discontinuance of farm implement manufacturing, and propelled the company to a dominate position in the young laundry appliance industry.
Trainloads of Maytag 'Gyrafoam' washers went out from the Newton plant in single shipments, and by 1927 the company had produced its first million. It has now produced more than 40 million laundry and kitchen appliances.
From 1926 to 1940 the company was headed by E.H. Maytag, another son of the founder. In 1929 the company reached a pre-war high in earnings of $6,838,883, and the firm made its way through the depression years without encountering a loss.
As the shadow of war fell over the country, E.H. Maytag died, and his son, Fred Maytag II, assumed the company presidency in 1940 at age 29.
During World War II, the company discontinued the manufacture of washers and devoted its facilities to the war effort. From 1940 to 1945, Maytag improved and produced numerous special components for military airplanes.
Production of wringer washers was resumed in 1946, and three years later, Plant 2, a new facility for manufacturing automatic washers, was opened in Newton. Maytag's first automatic washer, the AMP, was introduced in 1949 and began a new era in the history of the company.
With the beginning of the Korean War in 1951, Maytag again served its country, constructing a building next to Plant 1 to product parts for tanks and other military equipment while continuing its washer production. Production of clothes dryers was added in 1953.
Thirty years later in 1983, the end of an era occurred when Maytag discontinued production of the wringer washers. The company had produced wringer washers for 76 years, and when manufacturing was discontinued 11.7 milion units had rolled off assembly lines in Newton. Industry sales of wringer washers had been decreasing since 1948, and, because of the low volume involved, it was no longer economical for Maytag to manufacture the product.
Throughout history, Maytag Company has done more of its own manufacturing than perhaps any other appliance maker, due in part to its location, but primarily to its overriding condern for product quality and cost control. Production facilities include machining, sheet metal stamping and welding, rummer and plastics molding and extruding, die casting, heat treating, planting, porcelain enameling and paint finishing.
In 1983 Maytag established a national parts distrubution operation in Jefferson City, Mo. Today, this facility and the service and parts operations of all Maytag Corporation appliance companies are consolidated under the direction of the Maycor Appliance Parts and Service Company, headquartered in Cleveland, Tennessee.
In the late 1950's, Maytag expanded into the growing commercial laundry field. In 1958, the company began manufacturing washers and dryers for commercial self service laundries and commercial route operators.
In addition to its single-load laundry equipment and multi-load dryers for the commercial market, Maytag added, in 1987, a line of front-loading washers to its offering of commercial products.
As far as non-laundry appliances are concerned, Maytag began marketing a line of ranges and refrigerators in 1946, both of which were manufacturedunder the Maytag name by other companies. However, Maytag chose not to stay in this business. Ranges were discontinued in 1955 and refrigerators in 1960.
Six years later the company reentered the kitchen appliance field with a portable dishwasher, and in 1968 it unveiled a line of food waste disposers.
In 1969 the company added a built-in dishwasher and a convertible dishwasher. Two more built-in models wier introduced in 1971, and today the company offers a full line.
In 1981 Maytag launched a program of growth by acquisition and purchased Hardwick Stove Company. Maytag reentered the cooking appliance field in 1982 with a line of gas and electric ranges, wall ovens, built-in cooktops and microwave ovens. During that year, Maytag also acquired Jenn-air Corporation.
Late in 1982, Maytag began manufacturing dishwashers for Jen-Air. Jenn-Air, in turn, makes several cooking applianced for Maytag Company.
Today, Maytag Corporaiton is comprised of three divisions-the appliance group, Hoover group and diversified products group. altogether, full or nearly full lines of major appliances are marketed in the U.S. under the Admoral, Jenn-Air, Magic Chef and Maytag brands. The company employs approximately 3,500 people in Newton and Jefferson City, Missouri while the corporation employs approximately 29,000 worldwide.
This information was taken from the Gas Engine Magazine February/March 1990
http://www.gasenginemagazine.com/farm-life/a-brief-history-of-maytag.aspx
Steve Owens