Pop-guns, Paid Vacations and a Cantankerous Gear — How Whirlpool Corporation Began

Entrepreneurs dream big, but it's unlikely that Louis, Frederick and Emory Upton ever imagined their homegrown washer company would become the world's largest appliance manufacturer.

Near the pleasant shores of Lake Michigan in St. Joseph, Michigan, the Upton brothers created the Upton Machine Company in 1911 to produce electric, motor-driven wringer washers.

The company's first major order came almost immediately: Federal Electric requested delivery of 100 washing machines. A problem arose when a cast-iron gear in the transmission failed — in every single machine. At his company's own expense, Lou Upton replaced the defective parts with a new cut-steel gear.

Impressed with the fledgling company's business ethics, Federal Electric doubled its order to 200 washing machines.

A watershed event took place several years later, when retail giant Sears, Roebuck and Co. began marketing two Upton-manufactured washers under the trade name “Allen.” At a board meeting in October 1916, Lou Upton reported that this relationship was going so well, Sears was actually selling washers faster than the Upton Machine Co. could manufacture them. Today, Whirlpool Corporation is the largest North American supplier of major appliances to Sears under the Kenmore brand.

Upton Machine Company treated its workers just as well as its customers. In 1917, the company offered several dozen of its senior employees an unheard-of benefit: paid vacations. A letter from company president Louis Upton encouraged the lucky men to enjoy “fishing trips, picnics and beach parties.” Satisfied workers, he reasoned, make good products.

Another sign of things to come was the Uptons' decision to diversify their young product line. In 1915, the company's biggest client, Federal Electric, decided to build its own washers. To survive, the Upton Machine Company traded $20,000 of its new stock to acquire American Tool Works. And so, for the next 10 years, the company cleverly supplemented its growing appliance business by manufacturing and marketing popguns and small metal toys.