Ran across this tidbit on the internet. My apologies if it's already been posted. It's both interesting and heartbreaking, LOL.
History of WCI
- Thread starter frigilux
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Interesting read—thanks for posting it. I particularly noticed the outsourcing of sewing machine production and the reduction of US operations in the postwar years. I guess that sort of thing has a longer history than I thought. I must admit that it surprised me.
Thanks again.
Thanks again.
filterflo
New member
Very interesting read. Especially interesting is the section of how WCI slashed many of the original employees "to make the company" lean and mean in the marketplace. One can guess that many of those employees were research and design staffs that WCI deemed unnecessary. No where in this history is any attempt for product improvement and quality assurance. WCI products were and are the nadir of appliance manufacturing. Serviceman were quick to condemn them as low quality junk and it took the public a little longer to catch on to that fact, but WCI still has that reputation and earned it. What they did to Kelvinator and Frigidaire was criminal. Out for a quick buck and then dilute the once good names of established brands is all that they accomplished. In the end it was the WCI name and brand that suffered.
Thanks for the link, Eugene. This is very similar, but more detailed than the information I found in the Cudell, OH city website about the company a couple of years ago - now I can't even find that site.
So many good names have been swallowed up by WCI and regurgitated as the junk we've come to loathe. Despite all this, it is interesting appliance history and one could argue that were it not WCI, it would have been another company to gobble up the stray brands and probably do the same thing as WCI did. Electrolux has been (slowly) able to bring some quality into the brands lately - a few shining examples of groundbreaking appliances stand out. Sewing machine manufacturing is dominated by Electrolux AB with quite a few brands in their pocket now.
So many good names have been swallowed up by WCI and regurgitated as the junk we've come to loathe. Despite all this, it is interesting appliance history and one could argue that were it not WCI, it would have been another company to gobble up the stray brands and probably do the same thing as WCI did. Electrolux has been (slowly) able to bring some quality into the brands lately - a few shining examples of groundbreaking appliances stand out. Sewing machine manufacturing is dominated by Electrolux AB with quite a few brands in their pocket now.
thank you for posting. Interesting. I didn't realize the acquisition of D&M was so "late". I thought that had been done in the late 1970s instead of the 1987-88 time frame.
What caught my notice was that the overall cheapening of appliances that fell under WCI's control was simultaneous with the accession of an accountant to lead the company. This accountant - Edward Reddig - certainly had cause to cut costs. But I think he went a bit too far.
It would not have been the first company to have its product quality ruined by overzealous bean counters. Not that I have anything against accountancy, it's necessary to keep track of money, but when profit is the sole deciding factor then what makes a product desirable to purchase in the first place may fall by the wayside.
It would not have been the first company to have its product quality ruined by overzealous bean counters. Not that I have anything against accountancy, it's necessary to keep track of money, but when profit is the sole deciding factor then what makes a product desirable to purchase in the first place may fall by the wayside.
Thank you for posting this history. The sewing machine industry is quite interesting, there hasn't been a sewing machine manufactured in the US since at least the early 70's. Even sadder, White sewing machines aren't even owned by WCI/Electrolux, their namesake, anymore. Viking/White was divested from Electrolux in 1996, I believe. By an investment firm, Industri Kapital. They purchased and acquired the dieing Pfaff sewing machine company from the Chinese owned Singer Co. in 2000. Last year Kaufman Assoc., another investment firm, bought Viking/White/Pfaff and added them to their portfolio, that included Singer(purchased in'05). Now called SVP Worldwide. It's too bad, the quality of these machines has diminished greatly since all of these aquisitions. I've owned machines from Viking and Pfaff and have seen it first hand. I had a Viking #1(last of the Electrolux machines, I loved it), and stupidly "upgraded" to the Designer 1. I now own a Bernina, one of the last family owned companies. White machines, when owned by WCI/Electrolux were really good machines, they came off of the same assembly line as the Viking, in Sweden. I almost bought one, but got a good deal on the same Viking floor model. Now White machines are junk, like Singer has been for 20 years, made by contract houses that have no quality control. Sad, very sad.
www.svpworldwide.com
SVP Worldwide
More interesting tidbits on the sewing machines, Todd - thanks for the update. At one time, I was told there was a direct connection to the Janome brands and the Pfaff, Viking, etc. which at the time were all Electrolux - or so I was told. I guess things move too fast to keep up with now! I think it was the Viking dealer at JoAnn's that told me that several years ago.
Have you tried a Bernina? I have a couple of their older, made in Sweded models that I love but I know a number of people with the newer machines that are equally as happy with them.
Have you tried a Bernina? I have a couple of their older, made in Sweded models that I love but I know a number of people with the newer machines that are equally as happy with them.
I was told that Janome, at one time, made many of the computer boards for Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff. It makes sense, since they were the innovator of the home embroidery machine. They are also a contract house. I believe they still make Kenmore, Elna, and some of the contracted machine from Bernina, Pfaff and Viking, specifically- the Bernette, Hobby/Smart, and Huskystar lines.
I love my Bernina, I have an artista 200 and an activa 230 for travel. The 200 is Swiss made and the 230 is now Thai made. The stitch quality is seconded by none. My partner uses a Pfaff 2140 and we have a Pfaff 2174 serger, the 2140 was one of the first Pfaff's to be made outside of Germany, in Sweden. I believe most Pfaff's and many HV machine are now made in the Czech Republic.
I love my Bernina, I have an artista 200 and an activa 230 for travel. The 200 is Swiss made and the 230 is now Thai made. The stitch quality is seconded by none. My partner uses a Pfaff 2140 and we have a Pfaff 2174 serger, the 2140 was one of the first Pfaff's to be made outside of Germany, in Sweden. I believe most Pfaff's and many HV machine are now made in the Czech Republic.
mickeyd
Well-known member
Boy, what ya can find when ya read between the lines.
Someone had queried in the Imperial Thread about the history of Easy. I didn't know the answer. One of the spindriers I have is a late model machine, late sixties, and it is a piece of junk. After decades of success, both the engineering and the operaton of the pump, which is key to rinsing in the Easy, had been dramatically and fatally altered. Why would they ever do this? This is not anything near the "precision engineering" Easy was known for. I could never figure it out.
According to Eugene's article, in 1967, WCI bought Hupp, the people who had been making Easies. To save money, they changed the size, shape, drive source of the pump, (from a belt-driven assembly off the motor to a direct drive WITH the agitator), making efficient pumping and draining impossible, thus ruining the great line of Easy Spindriers.
Finally, I have the long sought answer. Yet another company trashed by WCI's cheapskate mentality.
Thank you, Eugene.
If anyone is interested in the specifics of how this pump malfunctions and what you have to do to save the machine, I'd be happy to share.
Someone had queried in the Imperial Thread about the history of Easy. I didn't know the answer. One of the spindriers I have is a late model machine, late sixties, and it is a piece of junk. After decades of success, both the engineering and the operaton of the pump, which is key to rinsing in the Easy, had been dramatically and fatally altered. Why would they ever do this? This is not anything near the "precision engineering" Easy was known for. I could never figure it out.
According to Eugene's article, in 1967, WCI bought Hupp, the people who had been making Easies. To save money, they changed the size, shape, drive source of the pump, (from a belt-driven assembly off the motor to a direct drive WITH the agitator), making efficient pumping and draining impossible, thus ruining the great line of Easy Spindriers.
Finally, I have the long sought answer. Yet another company trashed by WCI's cheapskate mentality.
Thank you, Eugene.
If anyone is interested in the specifics of how this pump malfunctions and what you have to do to save the machine, I'd be happy to share.
So in any human endeavour, if you dig long enough, you will eventually find the bottom-feeders. It's apparent that White's business plan under Reddig was to buy up competitors, gut them, and then trade on their good name until word got around. (BTW, I suspect that's a strategy that would be a lot less successful today -- with the Internet and modern communications, a company's rep, whether good or bad, gets around a lot faster.) I do vaguely recall the antitrust suit involving them, Allis-Chalmers, and the DoJ. Allis and White Motor were the only manufacturers of large generating equipment at the time, and the prediction was that the merger would, by raising the price of generating equipment, cause electricity rates to go up nationwide.
