About Whirlpool

Louis, Frederick and Emory Upton founded the Upton Machine Company in 1911, beginning with a patent for an invention that hadn't been tested: an electric, motor-driven wringer washing machine. In order to meet customer demand for this incredibly convenient appliance, Upton merged with the Nineteen Hundred Washer Company in 1929, and they were able to add irons to their product line with this increased manufacturing space. By 1949, the company had changed its name to the Whirlpool Corporation, and they had expanded into fully automatic Whirlpool washers and Whirlpool dryers for the convenience of homes everywhere. In 1959, a merger with Seeger gave them access to the technology to produce Whirlpool refrigerators, gaining RCA's air conditioner and oven range business at the same time, which lead to the development of Whirlpool cooktops, Whirlpool range, as well as Whirlpool air conditioners.

For Whirlpool, 1960 marks an important step in the company history, as they were chosen to build America's first experimental space kitchen, which included a miniature refrigerator, a Whirlpool freezer, a three-cavity Whirlpool oven, food storage space and disposal units. Whirlpool pioneered the development of food, waste management and personal hygiene systems used in all of NASA's Gemini, Apollo and Skylab missions. By the 1970s, Whirlpool offered a full line of home appliances for every step of food storage, preparation and cleanup, and the company continued, through the next several decades, to develop easier ways for customers to handle each step, from mixers and food processors to Whirlpool microwave ovens, then Whirlpool dishwashers or Whirlpool trash compactors for the cleanup process. They acquired Kitchen Aid in 1986, then Maytag in 2006, making Whirlpool the leader in the home appliance industry.