Alex Taber..Electrolux history

[caligula]

Hi Watsonw:

You are talking about the time period I love best. My research was just prior to the introduction of the model V (5) which was introduced in Sweden around 1923, or perhaps earlier. I understand it went through a number of changes involving the runners. I happen to own a model V and the runners are detachable. Mine is original down to the cord (flex) which is so cracked I can't run it. I also have the models XI, (11) XII, (12) and a XX, (20) which is also rare. You are right, in those days, Electrolux vacuum was the Rolls Royce vacuun cleaners. Please post pictures of these models as I'd love to see them, Mine have seen better days, but altering them by changing cords and so on would decrease their value. As to my model V, the only thing I don't have is the metal hose and wands. Any information you have I'd love to hear about. I know the American Electrolux's and was lucky enough to have lived twenty miles from the factory in Connecticut. But I would love to know the history of the European models. They must have been truly amazing.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[electromatik]

Electrolux does not own Huebsch

Huebsch is owned by Alliance Laundry Systems of Ripon, Wisconsin.

PS I did not know that Electrolux owned Viking. Learn something new every day.

 

[electroluxxxx]

Huebsch...

In the earlier years they were a part of electrolux Sweden. Along with Frigidaire which is still owned by Electrolux home care products. It’s funny you mention Alliance, although Wascomat isn’t an alliance product when I worked in a laundromat during my teen years the Wascomat dryers were electrolux products as stated on the sticker. It’s funny to know how many different brands this company has and most of them are built pretty well. I actually like both their consumer and commercial lines and find them to have a pretty good value for the level of performance you receive.

Back in 2008 I discovered a video on Electrolux’s website that was most of the history of the company as a whole that was about 30 mins long. Very educational, and very mesmerizing to watch, the music that they used for each time period. I watched that video a lot and sadly they took it down when they changed everything. Many of the pictures still exist from the video and are on the website and also can be found on other websites. If I recall, I was able to save the video to my hard drive on my old desktop which I still have (hopefully I can locate the video) as it has been years since that tower has been fired up and the functionality is unknown since it’s in the basement.

As far as Viking goes, most Viking cleaners used the Viking/Husqvarna logo for example I’ll post a pic of my Viking cleaner below.

 

[electromatik]

Ohhhh, Viking VACS

I totally thought you meant Viking Range. Jeezus. lol

I forget about the Viking vacuums. European only I believe?

Yes, Wascomat is Lux. But now they seem to be changing to LaundryLux. Gotta get "lux" on there somehow it seems.

Alliance also owns UniMac and Speed Queen.

 

[real1shep]

Electrolux Group AB was a dirty phrase when it came to Swedish chainsaws in the late 70's. They bought up all the small companies, closed their product production forever and essentially had two remain; Husqvarna and Jonsered(s). A lot of wonderful, colorful history was gone in just a few yrs time.

And obviously, Electrolux was immersed in small appliances as well and even in major appliances. The permutations and iterations are almost endless that bear their name.......

Kevin

 

[caligula]

Hi Real1shep:

Personally I don't concern myself with all this. I'm a historian, my only interest are the models on sled runners, beginning with the ones made in Sweden, and imported to America, and then the history of the factory in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. For me, the interest was the design of these machines and the development of the tools. It's no secret that my favorite of them is the model LX, as it started the interest, or what some might call a fascination. It's also no secret that my interest in the model LX is the development of the ejection system. But for me it stops there. And let me add, the only interest is vacuum cleaner, washing machines, etc. do nothing for me. Being a kid who grew up in Wallingford, Connecticut, and having a grandfather who took interest in my hobby, was a great way to grow up. Add to the fact that he worked for a school and bought numerous Electrolux's over the years. But, as I say, this is where it ends. I have no knowledge of Electrolux today, and my only interest of Electrolux in the early 1920's was the creation of a product that could be sold in every home.

Alex Taber.

 

[real1shep]

Alex, I get that. My only point was that Electrolux was like a sea beast with many tentacles.

I collect many things other than vacs. Electrolux played a factor in many of them.....a company whose policies/expansion I cannot ignore if I want to understand the landscape back then and even today.

A worthwhile comparison would be The General;General Motors Corporation and all the things they used to be in. GM was said to be the largest corporation in the world at one point and a workforce to prove it.

I think in Europe at least, the Electrolux Group developed into their biggest corporation.

While it's cool to focus on a small part of the beginning of Electrolux and the vacs they made, it's just a small part of the picture. WWII changed factories forever and even afterward. When factories were allowed to stop making war munitions, that's when things got interesting, especially with Electrolux USA.

Kevin

 

[eurekaprince]

Just a note about the brandname Viking: In Canada, this was the store brandname for a line of home appliances sold in our T. Eaton department stores. Starting in the 1960’s (maybe even earlier) Eaton’s sold their own line of Viking vacuums made by the Canadian division of Eureka Williams in Kitchener, Ontario. Eureka had a long historical connection to Ontario: Fred Wardell (the founder) was a Canadian from Toronto, the first plant was across the Canada-US border in Detroit, and Eureka vacuums were well-known from coast-to-coast in Canada - though they were branded Viking and sold by the Toronto-based T. Eaton Company. In Canada, our annual Eaton’s catalogue was as popular as the Sears catalogue in the USA.

Things get complicated when Sweden’s Electrolux bought Eureka in 1974. Those European-made Electroluxes may have been labelled Viking due to some corporate agreement with Eaton’s after the takeover. Unless Viking was already being used by another division of Electrolux in Europe. But in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the two different lines of Viking vacuums (one in Canada and one in the USA) had different logos and typefaces. Those that were branded Viking in the USA, had to be labelled “Dometic” in Canada.

 

[electromatik]

One thing is for certain about Electrolux

It sure has one of the most convoluted histories of any company. I thought I knew a lot about it, but there are still some things I'm not sure about.

For one, Canada's Electrolux was, according to Canadians on here, completely separate from the U.S. Electrolux and designed and manufactured it's own products. Lux vacuums worldwide LOOKED similar, with the long, "loaf" designs, but cosmetically different and sometimes each one had unique technologies. This makes little sense to me. If they were independent of each other, why did they so closely resemble each other? And when was Canada Electrolux established and did European Electrolux ever control it?

U.S. Electrolux is easier to follow. Established as an import warehouse in 1924, they built factories in the U.S. and began making the product. The U.S. company was allowed to operate basically independent from the start. European Electrolux let them begin to design their own units and steadily they moved further from the European models. European Electrolux sold the majority of it's shares in the U.S. company until it ceased all ownership in 1968.

Recently I was contacted by someone who reads Vacuumland who claimed that Lux International AG was just a "sales" company that did *NOT* manufacture and that Lux International contracts it's manufacturing to Electrolux AB!!! This despite the fact that Electrolux AB spun off Lux International AG in the early 2000's!

After all these years, I'm still not 100% on a lot of it's history.

 

[eurekaprince]

Regarding the Canadian division of Electrolux USA: Before the United States and Canada signed our "Free Trade Agreement" in the 1980's, most American manufacturers were required to open a branch plant or factory in Canada in order to sell their products north of the border. This was done for a variety of reasons, most importantly to provide work for Canadians and to provide work places that followed Canadian standards and labor laws. That's why Hoover, Eureka, GE and Electrolux all had Canadian factories. Some Canadian models differed slightly from American counterparts, but for some reason, the Electrolux plant in Montreal was given the freedom to design cleaners that were very different from those made in the US.

 

[lesinutah]

Wow

Isn't this inside information available only through the newsletter.
You won't tell others about the history it's only available via newsletter.
Now this thread your posting what was suppose to be. Newsletter content.
What would you call it.
Come at me trying to discredit what I post.
I retact if I'm wrong I admit it.
Les

 

[electromatik]

@eurekaprince

Thanks for that. So Electrolux Canada was established by Electrolux U.S.A. and not Electrolux AB of Europe? That clears up a lot of that confusion. Most are aware that by the 1930's Electrolux U.S. was making very different machines than those in Europe and from the Model XXX onward the two companies sold different machines. It appears that eventually the different "Electroluxes" in different territories were operating a multi-headed beast. A lot of this is well known but hopefully the newsletter will clear up the confusing bits.

 

[caligula]

Hi Les:

As far as I know there is no 'inside information,' I certainly can't speak for John Long, but what I intend to contribute is older than the hills. I'm merely going to upgrade and update things I didn't have access to.

@eurekaprince:

I can't address the topic now as I don't have access to the source material, but I know exactly when and why the split between Electrolux AB, and The Electrolux Corporation came about. In 1932 the model XII (12) was being imported from Sweden, and while I don't know the details, one of these ships was lost at sea. That prompted those in charge of selling Electrolux vacuum cleaners and floor polishers here in the United States, (I believe the headquarters was Dover, Delaware,) to act quickly and find a location for a factory. What they found was in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, and it was perfect for their needs. So from 1933 to 1937 the model XII was manufactured in Connecticut, and the model XXX followed in December of 37, making it the first American made Electrolux. As I said, I don't have access to the book at the moment, but it was one given exclusively to Electrolux employees, of which I was one. That book is 'ELECTROLUX the first forty years, 1924-1964.'I hope this clears up some of the confusion.

 

[real1shep]

What's fascinating about Electrolux Canada was their approach to model sales. Generally, in the US big corporations told the American consumer what was in style and what they would have(See the series "Madmen").

The Canada corporation was more interested in consumer feedback and what the customers really wanted. Their motors were also stronger in comparison to similar models in the US.

Kevin

 

[caligula]

Hi Les:

As long as I'm here there won't be any 'inside information,' and it certainly will not be exclusively for the newsletter. I'm a historian, and Electrolux is my favorite vacuum cleaner. As I mentioned in the post above I was an employee of Electrolux, and had access to inside information. What I learned I share freely, problem is that information only covers the models on sled runners, ending, of course with the model LXI. My material has been published since December of 1983 and has been revised several times. The problem was that there was no Wikipedia in 1983, in fact there were no computers, so there was no way to check facts. I wrote the data I was given, and at times some of this was wrong. Today, I can verify material and update it, and hopefully convey correct info. 99% of what I learned came from top brass at Electrolux in 1968 and 69, as well as from salesmen who I knew in the mid to late 1950's. So if it's Electrolux related, I'll respond to a post, and if there is a question I can respond to I will do so freely. As far as the newsletter, I'm leaving that in he hands of John Long, as I have no say in the publication. I hope this clears up any problems you have.

Alex Taber.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Dear friends,

Please let's not start a new 'thing'. Alex is just providing me w/ tons of info, which I will add to my contacts with Electrolux.
The entire newsletter is not dedicated to this. We're just going to do a focus/history of a different cleaner company in each issue. Upon becoming interested in Lux... I discovered that it is, indeed, a complicated and fascinating history. It will be concise, clear, factual, and hopefully, interesting.
I just got the latest one mailed. This will take time.
So, thanks, everyone, for you interest AND input.
I do appreciate it a lot.

 

[caligula]

This has nothing to do with the newsletter, this is about my personal interests.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

That's why I

approached you.... for your insight.
Being all Hoover, this delving into all of these other companies is not a simple task. But, I think it's great to explore these vac companies that we all love.
I appreciate everything y'all give me, tell me, etc.

 

[caligula]

Hi John:

I fully agree, but as it's been pointed out before, not everybody here gets the newsletter, only those of us who are members of the V.C.C.C. and those at Vacuumland are entitled to knowledge of a given topic. My experience is Electrolux from 1924-1955, so when a question is asked, if I can respond I will. Also keep in mind that my responses have been in numerous posts and are readily available in the archives. As to the newsletter, that is 3+ months away, and I will provide you with the material I already have so you can use it as you see fit. At present I don't even know what I intend to contribute. I'll cross that bridge when the time comes.

At this moment in my life I have other issues to deal with, not related to either V.C.C.C. or Vacuumland, but I'll address that later in the month. And let me hasten to add, medically, my life has never been better.

Alex Taber. [this post was last edited: 9/1/2020-15:33]

 

[paul]

March 1947 News Flash on 1946 Net Profits