Welcome to Maytag Refrigerator
This is your ultimate resource website for the world famous Maytag Refrigerator.
Find details of the full model range, extended information on the popular models and links to find local agents and repairers.
This is your ultimate resource website for the world famous Maytag Refrigerator.
Find details of the full model range, extended information on the popular models and links to find local agents and repairers.
History of the Maytag Refrigerator
Maytag Corporation is one of the leading appliance manufacturers in the United States. It sells washing machines, tumble dryers, ovens, refrigerators, and dishwashers under both premium brands (Maytag and Jenn-Air) and mid-to-lower price value brands (Magic Chef and Admiral). The Maytag brand is also used on coin-operated and commercial laundry equipment.
The company also sells Hoover vacuum cleaners and other floor-care products in North America; Dixie-Narco vending machines and glass-front coolers; and commercial ovens, fryers, and charbroilers for the food service industry under the Blodgett Ovens, Pitco Frialator, MagiKitch’n, and Blodgett-Combi Ovens brands. More than 90 percent of Maytag’s revenues are derived in North America; Maytag International is the company’s export arm, while a joint venture produces the RSD brand washing machine in China. Maytag’s reputation rests on the dependability of its machines, and the Maytag “lonely repairman”–featured in company advertising since 1957–has become an American icon.
Dependability Became Company Watchword Early On
Maytag Company was started by Frederick Louis Maytag and three partners in 1893 to produce threshing-machine band cutters and self-feeder attachments. The company soon began to produce other pieces of farm machinery, not all of it top quality: its corn husker, called the Success, caused the partners many problems because of its poor quality, and farmers often called Maytag out to their fields to fix the Success. When Maytag bought out his partners in 1907, he had learned his lesson; a Maytag product would always be dependable.
During the Great Depression, Maytag held its own; the company even made money. At his father’s death in 1940, Fred Maytag II, grandson of the founder, took over the presidency. During World War II, the company made only special components for military equipment. In 1946 production of washers started up again, and in 1949 the first automatic washers were produced in a new plant built for that purpose. In 1946 Maytag began marketing 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.
Reputation as Premium Brand Secured in Postwar Years
During the 1950s the 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. During these years full-line appliance producers began targeting Maytag’s market. Full-line operators such as General Electric, Whirlpool, and Frigidaire washers and dryers, refrigerators, stoves, and other appliances. Maytag was much smaller than the full-line producers. It limited itself to the manufacture of washers and dryers, which it marketed with ranges and refrigerators built by other companies, and established its reputation as a premium brand.
Transformed into Full-Line Producer in the 1980s
The expansion was effected by acquisition. The first purchase was Hardwick Stove Company in 1981, followed in 1982 by Jenn-Air Corporation, the leading manufacturer of indoor electric grills with stove-top vent systems. These products added a full line of gas and electric cooking appliances to the Maytag line and were sold under the Maytag umbrella. Maytag Company intended this diversification to increase its sales in both the new-home market as well as the replacement market; companies make bids to developers based on kitchen packages, not individual components. The larger replacement market had also changed: large chains selling several brands side by side dominated the market. Chairman Krumm felt the diversification was necessary despite the cyclical nature of the building industry.
So as you can see from the above Maytag is a lot, lot, more than just a manufacturer of the quality refrigerator and the quality and professionalism of founder Frederick Louis Maytag lives on in every single Maytag appliance.
