END OF AN ERA

Sunday mornings are great for sitting in bed, having a good cup of coffee and watching CBS "Sunday Morning". They present a variety of pleasant commentaries in a quiet way, which is a nice change from all the hype and horrific news we hear during the week.

One of this morning's segments was about the Maytag Company located in Newton, Iowa, which is just a bit east and north of Des Moines. It is a small Midwest community and the Maytag family had started there in 1893. As you can imagine Maytag supported many households in the community. I believe they said 1 out of 5 people worked there over the years. The family sold the company in 1962 and continued with their cheese business.

In the last years, I believe Whirlpool owned the company and they have decided it is no longer profitable so are closing it down. I believe they have gone from 3000 employees to now 300 and are closing shortly. Of course former employees have had to find other employment and the town is hoping to attract other businesses to fill the huge empty buildings. Seems this is very common across the country these days.

Is there anyone who does not know the lonely guy in the blue service suit known as the Maytag repairman? The company was built on the idea of reliability of their appliances. How many companies can say that these days? We have become such a throw away society, and in my opinion, have we come to accept many goods will not last as long as they did in the past.

When you buy a new appliance you are offered an extended service contract or warranty. What is up with that? A few years ago I was looking at washers and dryers in Sears and was asked if I wanted the extended warranty on them? I asked the salesman if the appliances is so poorly made that I was going to need it? He just stuttered and stammered on that one.

My washer was about 18 years old and dryer was 30 years. I think I had 2 or 3 repair calls in all those years. My furnace was 40 years old, still running, but barely and definitely not energy efficient. When the guys took it out and set it on the driveway the rust on the outside covering literally fell of in large chunks. The new furnace is energy efficient and has a 3 year warranty. Several people have assured me I would not get 40 years out of it.

So why is that we are not producing products of quality and longevity as the ones from the past? I think it is so we all have to spend more money... and there are big profits for the manufactures. Of course I could go into how all the manufacturing has moved out of the country and there is alot of shoddy workmanship and cheaply made products to put money in the pockets of the big companies...that is another soapbox topic, which I will save for later.

If you care about products made in the US watch John Ratzenberger's "Made in America" on the travel channel. You might remember him as the know-it-all postman in "Cheers". I wonder how hard he has to look for companies who still make their products in the US.

This got me thinking; what ever happened to the Gerber babies and Mr. Whipple who was the character for Charmin? Gezzz, my age is showing. Hope you all have a great Sunday morning!