What is the history of Speed Queen and it's various ownerships

petek · Jan 25, 2022

A question popped up on another site showing a GE washer that looks to have been made by SQ. I wasn't sure and figured I'd ask the resident Speed Queeners here LOL.
What is the ownership timeline of Speed Queen. All the Wiki's etc don't say much other than it being sold first to McGraw-Edison after the war, then to Raytheon (Amana) then to Alliance.. Were they rebranding for GE around the same time they were making Amana's under Raytheon.. WHen did Raytheon sell it to Alliance?

repairguy · Jan 26, 2022

Barlow and Seelig manufacturing began in 1908. The Speed Queen brand was created in 1928, then came stainless tubs in 1939, and automatics in 1952. Barlow and Seelig was renamed the Speed Queen Company and sold to McGraw-Edison. McGraw-Edison sold to Raytheon in 1979. Raytheon sold to the Goodman corporation in 1997. At this time Amana laundry was built for the residential market and in 1998 Alliance was formed to handle Speed Queen for the commercial market. Maytag bought Amana in 2001 and it was around this time that some funny things happened including an Amana/Maytag built machine with the GE name on it. I think it might have been around 2004 that Alliance began making Speed Queen for residential use again. When Maytag was sold to Whirlpool in 2006 the Maytag and Amana designs ceased to exist but their name tags only continue to be used on Whirlpool built machines.

petek · Jan 26, 2022

Thanks for that. I'm now struggling to recall if I ever saw washers and dryers with the McGraw-Edison name on them that weren't Amana. I seem to recall something but the brand name escapes me.. it could have been something Canadian.