Westinghouse info wanted....

[vac-o-matic]

I found a Bennett Brothers catalog from 1968 when the Kansas guys and I went shopping at a vintage store we always go to when they visit. I was amazed to see all the Westinghouse vacuums in it, including the infamous Converto-vac, and the odd shaped Strato-vac, which I vaguely remembered seeing in the stores when I was a teenager. There were 2 models of the Strato-Vac, and 2 models of the round canister models that most of us would recognize. At what point did these Westinghouse vacuums disappear from the market? I have a later Bennett Brothers catalog from 1974, and there's not one Westinghouse in it.

 

[ohio_tuec]

Well Rick, General Electric dropped out of the vacuum cleaner business in 1972, I would say Westinghouse probably followed suit at the same time....

 

[appliguy]

I heard.......

Westinghouse sold its small apppliance division in 1972 and its major appliance division in 1974. That could just be here say though.....PAT COFFEY

 

[vac-o-matic]

Thanis guys! I wonder why Westinghouse vacs are so scarce? There seems to be plenty of all the other brands at estate sales, ebay, etc., did their motors fail early, or just not great marketing?

 

[hygiene903]

Think You're Right, Pat

I'm pretty sure the 1972 date is right for the small appliances, they sold the lines to Hamilton Beach/Scoville. However, I believe they stopped making vacuums even earlier, perhaps 1970?
And I do know for a fact that the 1974 date is right for the major appliances, which were sold to White Consolidated, and I remember seeing the changes at the Mansfield, OH plant during that time. The name was changed to Mansfield Products Co., Division of White Consolidated, and the appliances themselves were renamed "White-Westinghouse." By the time White took over, washers, dryers, and ranges were the only items still made at the Mansfield plant, where I worked on the dryer floor in 1977.
Jeff

 

[a007kirbyman]

Bonus day again this year... (--> 11/31/09 <--) woohoo

Post# 85101-11/31/2009-01:35 ||| hygiene903 (Galion, OH)

 

[hygiene903]

Wonder How THAT Happened??

It's not on the calendar!
Jeff