The last kirby has left the building

[cheesewonton]

Westinghouse? I didn’t know they ever made vacs. I bought a Westinghouse power washer a year or so ago, must be the same brand.

Yes and no. Westinghouse Appliances was spun off and sold to the Electrolux Group of Sweden in the early 1970s. That was about the same time the Electrolux Group bought Eureka Company from William's Oil, their former parent and Frigidaire from GM. Most of the vintage Westinghouse vacuums you see in the US and Canada were made before the Electrolux Group bought them. However I have seen some modern Westinghouse branded vacuums sold abroad, particularly in Asia and as far as I know Electrolux Group of Sweden still owns the rights to the Westinghouse Appliances brand world wide. Keep in mind that the other branches of the Westinghouse family like nuclear reactors and jet engines are also separate companies. It gets confusing. Electrolux Group bought up some other US appliance makers like Tappan and Gibson.
In the late 1950s or early 1960s Westinghouse made a few canister vacuum models for the Kenmore brand.

 

[z67danco]

Yes and no. Westinghouse Appliances was spun off and sold to the Electrolux Group of Sweden in the early 1970s. That was about the same time the Electrolux Group bought Eureka Company from William's Oil, their former parent and Frigidaire from GM. Most of the vintage Westinghouse vacuums you see in the US and Canada were made before the Electrolux Group bought them. However I have seen some modern Westinghouse branded vacuums sold abroad, particularly in Asia and as far as I know Electrolux Group of Sweden still owns the rights to the Westinghouse Appliances brand world wide. Keep in mind that the other branches of the Westinghouse family like nuclear reactors and jet engines are also separate companies. It gets confusing. Electrolux Group bought up some other US appliance makers like Tappan and Gibson.
In the late 1950s or early 1960s Westinghouse made a few canister vacuum models for the Kenmore brand.

Oh I didn’t know that! Very interesting. So many brands existed before I was born, and many have gone away during my life. Especially auto brands.

 

[cheesewonton]

Oh I didn’t know that! Very interesting. So many brands existed before I was born, and many have gone away during my life. Especially auto brands.

Another one that surprised me was to see a modern cordless stick vac sold in Hong Kong with Whirlpool branding. Whirlpool hasn't sold a vacuum under its own brand name in the US and Canada since 1987-88, thereabouts and sold their Kenmore vacuum making business off to Panasonic in a 1990-95 joint venture. But in Asia you see some brands you haven't seen in the US in ages. Singer, the sewing machine company, used to be a big producer of vacuums including some designed by famous industrial designers. Singer had a factory in Anderson SC that made vacuums for Singer and Kenmore and Craftsman power tools. Sometime in the late 1980s Singer sold the plant to Ryobi but Ryobi continued to make vacuums for Singer and Kenmore there until TTI bought Ryobi. The last Singer branded vacuums sold in the US that I'm aware of were back in the late 1990s, a Samsung built canister and a cool upright made by Sharp both with the Quantum name. I have one of each. After that no more Singer vacuums in the US and Canada. But if you look at Singer websites in some Asian nations like Malaysia or Sri Lanka, and some EU nations you see Singer still sells some modern vacuums in other markets.

 

[hygiene903]

Yes and no. Westinghouse Appliances was spun off and sold to the Electrolux Group of Sweden in the early 1970s. That was about the same time the Electrolux Group bought Eureka Company from William's Oil, their former parent and Frigidaire from GM. Most of the vintage Westinghouse vacuums you see in the US and Canada were made before the Electrolux Group bought them. However I have seen some modern Westinghouse branded vacuums sold abroad, particularly in Asia and as far as I know Electrolux Group of Sweden still owns the rights to the Westinghouse Appliances brand world wide. Keep in mind that the other branches of the Westinghouse family like nuclear reactors and jet engines are also separate companies. It gets confusing. Electrolux Group bought up some other US appliance makers like Tappan and Gibson.
In the late 1950s or early 1960s Westinghouse made a few canister vacuum models for the Kenmore brand.

Hope you don't mind if I make a few corrections about Westinghouse. Their plant in Mansfield, OH, where I grew up, was opened in 1918, and eventually became the headquarters of their Appliance Division. For many years ranges, refrigerators, washers, dryers, water heaters, and small appliances such as irons, toasters, percolators, electric skillets, and the famous Westinghouse roaster were all produced there. Vacuum cleaners were made at another plant in Springfield, MA. They never made vacuum cleaners for Sears Kenmore, those were made by Birtman Electric Co. in Chicago until Birtman was taken over by Whirlpool. They did however, make vacuums for Montgomery Ward in the late 50's and early 60's.
Refrigerators and dishwashers were transferred to another plant in Columbus, OH in 1954 and 56, and the small appliance lines that were made in Mansfield were moved to a plant in Byesville, OH in 1967, then sold to Hamilton Beach-Scoville in 1970. White Consolidated Industries bought the Westinghouse Major Appliance Division in 1975 and bought Frigidaire in 1979. Not long after, AB Electrolux bought the Tappan Company, also headquartered in Mansfield, and then bought White Consolidated in 1986, and the Mansfield plant was closed in 1990.
I worked at the Mansfield plant for 6 months in 1977, on the dryer floor. By that time the only appliances made there were washers, dryers, and ranges, the product name was changed to White-Westinghouse, and the name of the plant was changed to Mansfield Products, Division of WCI. I was a material handler, mostly moving body panels to the body welder or front panel welder.
Jeff

 

[cheesewonton]

I didn't realize Electrolux AB bought Frigidaire that late. I had Electrolux buying them a decade before. Good information. Thanks.

Curious, when you say you were a material handler moving body panels, did you have a fork lift or where you pushing a cart or pallet jack around the factory floor? Trying to get a flavor of how things were done. Now that would almost certainly be automated.

 

[hygiene903]

You're welcome, glad to help! Yes, White Consolidated bought Westinghouse in 1975 and Frigidaire in 1979. AB Electrolux bought Tappan around 1981 if I remember right, then bought White Consolidated in 1986, which gave them both Westinghouse and Frigidaire. You might also find it interesting that the Westinghouse plant and the Tappan plant in Mansfield were only a block away from each other, with Westinghouse being the largest of the two! There was also another appliance manufacturer just a couple blocks away, Dominion, which made small appliances such as irons, toasters, corn poppers, hand mixers, and electric fans. Dominion closed in the early 70's if I remember right. Up until WCI bought Westinghouse, there was a large lighted sign on top of the east part of the building that said, "You Can Be Sure... if it's Westinghouse!" Whenever we were traveling when I was a kid, and we came back to town from the east, northeast, or southeast, when we saw that sign, it always meant "we're almost home!"
Westinghouse was quite a large plant with several buildings when I worked there, and sometimes you could go from one building to another without even knowing it! The press (stamping) shop and machining operations were on the first floor, range assembly was on the 2nd, washers and laundromats were on the 3rd, and dryers (where I worked) were on the 4th floor. There were also many elevators for freight or passengers located throughout the plant. I moved parts with what they called a decker, which was basically a walk-behind forklift with EXTRA long forks. The racks that held the parts were about the size of a twin bed, with ends that were about 3 ft. high and 4 ft. wide. Parts would come up from the press shop on the elevator and would be set off at the drop spot next to the elevator, where I would pick them up and take to the body welder, front panel welder, or storage area if they didn't need them right away. Once in a while I would have to take a rack of parts that had gotten rusty to an area called the Vit, where they would be dipped in an acid bath for rust removal. After the parts were welded, they would go to what was called the bonderizor, where they would be painted & the paint baked, or bonded to the bodies before they went to the line. Hope this gives you a good idea of how dryers were built back then.
Jeff

 

[cheesewonton]

You're welcome, glad to help! Yes, White Consolidated bought Westinghouse in 1975 and Frigidaire in 1979. AB Electrolux bought Tappan around 1981 if I remember right, then bought White Consolidated in 1986, which gave them both Westinghouse and Frigidaire. You might also find it interesting that the Westinghouse plant and the Tappan plant in Mansfield were only a block away from each other, with Westinghouse being the largest of the two! There was also another appliance manufacturer just a couple blocks away, Dominion, which made small appliances such as irons, toasters, corn poppers, hand mixers, and electric fans. Dominion closed in the early 70's if I remember right. Up until WCI bought Westinghouse, there was a large lighted sign on top of the east part of the building that said, "You Can Be Sure... if it's Westinghouse!" Whenever we were traveling when I was a kid, and we came back to town from the east, northeast, or southeast, when we saw that sign, it always meant "we're almost home!"
Westinghouse was quite a large plant with several buildings when I worked there, and sometimes you could go from one building to another without even knowing it! The press (stamping) shop and machining operations were on the first floor, range assembly was on the 2nd, washers and laundromats were on the 3rd, and dryers (where I worked) were on the 4th floor. There were also many elevators for freight or passengers located throughout the plant. I moved parts with what they called a decker, which was basically a walk-behind forklift with EXTRA long forks. The racks that held the parts were about the size of a twin bed, with ends that were about 3 ft. high and 4 ft. wide. Parts would come up from the press shop on the elevator and would be set off at the drop spot next to the elevator, where I would pick them up and take to the body welder, front panel welder, or storage area if they didn't need them right away. Once in a while I would have to take a rack of parts that had gotten rusty to an area called the Vit, where they would be dipped in an acid bath for rust removal. After the parts were welded, they would go to what was called the bonderizor, where they would be painted & the paint baked, or bonded to the bodies before they went to the line. Hope this gives you a good idea of how dryers were built back then.
Jeff

I had no idea those factories had multiple floors like that. I always think of factories as being big open buildings with everything at ground level. That is probably because I come from the world of military aviation and weapons and the plants making those are all big open structures at ground level. The old pre-WWII Consolidated Aircraft plant in San Diego, which is owned by the US Government now, is this enormous building four stories high and a couple of blocks long but inside it is just an open cavern that can be re-configured to make whatever. Thousands of B-24 bombers and PBY Catalina seaplanes were made there during WWII. Later on General Dynamics used it to make cruise missiles. I considered taking a job there during grad school painting Tomahawks.
I have seen the walk behind forklift. You must have been in great shape with all the walking you did !

 

[hygiene903]

Yes, I've seen both multiple floor factories and single floor factories. Last factory I worked in was Stoneridge, a company that made sensors and switches for the automotive industry. They had 2 floors through most of the plant but up to 3 or 4 levels in some areas. It was built on a hill, and if you went in the front door the area where I worked was at ground level, but going in the employee entrance in the back I had to go upstairs to get to my line.
With your background in military aviation, it might interest you to know that the Mansfield Westinghouse plant made quite a few aircraft products during WWII, including tailcones, fairings, elevators, and ailerons for the P-47, wing flaps and ailerons for the P-38, and many other parts for aircraft, tanks, and general military use, too numerous to list here.
Yes, when I worked at Westinghouse I was in probably the best shape of my life. Only 20 years old when I started there and 21 when I was laid off. Wish I had at least half of the energy and stamina I had back then!
Jeff

 

[cheesewonton]

Yes, I've seen both multiple floor factories and single floor factories. Last factory I worked in was Stoneridge, a company that made sensors and switches for the automotive industry. They had 2 floors through most of the plant but up to 3 or 4 levels in some areas. It was built on a hill, and if you went in the front door the area where I worked was at ground level, but going in the employee entrance in the back I had to go upstairs to get to my line.
With your background in military aviation, it might interest you to know that the Mansfield Westinghouse plant made quite a few aircraft products during WWII, including tailcones, fairings, elevators, and ailerons for the P-47, wing flaps and ailerons for the P-38, and many other parts for aircraft, tanks, and general military use, too numerous to list here.
Yes, when I worked at Westinghouse I was in probably the best shape of my life. Only 20 years old when I started there and 21 when I was laid off. Wish I had at least half of the energy and stamina I had back then!
Jeff

Don't we all wish we had the bodies we had in our 20's ! But I like to say that age and treachery overcomes youth and strength.

During WWII nobody made consumer goods or civilian automobiles. Every company was producing equipment for the military. Someone who knows can maybe tell me but I think even the Electrolux factory, though owned by a company from ostensibly neutral Sweden, was involved in war production for the allies. One of the reasons I am a Compact and Tristar nutcase is their aviation background and how Howard Hughes had an aircraft manufacturer produce a vacuum designed for use in aircraft, specifically the airliners of TWA which he owned back then. Interstate Engineering's sister company, Interstate Electronics, still exists in Anaheim but is now owned by L3 / Harris. They are a major contractor for US Navy ballistic missile submarine systems. Interstate Engineering got back into military aviation later on by being subcontractor to Douglas Aircraft making fuselages for the big hairy chested A-1 Skyraider. All those aviation connections are kind of what turned me on to Tristars and now it's hopeless.