“For older boys who can drink tea and coffee, a still more extensive cook kit such as the Stopple costing $ 2, gives one two fry pans, a quart pot and two pint pots or cups depending upon how you use them, besides which you have a small wire grate which is very handy . You can get a whole meal in a jiffy on this outfit , but more of it later in the chapter devoted to camp cookery .” (Miller, 1916)
Louis Cassius Upton born October 10, 1886 and lived until October 9, 1952 co-founded the Whirlpool Corporation which was originally known as the Upton Machine Company with his uncle Emory Upton and investor Lowell Bassford in 1911. Early on he had aspirations to make an electric washing machine but it was a gradual journey, not an overnight success. Along the way he had to pursue other ventures to finally make his dream come true, quite the inspiration in my opinion!
Upton was an insurance salesman, according to sources he tried to sell insurance to W.S. Klein, who at the time was the secretary-treasurer of the Commonwealth Edison company. This is another example of a connection to Thomas Edison, much like in an earlier article about the Stanley Thermos! Klein was impressed by Upton and offered him a job, which Upton accepted. During his time at the Commonwealth Edison Company, Upton was introduced to the field of electricity and how it was booming into other industries, it was here that he became obsessed with the idea of making an electric washing machine. In 1908, Upton was approached by E.C. Williams, a hardware merchant in South Bend, Indiana, who wanted to organize a company to manufacture home washers. Williams planned to open a factory in South Bend, and asked Upton to handle the sales department. Williams needed capital, and Upton offered the $500 he had saved. The firm struggled and quickly went bankrupt. To make up for Upton’s lost investment. E.C. Williams gave Upton a patent of his choosing as compensation. Upton chose a patent on a hand-powered washing machine, he saw electrifying a washing machine as an opportunity.
Upton and his uncle, Emory Upton, who was a mechanic in Benton Harbor, Michigan, worked to power the washing machine. Louis Upton used his connections and took the electric washer to Federal Electric Company, a company affiliated with Commonwealth Edison. He talked them into ordering 200 washers to be sold on the retail market for $85 each. The cost was excessive and Louis fell on some hard times. He networked with a banker, Lowell C. Bassford. Bassford who financed Upton $5000 on the condition that Louis work for the company full-time, quitting his job at Commonwealth Edison. From this the Upton Machine Company was formed on November 11, 1911 by Louis Upton, his uncle Emory Upton and Lowell Bassford.
Sales and enthusiasm of the electric washer was difficult to get going. Louis Upton had to think outside the box to keep his company going. The American Tool Works, located across the street from the Upton Machine Company, had run into financial difficulties after a fire destroyed their factory on October 29, 1909. In 1914, Upton Machine Co. took over the plant, which made the Sterling air rifle, camp kits and lithograph toys. A deal was made with owner Frank Graves for Upton Machine Co. to take it over and expand. In February 1918, the Upton Machine Co. paid the Stopple Kook Kit Company $5,000 for the patents, tools and manufacturing rights to make a pocket camping kit called the “Kamp-Kook-Kit” that eventually became the official Boy Scout mess kit.
Eventually, after much more history which I will not share here, the company went on to become the Whirlpool Corporation we know today. The end.
If you enjoy traditional campcrafting, bushcrafting, hiking, hunting, or other outdoor adventure then I invite you to join us in the Guild!
Bibliography:
For a complete in depth history click here for a thorough and well written article explaining the rest of the story: https://thereaderwiki.com/en/Frederick_and_Louis_Upton
Warren H. Miller, 1916, The Boy’s Book of Hunting and Fishing: Practical Camping-out, Game-fishing and Wing-shooting, https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=yGMCAAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA14&hl=en
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