Sears Vacuums.
Sears has had over the years, several suppliers for it's vacuum cleaners. This is a fairly comprehensive history I have pieced together, from both the internet, and the stories spun around the vacuum hummings of yore.
From the very first electric vacuum offered by Sears, Roebuck and Company; all of their floor care machines until 1957 were supplied by Birtman Electric Company out of Chicago Illinois. BIrtman had it's own house brand which went by the trade name "Bee-Vac". Birtman also supplied most of their mixers, blenders and the like, as they were quite a major producer of smalls. The factory was located at 4150 W. Fullerton Avenue. Just west of the Metra tracks. Their complex went north to Diversey Avenue, both east and west of the metra. Again this was a very large concern.
So Birtman made both Kenmore's Upright and tank style cleaners, as well as hand vacuums and a polisher or two, this ran unabated for several decades.
In 1956, Sears approached Whirlpool-Seeger Corporation, (nee' RCA Whirlpool, and later Whirlpool Corporation); about purchasing the Birtman Company, and running it as a division of it's core business, which was major white goods. Sears wanted to get Birtman's quality, productivity and their labor force in line, and felt that Whirlpool had the chutzpah to do it, plus Sears (off the record), was giving Whirlpool ultimatums both verbal and financial to bend to it's will, and just DO IT, aside from the fact that Whirlpool really wanted nothing to do with vacuum cleaners, or small appliances. This feeling was continued on in the early 2000'nds, when they sold off Maytag Corporations, Hoover Company Division, to the Techtronic Industries Company, or TTI.
At any rate, Sears felt that Whirlpool should be it's main supplier of most everything, but again wasn't happy with the way Birtman Electric was being ran, liked how Whirlpool WAS being executed. So,Whirlpool made inroads of a merger, but Birtman's board of directors refused.
Sears ramped up the pressure on Whirlpool to do whatever it had to to overtake Birtman's management, and assume leadership of the company. This was completed by 1958. This takeover was considered "hostile" by some, and it certainly was NOT done with a cup of tea in one hand, and a cigar in another. It was most definitely NOT in Whirlpools master plan to undertake, and there were hard feelings all over. But it was done.
Whirlpool definitely took over, and began a process of phasing out Birtman's other lines (the smalls e.g); and at the same time, poured money (probably coming from Sears somehow) into the vacuum cleaner line. They did NOT, as some have indicated "run off a few years of parts and shut down the whole thing". That would have been both ludicrous, and ill serving to the Sears part of the venture. The parts for older machines probably WERE put on allocation, but they did not just lock up the plant and shut off the lights.
WHY?
Well, it was during all this, that Kenmore and Whirlpool-Seeger, thru their newly acquired vacuum line began production on the Kenmore Power-Mate series (Whirlpool Imperial), which helped to popularize the upright/canister concept. The uprights (Birtman Designed) remained relatively unchanged thru 1963, aside from look etc.. Sears became a MAJOR canister producer thru this 1958-1963 period, and WAY beyond. They really cracked out and HARDCORE focused on the Power-Mate type of cleaner as well as the other "straight suction" canister styles. They went mainly after Electrolux, with this might and well won the rounds most years. So, with this new infusion of Sears and Whirlpool capital, the development and production of Kenmore vacuum cleaners continued, and for a time, were produced in Chicago, right in Birtmans old factory.
(Unless anyone has information that Whirlpool moved the vacuum division to another facility prior to Cottage Grove being opened sometime between 1960, and 1968, One must assume that Birtman's Chicago facility remained on-stream. Unless documentation can be procured otherwise to dispute my finding..
Whirlpool also shoved out a few good, or at least interesting designs of uprights, such as the Lightweight CVR upright Concept, and a Hoover Dialamatic clone, coming on steam very shortly after that Hoover product was introduced in 1963; this new bag first, clean air upright was named, the Duo-Power. For a few years Sears only had a few Duo Power Upright Models available, especially after the Birtman Uprights disappeared in 1963-64. Whirlpool, in 1963, according to acceptable references, sold off it's lightweight upright design, that was developed in the late 1950's as the Whirlpool CVR, and Sears Bambi. This discard, was the product which ultimately became the first Oreck brand vacuum cleaner, The Oreck CRV Lightweight upright. The details of this partnership are foggy even to deep internet searches, but suffice to say for a time at least, until MacDonald Electric started producing the Oreck 1000 upright in the mid 1960's (I've read 1968 in certain sources), Whirlpool continued to produce that unit too.
After this sell off, Whirlpool did not LEAVE the vacuum business, but instead, began to downplay the Whirlpool nameplate. This was done mostly under contract with the Oreck concern, to NOt produce a competing design- (although later Oreck SUED Whirlpool for breach of contract as they continued to produce a version for Sears). Whirlpool only featured, under their nameplate a canister/ upright "power-team" that roughly followed the strides continually being made by and for the Kenmore brand.
Sears rather still had might with RCA Whirlpool at this point, and kinda suggested to them along the way, that they may just want to "Make our brand", and kinda drop your own, to quiet, unaccountable levels. Whirlpool's own version of Power-Mate lasted until 1970 or so, then was dropped until the 1980's when a resurgent line of product named Whirlpool reappeared as a premium brand, along with the same, like models built for Sears. Ain't the vacuum business fun??
In 1963-64, Sears struck a manufacturing deal with a secondary producer for a more traditional upright design, by selecting The Singer Manufacturing Company of Eleizabethport New Jersey, to produce the new cleaner for them. Singers then current factory area, at: 198 Trumbull Street, Elizabethport NJ, was better known for it's production of their world famous Sewing Machines, but had been producing vacuum cleaners, branded Singer since the late 1920's. This NEW Kenmore upright design was an updated version of Singers evolutionary "Twin Fan" design. This new cleaner built for Sears, would begat a whole host of models for Sears, being the nucleus for their upright stable, until the mid 1990's. Singer produced these units for Sears at a combination of their Elezabethport facility, and later at a facility built new by Singer for their own production, as wellas for the new Kenmore contract(s) about to ramp up; at a wholly new production at 1428 Pearman Dairy Rd, Anderson South Carolina.
(Notice today, if you do a Google Maps search, that factory is owned by TTI, who bought up Oreck, Hoover and others)
In the early 1980's Singer decided to do a massive reorganization of it's affairs, and began a process of selling off under-performing, or redundant arms of it's ventures. Ryobi Motor Products, bought/purchased Singers vacuum division, out of this corporate restructuring, and later still sold off this vacuum division, and the Singer vacuum brand to Bissell, out of Grand Rapids Michigan. It was during this last stages of the companies life, that the Singer built cleaners, were phased out at Sears, in favor of Panasonic built uprights. Is this Confusing enough for you?
Cause WAIT, there is more.
But before all of this happened with Singer, as early as 1960, but definitely not later than 1968 which was my first traceable online dig about this being a manufacturing plant for Whirlpool/Sears, another new facility was brought on tap for it's canister, and upright models that Singer did NOT produce. This plant was located in Cottage Grove Wisconsin. The address is/was: 1600 Landmark Dr, Cottage Grove, WI 53527.
I have never ascertained an actual date that he facility opened, but for that matter, it could have happened earlier than 1960, although the design of the building leaves a idea of time-frame pretty hopeless too. It is in my estimation VERY highly unlikely it was before 1960, although it would fit into another historians "story" that Birtman was shut down immediately, parts ran off, and were "the workers" told to go home all in 1958. Possible, but unlikely. At any rate, it was a brand new, state of the art plant that was part and parcel of every Kenmore Canister vacuum, until the early 1980's when Whirlpool said enough of it's unionized, high priced workers, and moved, or rather bidded out it's production to a southern plant, which joined forces with none other than Matsushita Electric , or more commonly known, Panasonic.
In the early part of the 1980's, Sears and Whirlpool approached Matsushita-Panasonic, to begin building ( a joint effort) canister cleaner design in a rather murky (not much is out there on this) joint venture with Whirlpool, Kenmore and Panasonic, starting sometime around 1984-1985, if we were to go on catalog proof. The Cottage Grove facility after this new venture was completed may have been discontinued, however there is online information in the depth of the inter-webs that this facility was closed at some point, possibly 1994 when Whirlpool sold it's vacuum line to Panasonic. Whirlpools last affiliation with the plant seemed to be around 1988 or 89 tho. So anyone's guess is good here.
Production of the vacuums moved to a facility down south again. The city and area escapes me at this time. Really at this junction my interest in Sears and their vacuum history dies out.
That said, a few final notes...
In the late 1980's an early 90's tho, with Sears kicking off their NEW Brand Central Concept, Kenmore brand began to be downplayed to a degree, and more so, as time went on thier house brand. Around 1988, Sears introduced a line of cleaners made for them by Hoover with varying results. The Kenmore name was even stamped right on it, on one model. Same for a few models made for them by Eureka. In the early 90's their interaction with Iona Manufacturing brought them the Kenmore Destiny Plus, a badge copy of the new and VERY popular Fantom Thunder, which brought James Dyson's bagless technology over to the USA. Introducing still another competitor to the game. This one tho, especially the bagless type, changed the whole game forever.
And of course in 2016, Panasonic decided after it's long history with vacuums to sell off it's whole schbang to another overseas firm, I think called Claret or some such thing. Again, after about 1990, my interest in companies and their vacuums die out.
Hope this coffee table book helps...
Chad
