suckolux
Well-known member
and the Birtmans bark!
Kenmore Porn :-)
- Thread starter DesertTortoise
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rugsucker
Well-known member
"trade magazine"
The Birtman/Whirlpool article was in a Fortune of 57.
Also a very good Hoover article in a fall 64 Fortune magazine.
The Birtman/Whirlpool article was in a Fortune of 57.
Also a very good Hoover article in a fall 64 Fortune magazine.
super-sweeper
Well-known member
reply #24,
I didn't know they had Kenmores in the year 1070, they must be great vacuums to last 1,014 years!
I didn't know they had Kenmores in the year 1070, they must be great vacuums to last 1,014 years!
DesertTortoise
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Eurekaprince, the two vacuums I posted images of at the beginning of this post, the 1990-ish gray 4.1 model number 116.2041080 and the cream with faux wood 3.9 from about 1980 model number 116.22997 are Matsushita machines. I also have a 4.1 that is built on the same cream colored body as the 3.9 but Sears spared us the faux wood on that one that I posted images of on Kenmore Porn 2 that was purchased new in 1982. That 4.1 is model number 116.2399182, and has the most features of the three. The Avocado Bomber, which I have posted numerous photos of on other threads is also a Matsushita product.
Keep in mind that in those days Matsushite Electric Corporation of America and Panasonic were two different corporate entities with different product lines. The were owned by a common holding company but were not the same company. Don't call an 80's Kenmore vac like mine made by Matsushite Electric Corporation of America a "Panasonic". It was not. It is no different than Bushnell and Alliant Techsystems. ATK's parent owns Bushnell, but they aren't the same company. ATK makes rocket motors and guided missiles for the military. Bushnell makes telescopes and binoculars. Two different companies under a common corporate shell.
Keep in mind that in those days Matsushite Electric Corporation of America and Panasonic were two different corporate entities with different product lines. The were owned by a common holding company but were not the same company. Don't call an 80's Kenmore vac like mine made by Matsushite Electric Corporation of America a "Panasonic". It was not. It is no different than Bushnell and Alliant Techsystems. ATK's parent owns Bushnell, but they aren't the same company. ATK makes rocket motors and guided missiles for the military. Bushnell makes telescopes and binoculars. Two different companies under a common corporate shell.
Dircik....I still maintain that your cream-coloured 1980 Kenmore canister was made by Whirlpool and has no connection to Matsushita. If it was made by Matsushita in 1980, it would say Made in Japan on the Model Plate. Around the same time, Sears was selling a cute little Kenmore compact bagless canister imported vac called the "Let's Clean". It was made by Sanyo for Sears, and it explicitly said Made in Japan.
Matsushita did not have a vacuum factory in the USA before getting involved with the Danville plant in 1990, as far as I know. If you can find a website which describes a Matsushita vacuum cleaner factory located in the USA in 1980, I would love to see that.
Matsushita did not have a vacuum factory in the USA before getting involved with the Danville plant in 1990, as far as I know. If you can find a website which describes a Matsushita vacuum cleaner factory located in the USA in 1980, I would love to see that.
DesertTortoise
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Eurekaprince, take some time my friend and learn about the history of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America. They were a US based subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Company. Matsushita has an interesting history. The firm started way back in 1918. Their main business was big industrial electrical/mechanical items. Consumer goods came after WWII. In 1961 Konosuke Matsushita came to the US to establish a US based manufacturing arm to support a growing business in the US. TVs were their first products. Matsushita Electric Corporation of America operated multiple manufacturing sites in the US, not Japan, but the US and those Matsushita built Kenmores are among their US made products.
The Japanese manufacturing sites were under Matsushita Electric Industrial Company. Matsushita made a lot more than consumer goods. They built heavy industrial electronics and electromechanical items. Think things you would see in a power plant, assembly line, heavy rail (remember Japan has a lot of electrified rail) or a shipyard. They sold their consumer goods under the National brand name everywhere but the US, where that name was already in use by another firm. For the US they adopted the Panasonic brand name on both US and Japanese manufactured consumer goods. Over time the Panasonic name was applied to goods sold outside the US, and the name became more recognized internationally than the Matsushita name. In the past decade the Matsushita name was abandoned and all the many divisions renames Panasonic.
The Japanese manufacturing sites were under Matsushita Electric Industrial Company. Matsushita made a lot more than consumer goods. They built heavy industrial electronics and electromechanical items. Think things you would see in a power plant, assembly line, heavy rail (remember Japan has a lot of electrified rail) or a shipyard. They sold their consumer goods under the National brand name everywhere but the US, where that name was already in use by another firm. For the US they adopted the Panasonic brand name on both US and Japanese manufactured consumer goods. Over time the Panasonic name was applied to goods sold outside the US, and the name became more recognized internationally than the Matsushita name. In the past decade the Matsushita name was abandoned and all the many divisions renames Panasonic.
