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Thread Number: 8425
Can anyone fill me in on the history of Norge? |
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Post# 159664 , Reply# 2 10/10/2006 at 13:58 (6,405 days old) by dalangdon  (Seattle, WA) |
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Whenever I hear the Norge name, I always think of Lisa Loopner (as played by Gilda Radner) on the original SNL. They had a recurring skit called "The Nerds" (or something like that) and they had a Norge Refrigerator. :-) | ||
| Post# 159668 , Reply# 3 10/10/2006 at 14:57 (6,405 days old) by westytoploader () | ||
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As far as I know, Norge never had anything to do with WCI. WCI did however, produce Westinghouse machines under the Montgomery Ward name for a while, so perhaps that's where they confused the two. | ||
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Post# 159674 , Reply# 4 10/10/2006 at 15:45 (6,405 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions) |
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Post# 159675 , Reply# 5 10/10/2006 at 15:46 (6,405 days old) by launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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| Post# 159676 , Reply# 6 10/10/2006 at 15:51 (6,405 days old) by peterh770 (Marietta, GA) | ||
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| Post# 159683 , Reply# 7 10/10/2006 at 16:15 (6,405 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas) | ||
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Laundress: 1974 and 1986. PeterH770: Do you possibly remember what year this was that Fedders bought Norge? For some reason 1964 or so sticks in my mind. Here is a fun little page I came across while researching this thread. Has anyone ever seen the Frigidare "floating fridge?" CLICK HERE TO GO TO whirlcool's LINK | ||
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Post# 159696 , Reply# 8 10/10/2006 at 17:45 (6,405 days old) by launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Yes, meant to add Fedders Corp bought Norge before Magic Chef, thanks for filling in the blank. It is amazing how many automotive and or automotive parts makers at one time made appliances. Equally amazing how all to a one sold off their appliance divisions. You need a score card to keep up with all the players, but in the end there seems to be only a handful of major players who hold all the brand names. | ||
| Post# 159697 , Reply# 9 10/10/2006 at 17:46 (6,405 days old) by jasonmarc52 () | ||
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Thanks, Peter, for the correction of Fedders Corp. buying Norge first! "Tragic Chef"-I LOVE IT!!! Why, I can't even believe I didn't come up with that one years ago! You should hear MY names for stuff! Jason | ||
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Post# 159698 , Reply# 10 10/10/2006 at 18:07 (6,405 days old) by launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Hope I Get Extra Credit For This
Fedders downsized itself in early 1979 by selling the Norge division, which accounted for 22 percent of its fiscal 1978 sales, to Magic Chef Inc. The very modest purchase price of about $13.3 million in cash and notes indicated that Norge, which had only five percent of the laundry-machine market, was performing poorly. The Norge plant in Effingham, Illinois, was converted to the manufacture of room air conditioners. Fedders ended fiscal 1979 with a catastrophic loss of $36.5 million on income of $176.8 million and lost nearly $29 million more the following year on revenue of only $137.9 million. By the end of fiscal 1980 it had divested itself of the Fedders Refrigeration Co., which made freezers. A decision was made to diversify into home appliances in 1964, when Fedders signed a five-year contract with the Franklin Appliance division of Studebaker Industries. Under the agreement Studebaker would manufacture a full line of home appliances under the Fedders name, to be sold by Fedders's network of 77 distributors and 15,000 dealers. Fedders introduced a 15-model line of its own manufactured home appliances in 1967. As a result company sales increased from $62.3 million in fiscal 1966 to $88.9 million in fiscal 1967, and net income from $1.2 million to $4.6 million. In 1966 Fedders vacated its leased Newark plant, erecting a large facility for the manufacture of air conditioners at Edison, New Jersey, where it also established corporate headquarters. CLICK HERE TO GO TO launderess's LINK | ||
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Post# 159712 , Reply# 12 10/10/2006 at 20:45 (6,405 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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Post# 159790 , Reply# 13 10/11/2006 at 08:03 (6,404 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut) |
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It is amazing how many automotive and or automotive parts ma
An economist friend of mine has suggested that the reason for this is that a lot of those appliances, such as washers and dryers, began as luxury items for those companies and then degenerated into "commodities". Apparently, when that happens the appliance divisions can no longer price their products high enough to remain luxuries. This is a lesson that Miele, Gaggenau, Viking and others learned well when they fashioned their products as luxury items for the stupid American market. Frigidaire and Maytag might have survived had they been able to refit their products with stainless steel tubs, internal water heaters and extraction speeds well above the norm. It's Darwinian when you think about it. | ||
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Post# 159796 , Reply# 14 10/11/2006 at 08:32 (6,404 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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Post# 159833 , Reply# 16 10/11/2006 at 13:52 (6,404 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O ) |
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Re those "split" window air conditioners. I had one years ago in my bedroom. They were made by a company called Heat Controller in Jackson Mich. and were the best thing since sliced bread when it came to window a/c's. When I moved west in the mid 70's I gave it to my sister but she long ago disposed of it, grrrrr. I would love to find another one, they were also sold by the Eatons dept store here under their Viking brand name back then, so I'd imagine they were also sold under various names in the US.
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Post# 159838 , Reply# 17 10/11/2006 at 15:04 (6,404 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions) |
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| Post# 159839 , Reply# 18 10/11/2006 at 15:20 (6,404 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas) | ||
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Does that Fridgidaire really move easily? That was the first time I had ever even heard of that concept! | ||
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Post# 159840 , Reply# 19 10/11/2006 at 15:22 (6,404 days old) by dadoes (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Post# 159849 , Reply# 20 10/11/2006 at 16:39 (6,404 days old) by launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Must agree with the economist, and have often stated, many companies began producing appliances when they were still a luxury and could be priced accordingly. If you convert the price of a TOL or even MOL Frigidare, Norge or other good washing machine to today's dollars you'd fall off your chair. Laundry appliances have become a mature market, and aside from tweaks around the design edges, no none is doing anything new that would make consumers spend $1,500 for a washing machine when they can get a perfectly good one for under $500. Miele is a great example of finally bowing to the American consumer market. They've gone from being a niche/high end appliance, to making inroads to the lower upper middle class. Their washers will soon be offered in 120v power as Miele finally realised not every household had 220v power and despite their great ratings not everyone was willing to spend 1500 USD or more, then pay what could be several hundred to thousands more for electrical rewiring. | ||
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Post# 159858 , Reply# 21 10/11/2006 at 17:25 (6,404 days old) by launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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Norge Market Share
It was interesting rading the above that Fedder's sold off Norge because by 1979 it only had 5 percent of the American market share in laundry appliances. Have come across other information that stated in 1953 Norge was number five in US laundry appliances. What happened over the 20 years that brought Norge so low? From what has been written here, Norge had some pretty darn good laundry appliances, well aside from the noise. L. | ||
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Post# 160049 , Reply# 22 10/12/2006 at 13:56 (6,403 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions) |
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