Eureka-Williams Co. - Product Sponsor of Password Game Show June 1975

[ronni]

According to various online sources Eureka-Williams Company, having merged in 1945, was bought out by AB Electrolux of Sweden in 1974 (40 years ago). As a result the name reverted back to The Eureka Company (shortened from The Eureka Vacuum Cleaner Company--as it was known from 1909 to 1945).

I have always presumed that the name change occured at the same time as the buy-out. However, in watching the final ABC broadcast of the game show Password from June 27, 1975, I noted that Eureka-Williams Company was listed as one of its product sponsors during the closing credits. The name switch, then, must not have occurred until at least the summer of 1975.




Stills from the show (featuring Betty White, Alan's wife; Alan Ludden, host since 1961; and Mark Goodson, co-producer since 1961):

 

[eurekaprince]

Very interesting..... It may also be that the contract for sponsorship was signed before the Electrolux takeover and so what you see on the show is a result of some long-term agreement signed by Eureka Williams. It may also have taken a year after 1974 to complete the name change legally and to allow for using up old literature and signage.