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Thread Number: 23925
Origins of Kenmore Name |
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| Post# 267918 2/15/2014 at 23:23 (3,721 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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| Post# 267947 , Reply# 2 2/16/2014 at 08:10 (3,721 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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| Post# 267948 , Reply# 3 2/16/2014 at 08:38 (3,721 days old) by paulg (my sweet home Chicago) | ||
Chicago has KENMORE AVENUE
There is a Kenmore Avenue found throughout Chicago. I don't know if it pertains to SEARS brands though.
If indeed they did pick a street name, they made a good choice. Chicago streets that would NOT make good appliance brands include: GOETHE (everyone mispronounces this street even TV news anchors which is really funny when it happens) LUNT BALBO BUFFALO GLADYS LIPPS LIVERMORE POPE JOHN PAUL II DR. WEED | ||
| Post# 267949 , Reply# 4 2/16/2014 at 08:59 (3,720 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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In researching the answer, it seems that many websites offer 1927 as the year in which Kenmore first appeared on an appliance - a washing machine. But Kenmore.com says that the first appearance of the name was on a sewing machine in 1913!
One website suggests that the name may have come from an idyllic American suburb called Kenmore outside of Buffalo, NY....which makes some sense as Sears main target market seems to have been middle class Suburban America. | ||
| Post# 268006 , Reply# 6 2/16/2014 at 17:21 (3,720 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center) | ||
Bad street names! | ||
| Post# 268031 , Reply# 7 2/16/2014 at 21:38 (3,720 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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| Post# 268168 , Reply# 8 2/17/2014 at 11:45 (3,719 days old) by super-sweeper (KSSRC Refurbishment Center) | ||
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Simspson-Sears | ||
| Post# 268240 , Reply# 9 2/17/2014 at 18:09 (3,719 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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Growing up in Montreal in the 1960's (Expo '67 was great), we had three major national department stores downtown and in the suburban shopping centres: Eaton's, Morgan's and Simpson's. At some point, Morgan's morphed into The Bay and Simpson's morphed into Simpson's Sears. By the 1990's Simpson-Sears was gone and eventually Sears bought Eaton's. Now I hear that The Bay has been bought by Lord and Taylor as Sears Canada struggles to keep their stores open!
Was there ever Simpson's-Sears in the USA? I did not think so... | ||
| Post# 268247 , Reply# 11 2/17/2014 at 19:54 (3,719 days old) by fan-of-fans (USA) | ||
And high end models of washers, etc were Lady Kenmore, kind of like today's Kenmore Elite I guess.
The Homart name was also on some window fans that Sears sold in the 1950s-60s before being replaced with Kenmore and then just Sears. For lower end appliances Capri and Galaxy would be on them instead of Kenmore. | ||
| Post# 268248 , Reply# 12 2/17/2014 at 20:25 (3,719 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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| Post# 268256 , Reply# 13 2/17/2014 at 20:58 (3,719 days old) by caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut) | ||
Hi eurekaprince. At the annual meeting in 1993, my co-founder John Lucia did a presentation on his yearlong project, researching all the vacuum cleaners in the Sears-Roebuck catalog. I'm quoting from the second part of that report.
"Sears and Roebuck Company officially started the Kenmore line of appliance in the Fall of 1932. The machines did not change much in appearance at this milestone. The hand portables, however, did go through an evolution at this time. Kenmore featured two portables in the Fall 1932 catalogue. There was now a Kenmore Junior, which was very similar in appearance to the Eureka Junior. This was a straight-suction model with a 20 foot cord. The Kenmore Deluxe Junior cleaner was a revolving motor-driven brush model with a snub-nosed appearance. "
So there you have it, Alex Taber.
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| Post# 268289 , Reply# 14 2/18/2014 at 06:50 (3,719 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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| Post# 268303 , Reply# 15 2/18/2014 at 08:10 (3,719 days old) by caligula (Wallingford, Connecticut) | ||
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Hi eurekaprince. In case you don't know, John Lucia, and I went to the Hoover historical Center in 1982, and decided to create the V.C.C.C.
Imagine my surprise when John started that presentation. Up to this point, he would not let me see the two part history he'd written. The first vacuum cleaner Sears listed was the Dust-Killer. When John read that, I nearly fell over, as I had a Dust-Killer in my collection, and still do. It dates back to 1909, and is an awesome, two person non electric pumper. Have a look. 
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| Post# 268313 , Reply# 16 2/18/2014 at 09:55 (3,718 days old) by rugsucker (Elizabethton TN) | ||
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'Kenmore' I have seen,but do not have,a Sears catalog that must have been about 1932 as above for the introduction of 'Kenmore'.They refer to the historic Kenmore estate in the Williamsburg area of Virginia as the origin of the name. | ||
Post# 268388 , Reply# 17 2/18/2014 at 15:44 (3,718 days old) by gottahaveahoove  (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640) |
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I remember my sister-in-law
My late brother's wife.( a cross between Sue Anne Nivens and Martha Stewart) the worst of both, boasted her brand new, "coffee" matching LADY Kenmore laundry set. "LADY" didn't last too long. My brother anf his wife were big "Sears" fans! I only loved their paint. Does anyone know where we can get that paint since Sears discontinued selling paint?
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| Post# 268389 , Reply# 18 2/18/2014 at 15:45 (3,718 days old) by suckolux (Yuba City, CA) | ||
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Post# 268390 , Reply# 19 2/18/2014 at 15:50 (3,718 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640) |
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Hers were dark brown.
Perhaps "chocolate"? I know she used them....ran them into the ground. This was 1969. I was just a child. I thought it was great to lift the shade and the flourescent lights went on. It didn't take much to entertain me.....still doesn't.
She also ran a Hamilton Beach cannister, had a HOOVER Convertible "Special" (pink). NEVER used the ultraflex tools. Replaced that with a Eureeeeeeka! Now, sh'e going senile, a bit. Yikes!!!!! | ||
| Post# 268444 , Reply# 20 2/18/2014 at 20:40 (3,718 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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Thanks for that addition to this ongoing history lesson, Jimmy!
In reading more about Betty Washington's estate in Fredericksburg, Virginia, I found out that it was renamed Kenmore by a buyer in the 1800's because that is the name of the place in Scotland from which his ancestors came. The word Kenmore comes from the Scottish Gaelic for "large head"....see the link below: (so now our Scottish friends overseas can claim a strong connection to Kenmore vacuum cleaners too!) CLICK HERE TO GO TO eurekaprince's LINK | ||
| Post# 268445 , Reply# 21 2/18/2014 at 20:47 (3,718 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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Here's another useful link detailing the Gordon Family's naming of the estate:
CLICK HERE TO GO TO eurekaprince's LINK | ||
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