Thread Number: 71628
/ Tag: Vintage Automatic Washers
Why were really old Whirlpools (50s-60s) branded RCA Whirlpool? |
[Down to Last] |
Post# 947750   7/11/2017 at 22:38 (2,451 days old) by superocd (PNW)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
     
I always thought that until the late 1990s GE was in control of RCA, so why would GE let Whirlpool use RCA, or was Whirlpool and RCA connected in some way? |
|
Post# 947753 , Reply# 1   7/11/2017 at 23:02 (2,451 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
1    
Whirlpool name was used for appliances off and on, since the Uptons first began producing washing machines.
In the 1950's Whirlpool bought RCA to get at that company's cooking and AC line; hence the name change to RCA-Whirlpool. Later RCA was dropped and the company went back to just Whirlpool. www.fundinguniverse.com/company-h... |
Post# 947757 , Reply# 2   7/11/2017 at 23:08 (2,451 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
1    
The appliance and electronic divisions were eventually separated and sold to Thompson Consumer Electronics that made the cheap television/electronics in China under GE and RCA brands and GE made RCA a cheap knock off brand of appliance. Whirlpool and RCA shared a a nice early life together as well known, respected brands, but you see what happened when corporate greed takes over.
|
Post# 947809 , Reply# 4   7/12/2017 at 09:22 (2,450 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
3    
RCA at some point sold Hotpoint-made appliances in Canada. I have a Hotpoint kettle from the 1950s (I guess) that was sold by RCA Victor.
And here, RCA Victor did also sell RCA Whirlpool appliances back in the 1960s but their laundry appliances was made by Inglis. They did use some US RCA Whirlpool parts until Whirlpool stopped using the RCA name and then they went to RCA Victor and just RCA in 1969. In 1971, they switched from selling Inglis/Whirlpool appliances to Westinghouse for about 5-6 years and then they briefly sold GE stuff in the late 1970s. That was before GE and RCA were bought by Thomson and before there were some RCA-branded GE appliances in the United States. |
Post# 947810 , Reply# 5   7/12/2017 at 09:31 (2,450 days old) by abcomatic (Bradford, Illinois)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
     
I have a radio from 1967 that says RCA victor on it. |
Post# 947845 , Reply# 8   7/12/2017 at 13:11 (2,450 days old) by lesto (Atlanta)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
1    
We had a 1962 RCA Whirlpool window air conditioner when I was growing up. It was 12,500 BTU, ran on a 220 volt line and was robins egg blue inside and out. They also made Sears Coldspot air conditioners in those days. |
Post# 947849 , Reply# 9   7/12/2017 at 14:03 (2,450 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
3    
I know further research from actual sources is the best way to unpack this, but the Wiki entry below pretty much sums up Whirlpool's relation with RCA (note - Whirlpool did not buyout all of RCA. Think of RCA in 1955 as the General Motors of the electronics world). This post was last edited 07/12/2017 at 14:43 |
Post# 947852 , Reply# 10   7/12/2017 at 14:41 (2,450 days old) by kb0nes (Burnsville, MN)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
     
|
Post# 947853 , Reply# 11   7/12/2017 at 14:48 (2,450 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
     
|
Post# 947854 , Reply# 12   7/12/2017 at 15:04 (2,450 days old) by Supersuds (Knoxville, Tenn.)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
1    
Here's a snippet from the January 1957 Appliance Manufacturer magazine that Robert made available last month. This is from an an interview with Whirlpool-Seeger's treasurer, Mason Smith:
View Full Size
|
Post# 947869 , Reply# 13   7/12/2017 at 17:02 (2,450 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
2    
|
Post# 947875 , Reply# 14   7/12/2017 at 17:59 (2,450 days old) by PhilR (Quebec Canada)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
     
|
Post# 947880 , Reply# 15   7/12/2017 at 18:25 (2,450 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
1    
TomTurbo...
I remember seeing many 23-33,000 BTU Wall A/C units branded "Thomas A. Edison" " The “Yukon” series (photo five) are high capacity multi-room/commercial models." Scroll down a bit on the link. I love this guy's site. I remember mostly all of these A/Cs. air-conditioner-man.tumblr.com/p... |
Post# 947900 , Reply# 16   7/12/2017 at 20:49 (2,450 days old) by wishwash (Indiana)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
     
During what time period were RCA appliances simply rebadged GE's? |
Post# 947901 , Reply# 17   7/12/2017 at 20:53 (2,450 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
     
|
Post# 947912 , Reply# 18   7/12/2017 at 22:25 (2,450 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
     
You can thank the 80's and Jack Welch for RCA badged GE's. This is why you see late 80's RCA TV's as being made by Thomson.
Re-acquisition and break-up by General ElectricIn December 1985 it was announced that General Electric would reacquire its former subsidiary for $6.28 billion in cash, or $66.50 per share of stock.[45] The sale was completed the next year, and GE proceeded to sell off most of the RCA assets. (The only RCA unit which GE retained was Government Services.) GE disposed of its 50% interest in then-RCA/Ariola International Records to its partner Bertelsmann, and the company was renamed BMG Music, for Bertelsmann Music Group. In 1987, RCA Global Communications Inc., a division with roots dating back to RCA's founding, was sold to the MCI Communications Corporation.[46] The rights to make RCA- and GE-branded televisions and other consumer electronics products were purchased in 1988 by the French company Thomson Consumer Electronics, in exchange for some of Thomson's medical businesses. (For information on the RCA brand after 1986, see RCA (trademark).) That same year, its semiconductor business (including the former RCA Solid State unit and Intersil) was bought by Harris Corporation.[47] In 1991, GE sold its share in RCA/Columbia to Sony Pictures which renamed the unit to "Columbia TriStar Home Video" (later further renamed to Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, now Sony Pictures Home Entertainment). Sarnoff Labs was put on a five-year plan whereby GE would fund all the labs' activities for the first year, then reduce its support to near zero after the fifth year. This required Sarnoff Labs to change its business model to become an industrial contract research facility. In 1988 it was transferred to SRI International (SRI) as the David Sarnoff Research Center, and subsequently renamed the Sarnoff Corporation. In January 2011 it was fully integrated into SRI.[48]. GE sold all of its radio station holdings to various owners, and the NBC Radio Network to Westwood One. In 2011, a controlling interest in the National Broadcasting Company, by this time part of the multimedia NBC Universal venture that included TV and cable, was sold by GE to Comcast, and in 2013 Comcast acquired the remaining interest.[49] CLICK HERE TO GO TO swestoyz's LINK |
Post# 948180 , Reply# 19   7/14/2017 at 13:51 (2,448 days old) by appliguy (Oakton Va.)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
1    
|
Post# 948189 , Reply# 20   7/14/2017 at 15:31 (2,448 days old) by Supersuds (Knoxville, Tenn.)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
1    
|
Post# 948197 , Reply# 22   7/14/2017 at 16:10 (2,448 days old) by speedqueen (Metro-Detroit)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
1    
|
Post# 948303 , Reply# 23   7/15/2017 at 10:01 (2,447 days old) by appliguy (Oakton Va.)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
2    
|
Post# 948355 , Reply# 24   7/15/2017 at 16:41 (2,447 days old) by CircleW (NE Cincinnati OH area)   |   | |
Checkrate/Likes
 
1    
See link below for RCA Whirlpool info. CLICK HERE TO GO TO CircleW's LINK |