The Hoover Company is a home appliance company founded in Ohio, United States, in 1908. It also established a major base in the United Kingdom, where it dominated the electric vacuum cleaner industry during most of the 20th century, to the point where the Hoover brand name became synonymous with vacuum cleaners and vacuuming in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Hoover North America was once part of Maytag, but was sold by Maytag's new owners Whirlpool Corporation in 2007 to Hong Kong multinational manufacturing company Techtronic Industries for $107 million. Hoover International had already split from Hoover North America in 1993, and was acquired by Candy in 1995, which was acquired by Haier in 2018.
In addition to producing floorcare products, Hoover was a prominent domestic appliance brand in Europe, particularly well known for its washing machines and tumble dryers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and it also achieved significant sales across many other European markets. Today, the Hoover Europe brand, part of the portfolio owned by the Chinese multinational home appliance company Haier, remains a major player in the European white goods and floorcare sectors in several countries.
History The first upright vacuum cleaner was invented in June 1908 in North Canton, Ohio, by department store janitor and occasional inventor James Murray Spangler. Spangler was an asthmatic, and suspecting the carpet sweeper he was using at work was the cause of his ailment, he created a basic suction-sweeper by mounting an electric fan motor on a carpet sweeper and then adding a soap box and a broom handle. After refining the design and obtaining a patent for the Electric Suction Sweeper, "Carpet sweeper and cleaner", James M. Spangler, issued 2 June 1908 he set about producing it himself, assisted by his son, who helped him assemble the machines, and his daughter, who assembled the dust bags. Production was slow, completing just two to three machines a week.
Spangler soon gave one of his Electric Suction Sweepers to his cousin Susan Troxel Hoover, who used it at home. Impressed with the machine, she told her husband and son about it. William Henry "Boss" Hoover and son Herbert William Hoover Sr. were leather goods manufacturers in North Canton, Ohio, which at the time was called New Berlin. Hoover bought the patent from Spangler later that same year, founding the Electric Suction Sweeper Company for an initial capital investment of $36,000 ($ today), retaining Spangler as production supervisor with pay based on royalties in the new business. Spangler continued to contribute to the company, patenting numerous further Suction Sweeper designs until his death in 1915, when the company name was changed to the Hoover Suction Sweeper Company, with Spangler's family continuing to receive royalties from his original patent until 1925.Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, Volume 2 By John N. Ingham
Henry Dreyfuss and Hoover
In the early 1930s, the company retained the services of Henry Dreyfuss, an up-and-coming industrial designer, to give the Hoover lineup a much needed update. Before Dreyfuss's involvement with the company, the majority of the machines manufactured consisted of a black motor and an aluminum base; this was the norm for more than twenty years. When Hoover introduced the 'Hedlite' in 1932, it was rather awkward and unattractive., "Suction cleaner", Harry B. White, issued 28 May 1935
Dreyfuss made the machine more aesthetically pleasing and echoed the trends of streamlined design. In 1935, he was commissioned to completely redesign the Hoover cleaner. In 1936, for a fee of US$25,000, Dreyfuss sold Hoover the design which would become the Model 150 cleaner. For the first time since the introduction of the Hoover vacuum cleaner, the mechanical workings were completely concealed from sight by a Bakelite cover. This cover was a tear-drop styled shell, which seamlessly incorporated the headlight. Also, he totally revamped the base of the machine. Since the release of this design, all Hoover cleaners consisted of a fluid base and a hood to cover the electric motor. These designs suggested efficiency, cleanliness, and speed. His final design for the Hoover Company was the 1957 Convertible.
Development Faced with a total lack of interest by the public in his expensive and unfamiliar new gadget, Hoover placed an ad in The Saturday Evening Post offering customers ten days' free use of his vacuum cleaner to anyone who requested it. Using a network of local retailers to facilitate the offer, Hoover thus developed a national network of retailers for the vacuums. By the end of 1908, the company had sold 372 Model 0s. By 1912, sales had been made to Norway, France, Russia, Belgium, Holland and Scotland.
In 1919, Gerald Page-Wood – an art director of Erwin, Wasey & Company, Hoover's advertising agency – came up with a succinct slogan which summed up the Hoover's cleaning action: 'It Beats...as it Sweeps...as it Cleans'. At this time, it referred to the action of the revolving brushes, which vibrated the carpet and helped loosen the trodden-in grit. This offered an advantage over competitors' machines, which used suction alone to remove dirt, and therefore were not as efficient as the Hoover. Seven years later, the famous slogan would adapt to even more significance.
Hoover's business began to flourish, and, a year after Hoover acquired the patent from Spangler, he established a research and development department for his new business. By 1926, Hoover had developed the 'beater bar' - a metal bar attached to the rotating brush roll, situated in the floor nozzle cavity of the upright vacuum cleaner., "Suction sweeper" Donald G. Smellie, Harry B White, Marvin E. Nulsen, issued 27 October 1931 Introduced on Models 543 and 700, the beater bars alternated with the sweeping brushes to vibrate the carpet while sucking. It provided a more distinct 'tap' than the bristle tufts used on the former machines, and led to a 101% increase in efficiency. This cleaning action was marketed by Hoover as "Positive Agitation". 'It Beats...as it Sweeps...as it Cleans' rang more true now than ever.
In 1929, Hoover introduced the Model 200 Duster. This would be their first attempt at a cylinder cleaner. It used a Model 575 motor with a modified suction impeller, which was mounted on a unique aluminum body with runners, allowing the cleaner to be pulled behind the user. The Duster was produced for only three months and roughly 9,000 were made.
Herbert W. Hoover Sr. took over as president of the company in 1922 and as chairman of the board of the Hoover Company in 1932. 1930 saw the introduction of the world's first handheld vacuum cleaner, the Hoover Dustette. The good design and exceptional durability of these machines mean many are still in service today, some at over 80 years old.
In 1932, Hoover introduced a new optional headlamp called the Hoover Hedlite on Models 425, 750 and 900. By March 1932, it had become standard equipment on Models 750 and 900, and a $5 extra-cost option on Model 425. The Hoover Hedlite illuminated the floor ahead of the cleaner, useful for dimly-lit rooms and corridors, and under furniture. Several new slogans mentioned the light, including 'It shows you the dirt you never knew you had!', and 'It lights where it's going...it's clean where it's gone!'.
In 1936, Hoover introduced the top-of-the-line Model 150. It had a time to empty bag indicator;, "Indicator for suction cleaners", Harry B. White, issued 23 May 1939 automatic height adjustment; a magnesium body, which made it weigh less than previous models; instant tool conversion; and a two-speed motor. One of the first Dreyfuss designs for Hoover, it was the symbol of the machine age; the Bakelite hood hid the entire motor from view and there were no protruding knobs or gadgets. It was the first Hoover cleaner that was not of the traditional "coffee can" style, which Hoover had been using since its earliest years. The cleaner sold from 1936 to 1939 and was priced at $80 ($ today). Two other lower-priced Hoovers sold along with the 150: the Model 25 (1937–38), which was the middle-of-the-line cleaner priced at $65 ($ today), and the Model 300 (1935–38), which became the bottom-of-the-line cleaner and sold at $49.75 ($)., "Design for a casing for suction cleaners or similar articles", Henry Dreyfuss, issued 4 May 1937., "Design for a casing for a suction cleaner or similar article", Henry Dreyfuss, issued 10 November 1936. Due to the backdrop of the Great Depression, Hoover produced only 166,000 150s in its three-year production run.
From 1941 to 1945, Hoover ceased all vacuum cleaner production and converted the North Canton, Ohio factory to support the war effort. When World War II ended in 1945, Hoover started producing cleaners again and unveiled the Model 27 for post-war America to enjoy.
In 1950, Hoover introduced the Veriflex, which was the first rubberized suction hose in the industry., "Method of making flexible hose for suction cleaners", F. A. Martin, issued 9 June 1953 Other cleaners at the time were using cloth-braided hoses, which would deteriorate and lose suction over time. In 1954, Herbert W. Hoover Jr. took over the presidency of the company from his father."Obituary: Herbert Hoover Jr., 79, Company Head" The New York Times, May 23, 1997 A nephew of the founder, H. Earl Hoover, also served as chairman and honorary director."H. Earl Hoover". The New York Times. November 16, 1985
The sombre and restrained colors of the previous decades gave way to bright, striking modern color-schemes, starting with the Hoover Model 29 in 1950, which was red instead of the regular black and brown colors of the past., "Suction cleaner casing", Henry Dreyfuss, issued 15 May 1951 This was part of their policy of the continual development and modernization of their output.
In 1957, Hoover introduced the Convertible Model 65 (the De Luxe 652 in the UK). It was the last machine designed by Henry Dreyfuss, the industrial designer who had worked with the company since the early 1930s., "Suction cleaner casing", Henry Dreyfuss, issued 1957 This cleaner introduced what Hoover called 'Automatic Shift', a system whereby the tool converter plugged into the rear of the cleaner. This was not a new idea: instant tool conversion had been introduced in 1936 with the Model 150 Cleaning Ensemble. However, new to Model 65, and slightly later in Britain on the 652A, was the introduction of a switch which automatically shifted the motor to a higher speed as the converter was inserted. The Convertible, or the Senior, in Britain, remains Hoover's worldwide bestselling cleaner. Although the domestic line was finally discontinued in 1993, a version called the Guardsman is still available in the commercial sector.
1963 saw the introduction of the Dial-A-Matic in the US – sold in Australia as the Dynamatic, and in Britain as the Convertible. This was the first-ever clean-air upright cleaner. The clean-air principle is similar to the flow of air through a cylinder/canister cleaner. Rather than the dirt passing directly through the suction fan and being blown into the bag, it passes through the bag first, leaving only clean air to pass through the fan. This principle was soon adopted by many manufacturers and continues to be used today. Also, the machine was constructed out of hard plastic. Hoover produced this cleaner from 1963 until the late 1970s in America.