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Thread Number: 9630
Tragic day in Appliance History! December 26, 1980 |
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Post# 178166 12/26/2006 at 01:26 (6,325 days old) by peteski50  (New York) |
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Today will mark the anniversary of the most tragic day in appliance history. On this day in 1980 General Motors shutdown Frigidaire. For myself this is my own day to morn. I had never knew the exact date until recently but I had remembered it was around the same time John Lennon had been killed. Both the loss of two great icons. And being a appliance person no matter what negative issues I have saw or come accross in the appliance world nothing could be as bad as this blunder. I will attach the article I received this from which was not only about the Frigidaire shutdown. Peter By: Bob Connor from Pittsburgh, PA sez... Destroying electric cars seems like an act only a stupid company would do but this is not the first time GM made a good product that they didn't want to public to keep. I know some people who have a hobby of collecting and restoring home appliances. I don't buy the argument from GM that nobody would make parts for the EV1s that people wanted to buy. Until the end of 1980 GM had their home appliance division, Frigidaire. GM Frigidaire kitchen and laundry appliances were among the most innovative made at the time and usually of high quality, some are still going today. No, you cannot get parts for GM Frigidaire appliances now and today GM pretends that they never existed (Today's Frigidaire appliances are made by another company and are considered a "budget" brand). Oh, BTW, GM shut down Frigidaire on December 26, 1980 so the employees in Dayton got unemployment for Christmas. What I am saying is that this is a much bigger blunder than getting rid of Frigidaire and GM deserves to go bankrupt because of it. I cannot figure out who in their right mind would buy Anything from this company. The only reason I think they do well in the Pittsburgh area: We have a lot of seniors who have good memories of the Chevys and Buicks they drove in the 50s, and a lot of funeral homes that like Cadillac. GM also screwed up when they wanted people to get an expensive charger for the car. Why could an electric car not be recharged by a 220 volt electric dryer outlet found in most homes? That way you would recharge after doing the laundry! Even if you didn't have this outlet an electrician could add one for about 200 dollars. But please don't charge near that much for the DVD, charge less than most movies as the message is more important than the one about the "Lake House". [7/14/2006 12:30:28 AM] | ||
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Post# 178179 , Reply# 5 12/26/2006 at 07:14 (6,324 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions) |
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Post# 178182 , Reply# 6 12/26/2006 at 07:33 (6,324 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA) |
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"I guess we will never know what would have evolved if  | ||
| Post# 178214 , Reply# 8 12/26/2006 at 10:45 (6,324 days old) by exploder3211 () | ||
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what a sad shame... | ||
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Post# 178215 , Reply# 9 12/26/2006 at 10:58 (6,324 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut) |
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No one made a better electric stove than GM Frigidaire. NO ONE. Those thick coil burners heated a huge pot of water to a frantic boil faster than any home gas range on the market and their ovens were famously even and efficient. I'm a chef by profession and I always enjoyed cooking on those home appliances. The divestiture of Frigidaire wasn't just a tragedy; it was a crime. | ||
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Post# 178216 , Reply# 10 12/26/2006 at 10:59 (6,324 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions) |
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Post# 178238 , Reply# 12 12/26/2006 at 13:08 (6,324 days old) by neptunebob (Pittsburgh, PA) |
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Guess what? I wrote the article you quote! Last year, I got a lot of guff here about it. Must have made an impression. As for Frigidaire, the fact that you still find the appliances now proves that they were made to last a long time. Makes one wonder what they would have come up with today. Why did they pick the day after Christmas to do this? Somebody at GM was a real Scooge for Grinch Motors! | ||
| Post# 178295 , Reply# 13 12/26/2006 at 17:11 (6,324 days old) by exploder3211 () | ||
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I know they picked my FRIGGIN BIRTHDAY! | ||
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Post# 178352 , Reply# 14 12/26/2006 at 19:38 (6,324 days old) by frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie) |
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Post# 178361 , Reply# 15 12/26/2006 at 20:03 (6,324 days old) by neptunebob (Pittsburgh, PA) |
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Maybe whoever ran GM should get a lump of coal! | ||
| Post# 178383 , Reply# 16 12/26/2006 at 21:08 (6,324 days old) by alr2903 (TN) | ||
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You are right Neptune Bob IIRC, Monkey Wards pulled the same stunt, poor Rudolph was a Wards Icon. It's just wrong. | ||
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Post# 178388 , Reply# 17 12/26/2006 at 21:17 (6,324 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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Such Nice Thoughts!
Thanks to all for the nice comments on this annaversary of a very sad day in appliance history. Yes it was such a great loss. WCI should have at least tried to keep the refrigation / airconditioning and washing machines, that is what had really made Frigidaire big. The refrigation sales after that went to GE and Whirlpool. The laundry sales went to Whirlpool and Maytag. The biggest insult was that WCI tried to make the appliances look the same as the GM products. But at least most people were smart and didn't go for the WCI products at the time. Also all sales people I knew at the time didn't push the WCI products either. After all we already had Westinghouse what did we need another one for. And the reason General Motors shutdown Frigidaire the day after Christmas was because that is when the contract was up with WCI. At the time myself and other people I knew assumed the new products were to be like the GM ones (little did we know). Peter | ||
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Post# 178401 , Reply# 19 12/26/2006 at 22:03 (6,324 days old) by rinso (Meridian Idaho) |
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So, as long as we are talking about WCI, can anyone tell me where it came from? All I remember is that sometime in the 1970's, all of a sudden, Westinghouse appliances were White-Westinghouse. I had never heard of WCI before then. | ||
| Post# 178617 , Reply# 20 12/27/2006 at 21:02 (6,323 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii) | ||
WCI
Lets look back into time a little,shal we?Way back in the beginning of the 20th century,there was a company that introduced an electric washer that had an agitator and a spinner tub seperate but joined tubs made mostly of copper.The original plant was in Syracuse,N.Y. and the brand name was "Easy".Around the same time,there was a company in the midwest(don't quote me but if I remember correctly the city where they originated was Greenbay,Wi.) named "Gibson"and they made refrigeration for mostly farms and dairies to keep foods from spoiling.Their was also a well known brand that pionered the invention and introduction of the automatic clothes dryer , Hamilton. Back in the early to mid 1960's,a company named Hup Corporation bought Hamilton, Easy and Gibson and continued on with few,if any,changes.At the same time another long lasting brand name owned by first,Nash then,American Motors,Kelvinator,was being sold to the highest bidder.Hup won the bids and after 3 years of continual loss in the appliance industry,Hup went bankrupt and the companies revived by joining together as a self owned corporation known as WCI or White Consolidated Industries.The Easy name was dropped instantly and Gibson,Hamilton, and Kelvinator now became a conglomorate combining the reputation well deserved in the refrigeration and cooking fields and taking both the Easy and Hamilton washer and dryer lines to manufacture their laundry equipment under three different brands.As time progressed,Westinghouse Electric Corporation decided to sell out their own line of major and small appliances so in 1974,Westinghouse Appliances became White-Westinghouse introducing their line of front loading washers to WCI.Not long after that,04/01/1978,General Motors sold their major appliance manufacturing division,FRIGIDAIRE,to WCI for an unknown amount receiving nothing but the brand name licensing itself with GM not yielding to WCI's desire to keep the factories in Dayton,OH.and continue the legendary production of those fabulous beauties.Yes,GM "slammed the car door on FRIGIDAIRE.Keeping the factories in Dayton,OH.to make their "cheapass, too late to make any proffit on,Monzas and other mid-size cars"I truly believe that if GM had kept FRIGIDAIRE and focussed more on the production of more energy efficient,appliances as well as taking the stride with the automobiles they already made breaking them down from full size to mid size years before they eventually did,we would all be happier.However,that never happened and not many(if any)of us are as fond of Frigidaire and will have this sorrow till the day we die.
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Post# 178619 , Reply# 21 12/27/2006 at 21:10 (6,323 days old) by launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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White Consolidated Industries
Has been around in one form or another since about the 1930's or thereabouts. Posted some information on them awhile back, it probably is in the archives. Bascially, IIRC the company began with automobiles and or sewing machines, do not have my notes handy, and simply grew by buying/merging with other companies. Their final coup de grace, was buying Electrolux. | ||
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Post# 178659 , Reply# 22 12/27/2006 at 22:46 (6,323 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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I've researched the White Sewing Machine company before and posted the history of how WCI came to have many of our favorite vintage brands under their umbrella and eventually, came to be aquired by Electrolux A.B. of Sweden, who in recent years aquired the rights to use the Electrolux brand in the U.S. from the famous vacuum maker of the same name. As L said, a quick search in the archives will turn up the correct chronology of the company. | ||
| Post# 178674 , Reply# 24 12/27/2006 at 23:54 (6,323 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY) | ||
"and we'll have this sorrow till the day we die.&qu
Amen to that, Laundromat. Frigidaire washer were "the best on the market" for over a decade Just think of the innovation in the 1-18 when they hade to enlarge and perforate in order to survive, and their version left all commers in the dust. Today I saw some old Frigidaire stoves that were stunning. I'll have pics next Tuesday. On Xmas day, one of my nephews whom i don't see regularly shocked me by saying that he has a 1-18 that has survived 3 floods, made him a ton of insurance money, and is still pumpin'. Sad days. Frigidaire, Brown and Ford--all legends | ||
| Post# 178723 , Reply# 25 12/28/2006 at 07:56 (6,322 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii) | ||
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Plastic society
I truly believe the reason(s)appliances of today are so much more "plain"than ever before is that here in America,customers have no desire for the features we all once knew and loved i.e."burners with a brain"a feature a lot of gas and electric ranges had that was a thermostatic burner you could set via temperature instead of "high.medium and low".This enabled you to do fabulous things like melting chocolate w/out burning it or using a double boiler,frying bacon w/out splattering grease all over the cooktop,and simmering spaghetti sauce all day w/out it scorching and sticking to the saucepan.The two outlets(one timed via the control clock the other manual)really are a must because you were able to plug in your Sunbeam coffee maker and set the start as well as stop times and not worry whether or not the coffeepot was left on,The timer built in to the outlet would shut down on the stop time selected some of the 40 inch wide models had a deepwell that was a 5 quart saucepan you could make a soup or stew in,.Refrigerators had heat going in to their butter dishes to keep the butter soft enough to spread.Dishwashers would have the option to heat the final rinse water as well as the main wash water up to at least 160F.Top loading washers would spin w/out emptying the water first,clothes dryers had multiple tumble speeds available.Today those models would cost a fortune!The last 40 inch Custom Imperial top of the line electric ranges made by FRIGIDAIRE in the last year of production under GM,was listed at $999.If they were still made the same now as they were then,I'm sure they'd be selling like crazy for $1999!But,America does not cook at home that much anymore.Now,you can buy your coffee at Stabucks and your breakfast at the MickeyD's on every other block in your neighborhood,and spaghetti at Te Olive Garden Restaurant.Who needs a stove anymore???
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| Post# 178728 , Reply# 26 12/28/2006 at 08:44 (6,322 days old) by mayken4now (Panama City, Florida) | ||
Thanks for the info. Did not realize it was 12/80 that this had happend. We had a conversation at my wash-in in August 06' about General Motors wish that the "Frigidaire Division" would just wipe off the map and had never existed. Try to talk to someone at GM today about it. They are bean counted and under strict survalance not to discuss Frigidaire. Does anyone know the date(s) that Ford dumped Philco? Does anyone know the date(s) that AMC dumped Kelvinator? Steve (Gyrafoam) put it in prespective for me. "It was a one stop shop for families - He could get a car at GM(Ford)(AMC) and she could get her GM(Ford) (AMC) appliances". Steve | ||
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Post# 178755 , Reply# 28 12/28/2006 at 10:40 (6,322 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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Fast plastic society!
We live in such a fast happening society that a lot of these things really don't matter any longer. Actually the last thing I would want to do is slow cook anything. The sad thing is that their is such little quality in most products. I personally am not asking for something to last 20 years but products should have at least the quality not to fall apart immediatly. As for Venus last comment I have always wished someone would have picked up the consept of the jet action agitator, but I doubt if that would ever happen. With all the water restrictions no one is going to design a TL washer that takes a full tub of water. Any designs from here on in will probably be FL or TL made simular to the Oasis. Washing with a full tub of water will probably become a thing of the past in a few years. It is ashame that at the time no one was around to buy Frigidaire from GM that really could have improved it and moved foward with it in a positive way. I also feel if WCI didn't buy it GM would have shut it down anyway. And that of course would have been the better way and at least we could have remembered it for what it really was. Peter | ||
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Post# 178817 , Reply# 31 12/28/2006 at 15:59 (6,322 days old) by neptunebob (Pittsburgh, PA) |
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The problem here, and someone correct me, it that General Motors is Generally Mean and probably has the patents to the jet action in such a way that no other company can make it. That is why no one else can make the electric cars they made and everyone wanted to buy. WCI also bought off Westinghouse home appliances but did not change them much. I understand that Westinghouse did not spend enough money to advertise and did not want to put money into the plants in Ohio that made the appliances. I think maybe WCI closed those factories. In fact, most Frigidaire today are actually Westinghouse appliances. Kelly, I didn't know Frigidaire ranges were that good, if they were they could have been another Viking. Maybe if there were more chef shows back then they may have sold more ranges. Or are Frigidaire ranges like Westinghouse? | ||
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Post# 178898 , Reply# 32 12/28/2006 at 20:29 (6,322 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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Wishfull Thinking
Do the clothes in 1-18 machines really need to be covered with water to circulate? I think it would be interesting to see if those of you with 1-18's could do a little experiment. Try seeing how little water you can use, and still get rollover, even though there may be some tangling. I'm guessing that with a little engineering, Jet Action agitators could roll clothes through a very small amount of water, similar to the Oasis, TL Neptune, and GE Harmony machines. Worth a try, eh? Of course I could be wrong. It's happened before. As per Rinso comments I feel it could be done but unfourtinatly no one will put in the money or the time. As for the patents I had thought for the longest time that GM held all the patents but after it was sold to WCI they got the patents. WCI had said they didn't have the patents but they really did. That was the biggest problem everything was on paper. WCI was not capable of making anything good. For awhile GM continued to make the appliances and WCI paid them to do so. It wasen't a good situation GM and WCI had a terrible relationship. Than WCI pulled out and GM suutdown everything. Peter | ||
| Post# 178902 , Reply# 33 12/28/2006 at 20:35 (6,322 days old) by westytoploader () | ||
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I have A LOT of laundry to do this weekend. Will give it a try with some "soft" items on the Gentle setting and let everyone know. --Austin | ||
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Post# 179044 , Reply# 34 12/29/2006 at 05:55 (6,322 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions) |
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Gibson/Philco
Gibson was in Greenville,MI,just north of Grand Rapids.MOF,Electrolux just closed the factory in the last year or so.Or are planning to close it very soon. Wikipedia says Philco was aquired by Ford 12/11/61 (another December connection!),and Philips aquired them in 1981.They just wanted the similar sounding name. Lots of good info in the article on Wikipedia. Philco is one of my favorite "off" brands to look for,another one ahead of their time. kennyGF CLICK HERE TO GO TO goatfarmer's LINK | ||
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Post# 179512 , Reply# 36 12/30/2006 at 23:56 (6,320 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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Frigidaire
The poppy red was a very cool color and it started in 1972. My Aunt had a 1974 poppy red set and painted the basement wall to match. What a beautiful set. I do not remember the radio commercial but it must have been cool. I do also remember when Frigidaire was going to be sold, Whirlpool was looking into buying it but they were smart enough not to buy it because they wanted to get the factories included and GM wouldn't go for that. So it went to WCI and we all know what happened from their. Peter | ||
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Post# 179595 , Reply# 38 12/31/2006 at 10:24 (6,319 days old) by rinso (Meridian Idaho) |
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Hey, thanks for satisfying my curiosity, Austin. | ||
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Post# 179687 , Reply# 40 12/31/2006 at 16:05 (6,319 days old) by peteski50 (New York) |
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GM Patents
Actually to my knowledge GM held no patents as far as Frigidaire was concerned. For a few years after the demise of the real Frigidaire WCI stated they couldn't make the appliances like the GM stuff because they didn't have the patents. But that was a lie, the patents went with the sale. As I stated earlier everything was on paper and WCI just didn't have the money or know how to restart rebuliding the GM appliances. I remember in 1983 one appliance dealer was on the phone with a WCI consultant and was told he should tell people that the WCI is just as good as the 1/18, and the guy said he will do no such thing. The dealer also told WCI that they will not push any other products because they in no way compare to the GM quality. At about the same time that same dealer said WCI stated they were going to start to build the Jetaction washers again. But as we all know that never took off. What happened for so many years was the Frigidaire name was dragged through the mud. To me it took a long time to really sink in that it became a completly different company. Just another Westinghouse and a waste. When people ask me today if they should buy Frididaire I just say the quality is of lower standards compared to others. I just don't go into detail their is no point. Peter | ||
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