Thread Number: 28447
How did Kenmore get it's name?
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Post# 434929   5/12/2010 at 18:44 (5,069 days old) by danmantn (Tennessee)        

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Just curious...does anyone know? How about Whirlpool?




Post# 434954 , Reply# 1   5/12/2010 at 20:07 (5,069 days old) by turquoisedude (.)        

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Maybe not related, but wasn't George Washington's estate in Monticello named 'Kenmore'?? That would have been a pretty neat reason to choose that as a brand name, no??

Post# 434965 , Reply# 2   5/12/2010 at 20:52 (5,069 days old) by rpms (ontario canada)        

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So, who was Lady Kenmore?

Post# 434974 , Reply# 3   5/12/2010 at 21:12 (5,069 days old) by turquoisedude (.)        

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Martha Washington, perhaps?? LOL

Post# 434979 , Reply# 4   5/12/2010 at 21:55 (5,069 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)        

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No one other than perhaps Mr. Sears and Mr. Roebuck know where the brand name "Kenmore" came from, and they took it to their graves. Some think the name was taken from a once very busy Chicago street (Kenmore Street), but again nothing is concrete.

As for "Whirlpool", again, the answer is no one but the original owners of the company can be sure.


Post# 435005 , Reply# 5   5/13/2010 at 00:16 (5,069 days old) by alr2903 (TN)        

Interesting, anyone know for sure?

CLICK HERE TO GO TO alr2903's LINK


Post# 435007 , Reply# 6   5/13/2010 at 00:31 (5,069 days old) by Volvoguy87 (Cincinnati, OH)        
Fredericksburg's Kenmore.

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I earned my BA in Historic Preservation at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, VA. Mary was George's mother. She lived in Fredericksburg. George's sister married Fielding Lewis and they also lived in Fredericksburg in a home called Kenmore. It has some of the most intricate and exquisite decorative plaster ceilings in the country. No relation, however, to the Kenmore brand name, at least so far as I know.

Dave


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Post# 435077 , Reply# 7   5/13/2010 at 12:18 (5,068 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)        
Can More?

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you CAN do MORE with a KENMORE???

Post# 435152 , Reply# 8   5/13/2010 at 18:10 (5,068 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ)        
Launderess has it...

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According to Sears' own archives:

The first appearance of the Kenmore brand washing machine almost escaped notice. The Kenmore washing machine did not show up in the venerable Sears catalog that year, and no known photograph of the 1927 washing machine with a Kenmore brand on it exists. The origin of the name Kenmore is equally vague. One suggestion is that Kenmore came from Kenmore Avenue, a prominent street in Chicago.


Post# 435175 , Reply# 9   5/13/2010 at 20:46 (5,068 days old) by DanManTN (Tennessee)        

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Interesting...now how about Whirlpool? Or Speed Queen? Interesting names for sure.

Post# 435186 , Reply# 10   5/13/2010 at 21:29 (5,068 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)        
you CAN do MORE with a KENMORE???

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I also have wondered about this.

What seems strange is that unlike some other Sears lines, Kenmore doesn't have an obvious connection to the product. Coldspot, Craftsman, and Silvertone (used on radios) all seem to have a logical relationship to the products they are used on. Maybe other Sears brands are as bad or worse than Kenmore for having an obvious relationship to the item--I can't really remember much of what Sears has sold outside of appliances!

At one point, they apparently used Water Witch for wringer washers...which actually I like better than Kenmore.


Post# 435595 , Reply# 11   5/16/2010 at 15:50 (5,065 days old) by pturo (Syracuse, New York)        
Kenmore

Kenmore was a really nice planned suburb in the Buffalo, NY area and still is..was voted one of the best small towns in the USA in 2009 and it is of course near Niagra Falls for the water, so it might have been lifted by Sears for that reason.

Many cars were named after towns: Catalina, Belvedere,Monte Carlo.....seems marketing was about good place association.

Whirlpool and Maytag are direct water refrences to connote washing action that happens in rivers and lakes.


Post# 435596 , Reply# 12   5/16/2010 at 15:51 (5,065 days old) by pturo (Syracuse, New York)        
Kenmore

Kenmore was a really nice planned suburb in the Buffalo, NY area and still is..was voted one of the best small towns in the USA in 2009 and it is of course near Niagra Falls for the water, so it might have been lifted by Sears for that reason.

Many cars were named after towns: Catalina, Belvedere,Monte Carlo.....seems marketing was about good place association.

Whirlpool and Maytag are direct water refrences to connote washing action that happens in rivers and lakes.


Post# 435638 , Reply# 13   5/16/2010 at 19:25 (5,065 days old) by Pulsator (Saint Joseph, MI)        

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I always thought the Maytag name was the original owner's last name no? I have a Maytag ad featuring Fred Maytag sending out thousands of telegrams to each new Maytag washer owner...

Post# 435643 , Reply# 14   5/16/2010 at 19:56 (5,065 days old) by brettsomers ()        
Whirlpool and Maytag are direct water refrences to connote w

I must not be reading that right.

Post# 435645 , Reply# 15   5/16/2010 at 20:03 (5,065 days old) by appliguy (Oakton Va.)        
As for "Whirlpool", again, the answer is no one but

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WRONG!!!!!!! The Whirlpool name started out as the model name of a wringer washer made by the 1900 Washing Machine Co. in the 1920's...during the 1930's it became the name of a line of washers from 1900 and it was under this name in 1948 that 1900 introduced their first automatic washer (after debuting it as a Kenmore in 1947) In 1950 1900 became Whirlpool Corp......PAT COFFEY

Post# 435656 , Reply# 16   5/16/2010 at 20:43 (5,065 days old) by pturo (Syracuse, New York)        

a maytag is a rapid, look up maytag river rafting on google. A whirlpool is a whilpool in water. I don't think there was a Mr. Maytag or a Mr. Whirlpool.

Post# 435657 , Reply# 17   5/16/2010 at 21:25 (5,065 days old) by appliguy (Oakton Va.)        
WRONG!!!!!!!!

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There was a Maytag family as a matter of fact Frederick Maytag founded the company in 1893 and was president until his death in 1940. At that time his sone Fred the second took over and was president until sometime in the late 60's or early 70's. If you'd read my post previous to yours you would know how Whirlpool got its name....PAT COFFEY

Post# 435695 , Reply# 18   5/17/2010 at 00:39 (5,065 days old) by alr2903 (TN)        

Yeah the Maytag family even dabbled in the new fangled motor car business. I also think the Maytag dairy is in operation famous for a delicious blue cheese. alr2903

Post# 435741 , Reply# 19   5/17/2010 at 09:00 (5,065 days old) by aldspinboy (Philadelphia, Pa)        

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Jamie his son Fritz Maytag started a beer company wished he would have stayed with his fathers company we might stiil have them here.





Darren k



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