Hoover Company photograph   Save
Ohio Department of Industrial and Economic Development Collection
Description: This photograph of the Hoover Company headquarters in Canton, Ohio, was taken in the 1930s or 1940s. A sign on the building reads "Hoover Suction Sweepers." The lower portion of the photograph appears to have been airbrushed. It measures 8" x 10" (20.32 x 25.4 cm). In 1908, inventor J. Murray Spangler was working as a night janitor. While cleaning rugs, the dust aggravated his asthma. He modified some existing equipment to collect the dust and dirt into a pillowcase. Spangler asked his cousin Susan Hoover to try the equipment. Her husband, W. H. "Boss" Hoover, was impressed with the "suction sweeper." At the time, the Hoover family business produced mostly horse harnesses and equipment. As the automobile grew in popularity, the leather shop began to fail and they were seeking new business opportunities. Hoover bought the patent from Spangler in 1908, retained him as a partner, and soon had six employees assembling six units a day in a corner of the leather goods shop. At the time, few homes had electricity, and they had difficulty selling the sweepers. Once W. H. Hoover took out an ad in the Saturday Evening Post offering a 10 day free trial, they were inundated with requests. The Hoover Company has since become a nationally-known manufacturer of vacuum cleaners. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3081_3675618_001
Subjects: Business and Labor; Hoover Company; Factories; Vacuum cleaners; Appliances
Places: Canton (Ohio); Stark County (Ohio)