David ... The Maytag News magazines are rich with information about Maytag and their products.
The dealers had a hard time convincing homemakers of switching to automatics since Maytag's conventionals were so well received. There are some great demonstration photos, articles and marketing material in these magazines that would have been a big help to dealers.
Maytag offered dealers free information, help with mailings, and advice on door-to-door campaigns to garner support for their new automatic washers.
1958 was the first year that Maytag made more automatic washers than their conventional machines. It took almost 10 years for Maytag to achieve that goal (the 1st AMP was in April 1949). The 1970's saw the heaviest decline in conventional washer sales and by 1983, Maytag was down to making a few dozen wringer washers a day. Not considered profitable enough for them. BUT I bet that if Maytag had still been family-owned, they would have continued making conventional machines for a while; that was their "bread and butter" for years!!
There clearly was a "genuineness" about Maytag when reading these magazines; I mean, they cared about their employees, dealers, customers ... it showed.
Here's a scan of Fred Maytag, II from the December 1953 issue and his Christmas message. Sorry about the quality!
