Sunbeam Corporation
 |
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Consumer products |
| Founded | 1897 Sunbeam Products 1924 John Oster Manufacturing Company |
| Headquarters | Boca Raton, Florida, United States |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
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Key people
|
Andrew C. Hill (CEO & President) |
| Products |
Kitchen appliances Bedding Home and health products |
| Parent | Newell Brands |
| Website | www |
Sunbeam Products is an American brand that has produced electric home appliances since 1910. Its products have included the Mixmaster mixer, the Sunbeam CG waffle iron, Coffeemaster (1938–1964) and the fully automatic T20 toaster. Sunbeam was owned by Jarden Consumer Solutions after Jarden's acquisition in 2004. Since Newell Rubbermaid's purchase of Jarden Corporation, the brand has been owned by the newly formed Newell Brands company.
In 1897 John K. Stewart and Thomas J. Clark incorporated their Chicago Flexible Shaft Company, which made horse trimming and sheep shearing machinery. In 1921 the company produced its first Sunbeam branded household appliance, the Princess Electric Iron (with an option to buy a fireproof metal storage box). The name "Sunbeam" came from a company wide contest to rebrand its growing home appliance business. Edwin J Gallagher (1897–1983), a buyer and traffic manager for the company, won the contest and received a check for $1,000. The company did not officially incorporate its name to Sunbeam until 1946.
In 1928, the company's head designer, Swedish immigrant Ivar Jepson alongside Alton Graham Bernard invented the Mixmaster mixer. Introduced in 1930, it was the first mechanical mixer with two detachable beaters whose blades interlocked. Several attachments were available for the Mixmaster, including a juice extractor, drink mixer, meat grinder–food chopper, and slicer–shredder. The Mixmaster became the company's flagship product for the next forty years, but the brand also became known for the designs, mainly by Robert Davol Budlong, of electric toasters, coffee makers, and electric shavers, among other appliances.
Sunbeam acquired Rain King Sprinkler Company producing a popular lawn sprinkler line of the 1950s and 1960s. Meanwhile, Sunbeam continued to expand outside of Chicago. By the end of the 1970s, as the leading American manufacturer of small appliances, Sunbeam enjoyed about $1.3 billion in annual sales and employed nearly 30,000 people worldwide. The John Oster Manufacturing Company was acquired in 1960 by Sunbeam Corporation. In 1981, after Sunbeam was bought by Allegheny International Inc. of Pittsburgh, most of the Chicago-area factories were closed and the headquarters moved to Downtown Pittsburgh. Under Allegheny International's ownership Sunbeam became the world's largest maker of small appliances through much of the 1980s. Allegheny International moved its headquarters into a 32 floor signature skyscraper in Pittsburgh. During this time the companies Allegheny controlled included John Zink Company (manufactured air pollution control devices) and Hanson Scale (manufactured bathroom scales and other balance machines).
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Wikipedia