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Eureka is an American home appliances brand owned by Chinese company Midea Group that manufactures vacuum cleaners, including uprights, cordless, canisters, sticks and handhelds. Eureka also manufactures aftermarket vacuum accessories, such as bags, belts and filters.

Eureka started as one of the earliest vacuum cleaner manufacturers of North America. Beginning as an independent company, it was merged with Williams Oil-O-Matic from 1945 to 1974 and became a division of Henney Motor Corporation from 1953 until its June 30, 1960, merger with National Union Electric Corporation (NUE). Electrolux acquired Eureka Williams when it purchased NUE in 1974. As a side note: White Consolidated Industries, an Electrolux company since 1986 merged with NUE in 1990, realigning Eureka's relationship with Electrolux more directly. Then in 2016, AB Electrolux sold Eureka to Midea Group.^[2]

History

The Eureka Vacuum Cleaner Company was founded in 1909 in Detroit, Michigan, by Toronto, Canada-born real estate auctioneer Fred Wardell (1866-1952)^[3] to sell vacuum cleaners for which he had acquired several patents.^[4] Mr. Wardell was born to Orrin and Mary (Pennock) Wardell—both of Canadian descent—March 30, 1866. The Wardell family, including seven children, had moved to Detroit in 1873 where Fred's father established Wardell & Sons, auctioneers. In 1902, Fred left a 20-year career with his father to sell vacuums for Stecker Electric and Machinery Company, and in 1909, Stecker made a vacuum for him. Being somewhat of a Greek scholar it is said that he shouted with the well-known Wardellian enthusiasm, “Eureka!”, after the Greek exclamation of great discovery, "Heurēka!"

Mr. Wardell's excitement led him to begin his own company in 1909, calling it The Eureka Vacuum Cleaner Company. He sold himself a thousand dollars worth of the stock, which no one else purchased. He had one office secretary, and he himself was the general manager, sales manager, and sales force. On August 10, 1910, the company was incorporated under Michigan Law. That first year 600 Model 1s were sold. Sales thereafter continued to climb, so in 1913 Mr. Wardell and four partners purchased their first plant on Bates Street, with the Stecker company remaining in charge of production. By this time Eurekas came in six different models with a multitude of attachments for walls, upholstery, and bare floors. The cleaners were sold to the public through two distributors, one handling accounts to the east of an imaginary line through Detroit, and the other handling accounts to the west. Branches at the time were located at Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Boston.

Eureka's presence beyond the United States began with its partnership with Onward Manufacturing Company, Ltd. in Kitchener, Canada in 1918, followed the next year by a foreign branch in London, England. Sydney, Australia's office opened in 1924.

The business had grown so well that by 1919 a new three-story factory, designed by the firm Beckett & Akitt, was erected at Greenwood Avenue and the Michigan Central Railroad in Detroit, Michigan. It covered an area of over 19,000 square feet, making it the largest vacuum cleaner factory in the world at that time. Mr. Wardell established the conveyor system of assembly that produced 1,000 cleaners a day; or an average of 300,000 a year. The burgeoning business eventually became too much for the Stecker Company to handle, leading The Eureka Company to purchase the manufacturing rights to The Eureka in 1920. Early that same year a five-story retail store and company headquarters had opened, located at 1521 Broadway Avenue near John R Street; the company having taken up occupancy along with Wardell & Son Auctioneers. At the summit of the building was erected a stone carving of the letter 'E', which remains in place today.

In 1922, the company introduced the Eureka Model 9, which undercut their main competitor Hoover by 50% in price, with the same horsepower motor and a front-mounted bag that customers preferred to Hoover's rear-mounted bag, offered with a 10-day home trial, becoming the Model T of the vacuum cleaner industry. In fact, it won more international awards of merit than any other at the Hygienic Exhibition in Brussels, Belgium. The advertisement shows the price was $45 ($819 in 2023 dollars ^[5]).

This propelled Eureka to purchase its factory building and site in June of 1924 and to produce its millionth vacuum cleaner in the late fall of that year. That milestone cleaner was gold-plated as a nationwide sales award, later won by the Newark, New Jersey branch. Business was booming, which necessitated more than one factory addition to meet consumer demand. As a result, Eureka soon became established as the country’s No. 2 vacuum cleaner manufacturer next to The Hoover Company; selling one-third of all cleaners manufactured in the United States of America.

In 1925, Wardell also tried his hand at real estate, building the Wardell Hotel on Woodward Avenue and Kirby Street, which is known today as the Park Shelton.

Three years after the millionth cleaner was produced, production was briefly halted for a ceremony to mark the occasion of the assembling of the 2,000,000th Eureka vacuum cleaner. That machine was uniquely-made to be resplendent, as well. Not only was its casing gold-plated as the first trophy but also studded with brilliants, and the dust bag made of silk. Competing for the gleaming cleaner in top sales during October, November and December were 22 branches. At the company's nineteenth annual sales convention at the Statler Hotel in February 1928, it was announced that the Los Angeles Branch had won the contest selling 2,585 cleaners.

According to an article in the 1930 edition of THE INDUSTRIAL DETROIT, the company at the time had 40 major branch factories scattered throughout the world; 152 factory-operated retail stores; 241 factory-operated salesmen and women on the payroll besides 4,500 retail workers who operated under franchise plans direct from the factory. That year saw expansion into the making of other appliances with the introduction of the Eureka electric range; although it flopped. Nonetheless, 1931 saw the company’s factory pumping out 2,000 vacuum cleaners a day.

The Depression would soon dampen Eureka’s enthusiasm for its costly sales force. Like other companies, Eureka retreated from its dependence on door-to-door salesmen (who averaged 20 calls before they made one sale), and shifted its emphasis from selling through retailers to selling to them. From 1933 to 1936, sales averaged $2.68 million and profits were $251,000. Its expensive distribution system, unsuccessful new product introductions and outdated factory exacerbated the effects of the collapse of consumer buying during the Depression. By 1937, the company was in the red, and from that year through 1939 its annual losses averaged $199,000.

Although the quality of Eureka cleaners was still respected, the company was floundering and Wardell had admittedly lost enthusiasm for running it; perhaps, in part, due to the passing of his wife, Helen, in 1936. The 73-year-old therefore sought a successor and persuaded Henry Way Burritt (1892-1961), the chief of sales for Nash-Kelvinator (the manufacturer of Kelvinator refrigerators), to take charge of the company. In 1939, Burritt took over and set about reorganizing Eureka’s distribution system, shaking up top management, and redesigning the vacuum cleaner with the help of the famed fashion illustrator and industrial designer, George W. Walker.

Some notable models and implements along with their inaugural characteristics that had helped put Eureka on the map were 1927's optional floor polisher brush for use with the Model 10; the Model 11 in 1928 featuring a quick-disconnect handle; the Junior hand-vacuum in 1929 and the following year's Sanitor air-deodorizing and -freshening attachment; the 1931 Model F's single rear caster; the Model G's revolving brush in 1932 and the industrial Model K the year after with its motor ball bearings and concealed motor terminals; 1936's Model M "Challenger" advertised as an apt challenger to other vacuum cleaners with the typical quality Eureka features plus a height adjustment wheel, two casters, and dirt finder searchlight; the 2-speed motor of the Model R in 1937; and the suitcase attachment kit added in 1940 with the Model M-61 "red beauty", succeeded by the Viso Tool Kit holder in 1942.

The first use of the Sanitaire moniker by Eureka was for a tank-type cleaner equipped with the a Sanitaire germ-trap. In fact, the United States Patent Office's October 24, 1944, OFFICIAL GAZETTE lists the company's claim of its initial use of the name as November 16, 1939, and its subsequent registration filing with the department on December 12, 1940. However, a newspaper brief states that on August 15, 1944, Eureka's application was denied due to the inherent quality of vacuum cleaners as providing sanitation. Hamiton-Beach may have had a part in the ruling as it, too, had produced its No. 26 tank-type cleaner with the Sanitaire badge. Sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s, Eureka submitted another application of registration, which was approved. The popular blue household and red commercial lines, based on the F & G upright styling, continue to be manufactured by Bissell, Inc., the company that purchased the brand in August 2018.

In 1940, the company discontinued its use of door-to-door salesmen. Nevertheless, losses continued, with a $500,000 loss on almost $5 million in sales in 1941. Vacuum cleaners sales had fallen to about seven percent of the industry total. Eureka set out to curtail the losses by introducing tank-type cleaners into its line-up with its purchase of the Progress Vacuum Corporation of Cleveland, whose machinery for its tank-type cleaner Models P and PD were transferred to its Detroit factory.

Partly due to the costs of a massive door-to-door sales force, along with the Great Depression, in the late 1930s the company had gone into the red and remaining in that state until it was revived by World War II and a wartime production business. From 1942 until the end of the war, that production included gas masks and flare guns. In addition, it also sub-contracted with the Philadelphia Division of Bendix Aviation Corporation in producing actuating motors for the U.S. Army's P-80 jet-propelled fighter planes, F-29 and F-17 bombers, and starter motors for Packard-built engines for various fighters and bombers.^[6] During the war years Burritt and his managers also planned how to take advantage of the surge in consumer spending that was expected to follow the war. The company decided to diversify its offerings of consumer appliances and decentralize operations.

So on June 4, 1945, Eureka issued $1.76 million worth of common stock and used the proceeds to purchase 245,000 shares of Williams Oil-O-Matic stock from Walter Williams for $1.39 million. The company, a Bloomington, Ill., manufacturer of oil-based heaters and refrigerators for the home, had been founded in 1918. The remaining 185,000 shares of Williams' stock were traded for Eureka common stock two-for-one. ^[7]

The Model D-171, was the first of several Eureka upright and tank-type cleaners Mr. Walker designed for Eureka over the next eight or so years. It included the new Attach-O-Matic attachment coupler. In 1945, the company launched the production of its long-running Disturbulator brush roll, which consisted of two rows of bristles at different heights. As a result, the Model D-171 became the Model D-272 with the the new brush roll modification.

The company's 1946 production of vacuum cleaners went through 55 distributors to 5,500 dealers—12 of them company owned. By 1947, those numbers had increased to 8,500 dealers and 9,000 retailers. Burritt began to spend heavily on national advertising, a practice that had lapsed in the 1930s. The company had a net worth of over $6 million that year. In the fiscal year ending June 1947, sales totaled $21 million, with profits of $1 million. Oil burners accounted for approximately one third of sales and profits; however, there was almost no overlap in the production and distribution of the merged companies; Eureka continuing to focus on floor and surface care and Williams retaining its HVAC lines heaters, air conditioners, and a wooden lung. In an attempt to broaden its array of consumer goods and enlarge its distribution network, Eureka-Williams bought the Chicago-based National Stamping & Electric Works in 1946 for $640,000. The company made electric toasters, irons, and other appliances under the “White Cross” label, with sales of $500,000 a year. The following year, it came out with a line of electric disposal units, the Dispos-O-Matic.

The 1947 debut of Eureka's popular 200 Series took place with Mr. Walker's Model S-246 upright along with the Deluxe Model D-360 upright. He also designed tank-type cleaners for both company labels and the private Montgomery Ward label, with which Eureka had first contracted in 1945. Later Eureka private store labels included: Canadian retailers Eaton's "Viking," The Bay's "Baycrest" and "Beaumark"; JCPenney; Firestone and Western Auto.

Even with the industrial engineer's sleek styling, wider distribution and national advertising, Eureka consistently ran behind Hoover. In vacuum cleaner circles a battle raged between the proponents of the tank or canister-type cleaners and the upright or floor models. Eureka sidestepped the issue by selling both, and an assortment of attachments, as the “Eureka Home Cleaning System,” in 1946, which sold for the hefty sum of $144.95 (around $2000 in today's economy). This concept allowed Eureka to sell two cleaners per sale instead of one and would go on to be marketed with successor models; however, the obligatory purchase of the system caused customer pushback with consumer trade overseers resulting in its discontinuance after a short time.

Eureka continued to progress, however, offering its first disposable dust bag in 1949's tank-type Model 600 and introducing its first canister, the Roto-Matic Model 800, with its swiveled hose inlet, in 1952. Several years later, the company's new upright, S-255, also incorporated a disposable dust bag with its top-filling "throat". When Eureka's dust bag selections grew, styles were marked with arbitrary letters. The one for uprights cloth bag covers was Style "G" and the one used with upright equipped with vinyl bag covers was Style "F". The discontinuance of cloth bag cover production for household uprights in 1975 resulted in the combined Style "F & G".

In memoriam ... Fred Wardell passed away on January 13, 1952, and was buried in the Wardell Mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit. A communicant of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, he married Miss Helen Williams of Detroit on January 25, 1893. Politically aligned with the Republican Party, he enjoyed memberships in the Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit Golf Club, Oakland Hills Country Club, Pine Lake Country Club, Detroit Automobile Club, and Columbia Country Club of Washington, D.C. Fraternally, he was a Mason, having taking degrees in the York Rite and Mystic Shrine. He also belonged to the Detroit Board of Commerce.

In 1953, Eureka-Williams was purchased by Henney Motor Company, based in Freeport, Illinois and controlled by principal stockholder C. Russell Feldmann. The deal was reported to be worth $4 million, with Feldmann laying down only about $400,000 in cash while assuming Eureka-Williams’ obligations. Eureka-Williams became a division of the Henney Motor Company; going on to become the first U.S. manufacturer of a purpose-built electric car (1959-1961), the Henney Kilowatt, which flopped commercially.^[8]

Due to the construction of Lodge Freeway through its property, in late 1955 the company decided to relocate to the southeast side of Bloomington, Illinois by purchasing the Meadows Manufacturing Company plant from Thor Corporation for $450,000. The facility was at south of Bell Street and west of Hannah Street southeast side and consisted of two buildings with an aggregate floor area of 180,000 square feet that had been used from its inception in 1920 to the mid-1950s for the manufacturing of conventional wringer clothes washers under brand names such as Meadow Lark and Select-a-Speed. During the Korean War it had also produced 16mm shells. Around the same time the corporate offices were relocated to a nearby two-story building that had been built by the Williams Corporation in 1925.

Among the new models manufactured at the Bloomington facility were the wine red Model S-255 in 1955, which used a modified motor hood from its predecessor that would be used on many different model-types for the next several decades; the 1956 classic tool set—many of which were used for around 25 years; 1957's iconic pastel green, cream, and metallic gold-colored "Golden Crown" Model 960-A canister and its upright companion Model 260—an apparent nod to the company moniker based on the tale of Archimedes and the Golden Crown.

As Eureka's research and development grew more robust it seemed more feasible to make gradual improvements but retain model identifications rather than simply replacing them according to changes as it had previously done. The concept originated with adding a hyphenated number to the model identifier beginning with the Model G-2 in 1937. Then when the Model S-250 was revised in 1950 its identification became S-250-A. The use of a letter suffix, which Eureka continues to use today, would eventually be marked as the "Type" on all cleaner labels ahead of their serial numbers; the first of which is usually an 'A'. While some cleaners over the years were never modified, most have been one or more times in such types as color, brush roll, handle, material or internal revision. The system is advantageous mainly for record keeping and servicing. As a result, Eureka cleaners are typically referred to by their model-types.

Eureka celebrated the 50th anniversary of its incorporation in 1960, with a company picnic and marketing anniversary editions of two Roto-Matics in light pastel green and iridescent cream, Model-Types 910-B (w/nylon braided hose) and 960-B (w/vinyl ribbed hose). Also, during the year Mr. Feldmann announced his intention to merge Eureka-Williams with National Union Electric Corporation, a heating and air-conditioning manufacturer of which he was both chairman and president. The merger took place on June 30 of that year making Eureka a privately-traded company. At the time of the merger Eureka-Williams was described as manufacturing vacuum cleaners, oil burners, school furniture, aircraft generators, hydraulic motors, starters and inverters, and thermal batteries at plants in Bloomington and Canastota, New York.

Eureka-Williams fared well with National Union, playing the part of the steady and conservative manufacturer in a rather idiosyncratic company. The Mobile-Are (what some refer to as one of the "canned hams" due to its shape resemblance of the foodstuff's container shape), Princess, Crown Princess, Prince, and Empress canisters were part of Eureka's goal to provide more variety in styling and performance to shoppers. The Vibra-Beat nozzle was another choice that could be used with any of them. Both its canisters and uprights were mainly enameled in Ivory and Lagoon Blue for a good share of the Sixties, along with some grays and creams, followed by Gold Mist—some canisters sporting laminated Teakwood trim in addition. The public's desire for appliance color options had grown since companies began the concept in the mid-1950s. Eureka responded to this in increasing measure in the 1970s by offering such enamel choices as Rallye Gold, Big Bad Orange, Moss Green, Queen Anne Gold, Arctic Blue and Brandywine among others.

Another way to expand the company's product offerings was rebadging another company's cleaners (thought by some to be Panasonic due to styling similarities). These included the Emperor upright Model-Type 1212-A in 1967, and the Easy-Glide Model 210 one year later. Both included unique features not used on Eureka-produced model-types including the Emperor's dial height adjuster on the top of the nozzle and the Easy-Glide's bag in the base and Nap-Adapt rollers.

Eureka-Williams for a time from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s also included polishers and rug shampooers to its line-up. These included both 3- and 4-disc machines. There was even a chrome-hooded option as there was for vacuum cleaners during this era.

At times, Eureka brought back some concepts, as well. In 1962, it re-introduced a pared-down upright; less-costly features in model-types 258-A and 259-A were 1-speed, sans headlight, tiptoe switch, and round handle. A year later it re-offered a commercial upright for businesses with the model-type 248-A. Its stand-alone cardboard tool holder, Handy-Pak, and suitcase holder that had originated some twenty years earlier were also reissued in updated form. Brand new items of the period included the Tool-Pak removable plastic snap-on holder for canisters followed in 1965 by The Cordaway cord reel for select uprights and canisters.

Then, in 1969, the company unveiled its 2000 Series to succeed the 200 Series. Its centerpiece was the "Vanguard" Model-Type 2080-A, featuring an avant-garde 12-setting sliding height adjustment, named the Rugulator. The series also boasted five other uprights of various customer options to meet the needs of both preferences and pocketbooks. Most of those included the 4-Way Dial-A-Matic height adjuster, also introduced that year (the 6-Way and 8-Way versions came later).

By 1971, Eureka-Williams accounted for 40 to 50 percent of National Union’s sales and profits, and National Union reported that vacuum cleaner volume had climbed for the 12th consecutive year.

Eureka's innovations in the 1970s beyond the earlier Sanitaire reference in this article, included its 1800 Series Empress II canister line with some new features such as its Air-Matic console and large rear wheels; its more modest Sweet Sixteen 1600 rectangular canister series; its Vibra-Groomer and Vibra-Groomer brush rolls introduced in 1971 and 1978, respectively; 1972 revealed the TouchPower fingertip control on its top-of-the-line uprights and the Roto-Matic Power Team 1200 Series canister line; Widetrack 16" nozzle upright arrived on the scene in 1977; and the 6.0-amp Extra Suction Power (ESP) motor came out a year later; followed by the Self-Propelled uprights with TouchControl in 1979. Increased use of plastics—both as a cost-saving measure and as a way to reduce the weight—also occurred with the move to Lexan resin bases and cord hooks in 1974.

In 1973, Eureka-Williams purchased 38 acres of land in north Normal, Illinois and built a warehouse and motor department building at 1201 E. Bell Street. After AB Electrolux of Sweden purchased National Union Electric Company in 1974, a 50,000 square foot addition was built at the Bloomington plant plus a 210,000 square foot warehouse plant in Normal. Electrolux renamed its new acquisition as The Eureka Company, nearly going back to its original name but omitting "Vacuum Cleaner".

Eureka honored the United State's Bicentennial Year of 1976 with a line of uprights of varying features. These did, however, share the Early American bag cover features and enamel color scheme of Fawn Beige and Ginger. Model-Types included 1414-A, 1453-A, 2014-A & -B, 2024-A, and 2064-A.

Since the 1980s a variety of new stylings emerged including the Quiet Kleen and Vactronic canisters, Vibra-Groomer III brush roll, and standard, High Performance, & ESP motors with 4.0, 4.8, 5.0, 5.2, 5.5, 6.2, 6.5, 6.7, 7.0-amps ... all the way up to 12-amps. These developments led to both a spectacular end of the company's classic series used for nearly a half-century, including the F & G uprights and Princess- and Sweet Sixteen-style canisters along with the Roto-Matic Power Teams and the launching of the new plastic-bodied uprights and fresh-styled canisters and Home Cleaning Systems. These new series included the Mighty Mite canister, The World Vacs, Powerlines, Express Power Teams, Bravo!s and Bravo IIs, SurfaxMax Home Cleaning Systems, The Boss!s, and others. Such a spectrum of cleaners would be too space-prohibitive to describe in detail in this overview. Suffice it to say that Eureka has increasingly sought to provide ample options to provide for a broad range of uses and preferences.

Eureka celebrated the 75th anniversary of its founding in 1984. The anniversary cleaners marking the occasion were the Model-Type 1475-A 4-Way Dial-A-Matic with a 75th anniversary emblem on its bag cover, and the Model-Type 1775-A Vactronic Roto-Matic Power Team.

In 1981 a plant in Juarez, Mexico was opened, and two years later a large twin plant-warehouse was built in El Paso. Both these plants grew substantially over the next seven years. An addition to the Normal factory was also completed in 1997, but its lack of profitability caused its closure in 2000.

By the mid-1990s, Eureka held steady at its perennial number two position in the vacuum cleaner market, but had rebounded from losses in market share in the early 1990s. The company claimed its highest sales ever in 1993 after introducing its World Vac and Powerline series and Corvette hand vac (the name on license from General Motors Corporation) and expanding The Boss line of cleaners. Eureka held about 20 percent of the $600-million full-sized cleaner market, as compared with Hoover’s 35 percent. The company manufactured more than 100 different models of vacuum cleaners, for home as well as commercial use.

A major reorganization effort saw hundreds of employees laid off at its Bloomington facilities in 1989 as a recession rippled through the economy.

Eureka announced a year later that it was moving production of upright cleaners completely to El Paso. The manufacture and assembly of canisters were consequently consolidated at its plant at Normal, Illinois, while headquarters and other manufacturing operations remained at Bloomington at 807 N. Main Street. Eureka reported that it spent $2.2 million restructuring its plants in Illinois.

Eureka's former Detroit headquarters, which had been sold, was renovated in 2003 with a restaurant on the ground floor and five full floor residential on the upper five stories called the Eureka Lofts. The Normal plant, 903 Morrissey Drive, was initially sold to Wildwood Industries, Inc., a producer and supplier of vacuum cleaner bags, scent tablets, floor powders, air filters, carpet cleaner and leaf bags; although the company went bankrupt in 2009. In 2016, ownership went to Scott Garth, who converted the 156,000-square-foot building into 10,000 square feet of office space, 45,000 feet of storage - called Morrissey Drive Self-Storage - and 55,000 of warehouse space that can be used for light manufacturing.

The Eureka Company name was discontinued and replaced with Electrolux Home Products Division on April 1, 2004, although the brand name was still used.^[7] In August 2011 Electrolux Small Appliances North America relocated to Charlotte, N.C., from Bloomington, Illinois, uniting the corporate office operations and support functions for all of Electrolux's North American vacuum, small appliance, and major appliance brands under one roof.^[9]

In 2011 Electrolux ended its presence in Bloomington-Normal, and on December 2, 2016, Electrolux sold Eureka and was purchased by Chinese company Midea Group, parent company of Midea America Corporation, which continues to promote the brand.

References