Louis Upton

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Louis Upton (1886-1954) was the co-founder and longtime CEO of the Whirlpool Corporation, maker of household appliances. He lived in St. Joseph, Michigan, and established the company's headquarters there.

With his brother Frederick Upton, Louis Upton founded the Upton Machine Company in 1911. The firm's first products were wringer washing machines powered by primitive electric motors.

With many regions of the United States becoming wired for electricity at this time, factories all over the country were springing up to produce kitchen appliances. Three moves by Louis Upton helped determine that the Upton Machine Company would be a survivor:

When Upton Machine's very first batch of power wringer washers turned out to have a defective part, Louis Upton replaced it at no charge - thereby helping to establish the industry tradition of cost-free repair service for machines in the early stages of their working lives.

Soon after helping to found the company, young Upton developed a business friendship and partnership with the CEO of Sears, Roebuck and Company, General Robert E. Wood. In 1916, Sears began sourcing retail appliances from Upton Machine, and in 1925, the Michigan firm persuaded Sears to make it their sole supplier.

Louis Upton implemented an aggressive merger policy that led to the combination of many key manufacturing plants and distribution networks. When, in 1929, the Nineteen Hundred Washer Company of Binghamton, New York bought Upton Machine, the merged firm enjoyed a significant market share of the U.S. East Coast market for washing machines. The Nineteen Hundred firm already possessed the trade name Whirlpool, which was to become the name of the entire company in 1950.

During the Great Depression, appliance sales suffered. The Uptons' friendship with Sears enabled Louis and Frederick to regain complete control of the Nineteen Hundred Corporation in 1932. Their supremacy was not challenged again in Louis Upton's lifetime.

Whirlpool innovations during Louis Upton's leadership included paid employee vacations (1917) and the top-loading automatic washing machine (1948).

Louis Upton's family life was challenged by the birth of a son who was profoiundly deaf and a daughter with Down's syndrome.