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Louis Cassius Upton (October 10, 1886 – October 9, 1952) was an American entrepreneur best known for co-founding the Whirlpool Corporation (originally known as Upton Machine Company) with his uncle Emory Upton and investor Lowell Bassford in 1911.The Herald Press, "Upton Machine Co. - Benton Harbor and Chicago Concern Take Out Articles of Association", St. Joseph Evening Herald, November 7, 1911.
In 1903, when Louis was 17 and a junior in high school, his father was killed in a streetcar accident in Chicago. Louis got a job selling insurance to help support the family at the same time that he was completing high school.Herald Palladium, "The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, Jun 5, 2011
Eventually, Emory Upton built a transmission that worked. Louis Upton took the electric washer to Federal Electric Company, a company affiliated with Commonwealth Edison, and talked them into ordering 100 washers to be sold on the retail market for $85 each. He set up a shop in Benton Harbor where, with the help of his brother Frederick, he built the electric washers while commuting to his job at Commonwealth Edison in Chicago, approximately 100 miles away. It was said that Louis painted the washers by hand, and Frederick crated them and took them by horse-drawn cart to the shipping point.Herald Palladium, "Louis C. Upton's Determination And Vision Overcame All Obstacles", Herald Palladium, Oct 10, 1952
Louis and Frederick Upton delivered the 100 washing machines. However, a major problem arose: with daily use, the gears of every washer broke down. Federal Electric's president, John F. Gilchrist, summoned the 25-year-old Upton to his office and demanded the money back saying, “Your product is a failure and money must be refunded to purchasers”. Upton, ever confident and the salesman, replied that he would be happy to refund the money but he didn't then have any. He went on to explain that he had already spoken to Federal's master mechanic about a fix, and, with some time, could solve the problem. Federal agreed, and the master mechanic, Gustav B. Keil, who later came to work for Upton, solved the problem by using steel rather than cast iron in the gears. Describing the new gears, he told Upton, " They're O.K. I've used everything on them but an axe”. In the end, Federal Electric agreed with Keil and Upton emerged from disgrace with an order of 200 washers - but with new gears.Herald Palladium, "Louis C. Upton's Determination And Vision Overcame All Obstacles", Herald Palladium, Oct 10, 1952
On October 1, 1912, in order to run the company leaner, the board decided to lower executive salaries. Emory Upton's pay was lowered to $0.50/hour for all time put into the business. Louis was to receive salary not to exceed $15 per week as president. None of the workers' pay was affected.The Herald Press, "Whirlpool Corporation", The Herald Press, Dec 30, 1957
Another blow struck in early 1913 when the Federal Electric Company, foreseeing wider acceptance for electric washers, decided to begin manufacturing the machines itself. The Upton Machine Company had lost its best customer at the exact moment when its washer production was beginning to increase.Herald Palladium, "The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, Jun 5, 2011
During 1914, the Upton Machine Co. worked to improve the air rifle and since the Sterling name had a poor reputation, renamed the product The Upton. Temporarily, washers became a sidelight while air rifles kept the company afloat. In 1915, washing machine sales were only $18,000, while the rifle business totalled $62,000 in sales.Herald Palladium, "The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, Jun 5, 2011
Things finally turned around for the washing machine business when in April 1916, Louis got a meeting at the Sears, Roebuck and Company, which at that point had sold only hand washers, mistrusting the electric contrivances. But at his first sales meeting with Sears, armed with an electric washer, Louis Upton came away with an order for 25 machines monthly, but sales were by catalog only. The business relationship with Sears planted a seed for its growth to the top of laundry manufacturers in the United States.Herald Palladium, "The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, Jun 5, 2011
On October 19, 1917, Chas. F. Braffett, then President of Upton Machine Co. killed himself despondent of ill health. The body of the manufacturer was found on the kitchen floor by one of the members of the family and the open gas jet gave the conclusive evidence as to the cause of his death. He left no word of explanation, but it was known he had worried considerably over his ill health.Herald Press, "C.F Braffett Takes Life", Herald Press - Front Page, Oct 20, 1917
At the following shareholder meeting, the company announced the new corporate structure. Lowell C. Bassford was to take over as president. Louis stayed on as vice president and general manager, his new brother-in-law H.T. Campbell became secretary, and Frederick Upton as superintendent.Herald Press, "A Look Back - Items of Interest Taken from the Daily Press' Files 20 or 10 Years Ago", Herald Press - Jan 12, 1929
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.Boys' Life, "Boys' Life", Boys' Life - The Magazine for all Boys. Published by the Boy Scouts of America, June 1925
In 1925, the economy had recovered and Sears agreed that the Upton Machine Co. would be its sole provider of washing machines. Upton had an idea; up to that point, Sears sold its products through its catalogue. Upton believed that major purchases such as washing machines needed expert face to face sales involvement and he sold the idea to former Brigader general Robert E. Wood, Sears, Roebuck and Company’s president. Upton Machine Company began selling washers and ironers in Sears’ 80 retail locations. Upton Machine Company salesmen organized sales, set up displays, and trained Sears sales personnel. It was another turning point in the history of the Upton company—in three years, the Sears sales of home laundry appliances jumped from 25,000 to 1,250,000 yearly.Herald Palladium, "The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, Jun 5, 2011
Over the following 30 days, the company re-arranged and equipped the old air rifle plant with dies, tools, machines and other special equipment to increase production to 20,000 toys daily making it the largest manufacturer of toys in the middle west. One of the first toys produced was an “ exact toy replica of the new Ford”. Other toys made in the new plant were tops, motor buses, trucks, wrecking trucks with crane, toy vans, express trucks and several other novelties.The Herald Press, "Toy Factory to be Opened in St. Joseph - Upton Machine Company Gets Contracts from Chain Store Groups", The Herald Press, Feb 20, 1928
In May 1928, the company announced record-high first quarter profits of approximately $75,000 along with a capital stock increase from 25,000 to 75,000. Stockholders were paid 100% dividends. Bassford, by then in very poor health, sold his interests in the company and resigned as its president, he passed away a few months later. Louis was elected president and Frederick was elected vice president and Secretary-Treasurer.The Herald Press, "Whirlpool Corporation", The Herald Press, Dec 30, 1957
The Upton Machine Company, now a division of Nineteen Hundred Co. doubles their output in 1929, greatly expanding their St. Joseph, Michigan plant size to support a new product line, known as the Kenmore in 1930. The concern now caters to some 4000 dealers throughout the nation. The Sears-Roebuck company gives the company preferential positioning in its catalog, which has a circulation of more than 11,000,000 households. Upton machines are also sold in all of the more than 300 Sears-Roebuck retail stores.The Herald Press, "Upton Plant Doubled Their Output in 1929", The Herald Press, Dec 31, 1929
On October 29, 1929, the stock market collapsed on what became known as "Black Tuesday" launching the country into the Great Depression. By 1932, the country's national income was down 54% with more than 86,000 businesses failed, 4,835 banks closed and 12 million people were out of work. In November 1933, due to differences in business philosophies, particularly around the company's relationship with Sears, Behan announced his resignation as president. Louis Upton is elected President of the Nineteen Hundred Corporation.“Meeting The Challenge”, Whirlpool a Century of Achievement: A New Century of Opportunity (2011) Page 31 Hardcover
Despite the country's hardships, the company remained resilient and the period of economic change turned out to be a good thing for the company, with fewer people being able to afford maids, doing the laundry at home became increasingly essential and unlike the boom years, price made a difference. Buyers turned to Sears for savings and bought Nineteen Hundred Co.’s washers. The company was manufacturing about 25 percent of the washers and ironers sold in the country. In 1936, the company began exporting with Sears International to new important markets opening up for the Kenmore machines, primarily England, Sweden and the Canal Zone.The Herald Press, "Upton’s First Electric Washer ‘Boomeranged’, Production Lines That Have Made ‘1900’ Corp. World’s Biggest", The Herald Press, Jun 6, 1949
In 1939, the Binghamton plant was closed. All of its operations, and personnel who were willing to move, were transferred to St. Joseph, and fifty new families came into the twin cities. After a decade of depression, by 1939, the company posted sales of $5.7 million and shipped over 160,000 units. By 1941, the company was seeing record sales of 262,000 washers and ironers yielding over $10 million in sales. Government figures for 1941 confirmed the Nineteen Hundred Corporation was the largest producer of washing machines in the United States, and therefore the world.“Meeting The Challenge”, Whirlpool a Century of Achievement: A New Century of Opportunity (2011) Page 31 HardcoverThe Herald Press, "Upton’s First Electric Washer ‘Boomeranged’, Production Lines That Have Made ‘1900’ Corp. World’s Biggest", The Herald Press, Jun 6, 1949
Louis Upton was called to Washington in 1942 as a "Dollar-A-Year Man", in the position as Chief of the Consumer’s Durable Goods Division of the War Production Board, where he was co-ordinating over 19 industries into the war effort. In 1944, the Nineteen Hundred corporation received the coveted Army-Navy "E" award for its outstanding defense production in World War II. The company worked 24 hours a day, on a six-day week, and when schedules had to be met, worked all seven days per week, 24 hours per day. By November 1943, the company employed 1,595 people, of whom 620 employees were women.The Herald Press, "Upton’s First Electric Washer ‘Boomeranged’, Production Lines That Have Made ‘1900’ Corp. World’s Biggest", The Herald Press, Jun 6, 1949
Throughout the war, the Nineteen Hundred Corporation would produce 8,881 Curtiss-Wright trailing edges; 470,000 mine crates; 21,000 bomb fins; 400,025 fragmentary bombs; 91,390 linker-de-linkers; 9,912 universal machine gun legs; 20,691 Bendix Corporation arms; 503,929 carburetor parts; 198,846 gears; 91,297 chutes; 5,605 Bendix Corporation boosters; 22,927 General Electric pumps; 68,075 prop controls; 4,765 gun mounts M-2-41; 7,825 gun mounts M-800; 32,750 gun sights, and 39,571 General Electric gear cases.The Herald Press, "Upton’s First Electric Washer ‘Boomeranged’, Production Lines That Have Made ‘1900’ Corp. World’s Biggest", The Herald Press, Jun 6, 1949
On May 17, 1949, Louis Upton at the annual meeting of the concern announced his retirement from the presidency and announced the election of Elisha Gray as his successor and Chief Executive Officer. Upton remained active with the firm, serving as Chairman of the Board and directing the policy of the concern.The Herald Press, "Gray Elected President of ‘1900’", The Herald Press, May 18, 1949
In June 1949, the "1900 Corporation", the world's largest manufacturer of home laundry equipment, is honored by the St. Joseph Retail Merchants association by declaring Jun 6 - Jun 13 as "1900 Week". Sears, Chamber of Commerce and others take out full-page ads thanking the company for its service to the civic and economic life of the community.The Herald Press, "Upton Brothers And Nineteen Hundred Corporation Honored", The Herald Press, Jun 7, 1949
On April 20, 1950, to heighten brand awareness around its successful new offering, the company name was changed to Whirlpool Corporation. Gray noted the popularity of the company's new automatic washer marketed under Sears' Kenmore brand name and created a dual-distribution approach to manufacturing and marketing in order to build the Whirlpool name into a leading national brand while retaining its partnership with Sears.Herald Palladium, "The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, Jun 5, 2011“Meeting The Challenge”, Whirlpool a Century of Achievement: A New Century of Opportunity (2011) Page 34-35 Hardcover
On October 9, 1952, the day before his 66th birthday, Louis Upton passed away.
In 2011, to mark Whirlpool's 100th anniversary, the city of St. Joseph, Michigan declared June 6–10 Upton Week, marked by a series of celebratory events.Herald Palladium, "The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, Jun 5, 2011
Whirlpool Corporation is still recognized today as one of the "World's Most Admired Company" being placed on Fortune Magazine's distinguished list for the ninth consecutive year in 2019.Herald Palladium, "Whirlpool one of the 'Most Admired Companies'", Herald Palladium, Feb 2, 2019Whirlpool Corp., "Whirlpool Corporation Named one of World’s Most Admired Companies for Ninth Consecutive Year", Whirlpool - Our Company/Awards Jan 31, 2019
On Jun 9, 1954, Kalamazoo College, where Upton had been a member of the Board of Trustees, dedicated a new science building to the late mogul. The Louis C. Upton Science Hall, a four-floored structure reportedly cost the college $350,000.The Herald-Press, "Upton Science Hall To Be Dedicated Sunday'", The Herald-Press, Jun 4, 1956The News-Palladium, "Louis Upton Will Address Jaycee Diners'", The News-Palladium, Dec 14, 1954
On Jun 7, 1963, the $1 million technical institute at Benton Harbor Community College was renamed to Louis Cassius Upton Memorial Technical Center. The Herald-Press stated “It was an inspiring tribute from a community to a man whose character was great enough to outlive him.”The Herald-Press, "Tech Center Named After Louis Upton", The Herald-Press, Jun 7, 1963
″Dear Mrs. Hill,
This year we are starting a new system—which is the giving to our men, working with us a certain length of time, a vacation with pay. Bill has worked hard and with our interest always in his mind and we want to start showing that we appreciate it. From Wednesday, July 25 to Monday, July 30 is his vacation period and we want we want you to work with us to see that he gets the most good out of it. Plan some fishing trips or picnics, take the St. Joseph River boat trip, have some beach parties and so forth. Don't let Bill clean out the basement or the chicken coop or have him do odd jobs around the house. You and the family get out in the sun in the fresh air and just have a good time. We will feel amply repaid if Bill comes back with a good tan on his face as we will know then that he has had God's open air for a good tonic."The News-Palladium "Paid Vacations Policy Since ’17", The News-Palladium, Nov 6, 1961
Upton was a noted civic leader. Besides being one of St. Joseph's leading industrialists, he served as alderman on the St. Joseph City Council. He was the first president of the Twin Cities Community Chest. He founded and was president of the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan, which featured speeches by national leaders in business and politics. For 12 years, he was the president of the Southwest Michigan Council and was a member of the National Boy Scout Council. He donated much of the money which permitted the Michigan Boy Scouts Council to open a Boy Scout Camp in Buchanan, Michigan. He founded or was substantially responsible for the success of the Twin City Symphonic Society, the St. Joseph Yacht Club and the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. Under his direction, Whirlpool created the Whirlpool Foundation which has provided more than 2,100 scholarships and honor awards worth over $17 million to children of employees. Upton, was also a trustee at several Michigan colleges. Upton received numerous awards in honor of his service to the community.The News-Palladium "Twin Cities Lose Noted Civic leader", The News-Palladium, Oct 10, 1952Whirlpool Co. "Sons & Daughters Scholarships", Whirlpool FoundationHerald Palladium, "The Whirlpool", Herald Palladium, Jun 5, 2011
In an editorial about Upton's life and death the next day in the St. Joseph Herald Press, the publisher, Stanley R. Banyon, wrote:
For years I have rated Lou Upton as the first citizen of St. Joseph and of the greater Twin City area. His long leadership and his contribution to civic affairs is too well known to need recital here. As the founder and head of the Whirlpool Corporation, he directed the progress and development of the country's largest washing machine plant. In so many facets of his character and his local laborers, he typified my idea of outstanding citizenship. Here was a man who put small evaluation on the material phases of life. What he loved the most was his family his friends his hometown and the opportunity to serve his fellow citizens. He walked and labored with the great, the near great and the lowly. And through it all he remained humble and unspoiled. His was always was the human, considerate touch and approach. Wherever his influence and leadership was exerted, there will be genuine mourning.The Herald-Press, "Leaders Of City Laud L.C Upton", The Herald-Press, Oct 10, 1952
Another newspaper editorial stated:
He knew the bitterness of disappointed hopes as well as the satisfaction of accomplishment, and every setback so enriched his character that obstacles became stepping stones to success. Material success came to Mr. Upton, but it was always secondary and, it might be said, incidental. What he sought from life--and achieved--was the opportunity to be of service to his fellows and to his community. Particularly was he interested in helping youth--a desire stemming no doubt from his early struggles. He neglected no opportunity to assist young people up the ladder of citizenship and achievement. Mr. Upton counted his friends locally and over the nation by the hundreds. That is not surprising. He was selfless and unselfish in every contact. Material gains came his way because he earned them a thousand-fold. The community has lost a great citizen. He will be missed greatly, but from the foundations he helped build a better community will grow.The News-Palladium, "Louis C. Upton", The News-Palladium, Oct 10, 1952
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