Description: Lot of 2 Vintage Original 1931 Letters from E.H. (Elmer Henry) Maytag, President of washing machine company Maytag Corporation during the Great Depression!ESTATE FIND!! I stumbled upon a very rare set of two old letters from 1931, sent directly from President E.H. Maytag to all dealers and field locations, discussing pricing during the Great Depression, and offering hope that things were improving. These originated from the world headquarters in Newton, Iowa. The April 29, 1931 Letter reads: TO ALL FRANCHISED DEALERS AND FIELD REPRESENTATIVES: Referring to our letter of March 27th, in which, among among other things, we stated we were expecting to raise the wholesale price on models F and G on May 1st. We are pleased to advise you that our business has been so good this month that it makes us feel we are back to normal times. Our factory, at the present time, is running thirteen hours per day. If we can continue with this increased volume, it may be necessary to make only very little, if any, change in our club car and carload prices. In view of this, we are extending our present prices, in club car and carload lots, on models A and B and F and G, to June 1st, 1931, and the only change that will be made on May 1st is the prices on models F and G in local shipments, which will be $63.00 on the model F and $78.00 on the model G, f.o.b, factory or branch. Yours very truly THE MAYTAG COMPANY E.H. Maytag President The subsequent May 7, 1931 Letter reads: TO ALL MAYTAG DEALERS AND FIELD REPRESENTATIVES: In my letter of April 29th, I mentioned our factory running thirteen hours a day to get out the tremendous volume of shipments for April business. I am firmly convinced that this increase is the result of one factor more than any other, MANPOWER. It is only natural, under present conditions, that the average sales per man are not as high as they used to be, and the one way to make up for that is, - more men. In urging more men to be hired and trained, the biggest obstacle we have found is the dealer having an insufficient working stock of machines. The following is a true example of what can be done. There is a fine dealership close to Newton, serving a population of about 30,000. This dealer has been selling but six or eight machines a month, and admits he has been waiting for good times to come along. Two weeks ago, he grew tired of waiting and stocked enough machines to put a good force of men to work. The result was eight washers and one ironer the first week, and he tells us these sales are more profitable from the standpoint of cash and good terms than any business he has taken for the past two years. Today, it would be difficult to convince this dealer that he cannot have a good volume of profitable sales if he will go out after them. I sincerely believe that more manpower, with a sufficient working stock of Maytags, are the two factors that are going to mean an increase in every Maytag dealer's business, and I hope every district manager will do his part by giving the dealer more and better trained men. Sincerely yours E.H. Maytag President ***HOW COOL IS THAT?!? A great historical part of the Maytag puzzle and company history!*** Elmer Henry Maytag (September 18, 1883 – 20 July 1940) was the Maytag Corporation president starting in 1926, and he also founded the Maytag Dairy Farms. Signatures appear to be stamped (or maybe by autopen?), rather than signed directly by Mr. Maytag. Please have a good look and decide for yourself. Overall good condition. Some age-related yellowing and staining from storage, but overall very clean and only a few small creases. Selling as-is with no returns, so kindly ask before bidding if you have any questions. ***TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT THOSE PHOTOS! Would look great displayed in a washing machine museum, Maytag Corporate offices, or a nice addition to any serious collection of a Maytag lover or past employee.*** Careful packing and fast shipping. Thanks, good luck and God Bless! ;o) Some bonus history on this classic American success story: The Maytag Washing Machine Company was founded in 1893 by businessman Frederick Maytag. In 1925, Maytag Washing Machine Company became Maytag, Inc. Frederick's son Elmer Henry Maytag took over as president of the company from 1926 until his own death in 1940. In the early 1930s, photographer Theodor Horydczak took pictures of the plant and some of its workers. During the Great Depression of the 1930s the company was one of the few to make a profit. In 1938, Maytag provoked strikes by the company's workers because of a 10% pay cut. The company was able to beat the strike because of the intervention of four military companies, including a machine gun company, of the 113th Cavalry Regiment, Iowa National Guard. At his father's death in 1940, Fred Maytag II, grandson of the founder, took over the presidency. During World War II, the company participated in war production by making special components for military equipment. In 1946, production of washing machines was resumed; in 1949, the first automatic washers were produced in a new, dedicated factory. In 1946, Maytag began marketing a separate line of ranges and refrigerators made by other companies under the Maytag name. During the Korean War, the company again produced parts for military equipment, although washing-machine production continued. During the 1950s, the 'white goods,' or laundry and kitchen appliance industry, grew rapidly. Maytag first entered the commercial laundry field at this time, manufacturing washers and dryers for commercial self-service laundries and commercial operators. In response, other full-line appliance producers began to compete with Maytag in the white-goods consumer market. These included 'full-line' manufacturers such as Whirlpool, General Electric, Westinghouse, and Frigidaire, who built not only washing machines and dryers, but also refrigerators, stoves, and other appliances. Since Maytag was much smaller than the full-line producers, the company decided to limit itself to the manufacture of washers and dryers, alongside marketing ovens and refrigerators built by other companies, as a small, premium-brand manufacturer. The company capitalized on its reputation by renaming its corporate address in Newton, Iowa, "One Dependability Square". By 1960, Maytag had ceased marketing ovens and refrigerators, but later started again to expand into kitchen appliances with its own design of portable kitchen dishwasher and a line of food-waste disposers. Upon the death in 1962 of Fred Maytag II, the last family member involved in the company's management, E. G. Higdon was named president of the company, with George M. Umbreit becoming chairman and CEO. By the late 1970s, over 70 percent of U.S. households were equipped with washers and dryers, and with approximately 18,000 employees worldwide, the company was established as a dominant manufacturer of large laundry appliances. After the company's acquisition of Magic Chef, Inc., in 1986, a move which nearly doubled its size, the company acquired a new corporate name, Maytag Corporation. In 1988, Maytag acquired Chicago Pacific Corporation, which was formed using the remnants of the bankrupt Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. Chicago Pacific Corporation owned Hoover US and Hoover UK as well as Thomasville Brand Furniture. Maytag quickly sold off the Thomasville Furniture brand. Maytag Corporation, led by Chairman Daniel Krumm, next planned to make Maytag a worldwide organization. The UK part of Hoover was to help Maytag expand into Europe. Hoover UK was not doing well financially and offered customers a round-trip ticket anywhere if they purchased a vacuum. This campaign cost the corporation $50 million to settle. Subsequently, Maytag sold off Hoover UK. This was a huge setback for the amount of cash Maytag had in hand and thus started the downward spiral financially. In 1991 Maytag built a new plant in Jackson, Tennessee, for the manufacture of newly designed plastic tub dishwashers. The Plastic tub was developed in Newton, Iowa, but in 1996 Engineering was transferred to Jackson because Mr. Len Hadley, then president of Maytag Corporation, wanted the plant to be self-sufficient. This engineering team engineered a Stainless Steel dishwasher, Tall-Tub Plastic and Tall-Tub Stainless steel product. Engineering crescendoed with a Double Drawer dishwasher which today is manufactured in Findlay Ohio at the Whirlpool Plant, the only Maytag legacy product built in the Whirlpool Appliance line-up. The Jackson plant evolved into a streamlined manufacturing facility that could build thousands of dishwashers daily on multiple lines. This plant was the most efficient plant and was a hallmark for other facilities. Whirlpool closed this plant in 2009. In 1997, Maytag Corporation purchased G.S. Blodgett Corporation, a maker of commercial ovens. At the time of this purchase Maytag was looking at the Turbo Chef line they had been working on up to this point. Prior to 1997, the Maytag engineering team, at Maytag Laundry Appliances Research and Development, developed the Maytag Neptune line of front-load washers. A matching dryer was introduced to accompany the new washer. The company claimed that the new Neptune model saved energy costs over traditional washer/dryer sets. Production of the Neptune line was later switched to Samsung Electronics. In 2001, the company acquired the Amana Corporation and its appliance assembly facilities. That same year, Ralph F. Hake became the last chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Maytag Corporation, serving in that post until March 2006. Once renowned as the standard for laundry appliances, by 2003 the company faced increasing competition from new appliance brands in the US market, as well as from existing appliance manufacturers who had outsourced production a decade earlier in order to reduce costs. While Maytag had begun the process of shifting appliance production to lower-cost assembly plants outside the United States, in 2004 the company was still producing 88 percent of its products in older U.S.-based factories. In an apparent move away from traditional company marketing strategy, company management decided on a plan to stimulate consumer purchases of new Maytag appliances before their old ones had worn out. Costs incurred in Maytag's acquisition and integration of Amana and an increased corporate debt load led to aggressive internal cost-cutting efforts in direct materials, manufacturing, and distribution costs.Maytag introduced a value-priced appliance line under a separate label, Performa by Maytag. To increase sales, the company also marketed Maytag-branded 'Legacy Series' washing machines that were otherwise identical to low-end Amana models, and built at the formerly Amana assembly plant in Searcy, Arkansas. The rebranded Maytag models, later termed Amanatags by dissatisfied owners, received poor customer reviews after reports surfaced of major mechanical and/or durability problems. The company also consolidated warehouse operations and cut the number of Maytag vendors. Between 2002 and 2004, Maytag corporate management cut new-product investment by 50%. An increasing chorus of consumer complaints concerning product reliability and customer service, assisted by the rapid growth of internet consumer forums, began to affect the company's reputation with customers. The company was also slow to react to customer complaints regarding its flagship Neptune washer and dryer line (labeled the Stinkomatic by dissatisfied customers because they would become moldy in a way that could not be easily cleaned), resulting in further damage to the company's reputation and a $33.5 million payout to settle several class-action lawsuits arising from the Neptune problems. By 2005, Maytag's market share had declined to all-time lows, sales were flat, and customer satisfaction surveys ranked Maytag near the bottom of the appliance field. The problems with the Neptune line continued; in 2007, 250,000 Neptune washing machines became part of a nationwide safety recall by the Consumer Product Safety Commission due to fire danger. In 2005, Haier sought to expand its share of foreign markets by acquiring rival white-goods OEMs and by expanding overseas production capacity. With backing from two large U.S. private equity funds, Haier made a bid to acquire U.S. appliance maker Maytag for $1.28 billion. The bid failed and Maytag was bought by Whirlpool for $1.7 billion. On April 1, 2006, Whirlpool completed its acquisition of Maytag Corporation. In May 2006, Whirlpool announced plans to close the former Maytag headquarters office in Newton, as well as laundry product manufacturing plants in Newton, Iowa; Herrin, Illinois; and Searcy, Arkansas by 2007. Following the Maytag headquarters closure, all brand administration was transferred to Whirlpool's headquarters in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Maytag name would now be used on Whirlpool-designed appliances.
Price: 12.99 USD
Location: Wichita, Kansas
End Time: 2024-11-29T23:36:13.000Z
Shipping Cost: 4.95 USD
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All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Signed: Yes
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
