Hoover, Herbert William (30 Oct. 1877-11 Sept. 1954), industrialist, was born in New Berlin (now North Canton), Ohio, the son of William Henry Hoover, a saddle maker, and Susan Troxel. Hoover, who liked to be called "H. W.," graduated from high school in 1895 and entered Hiram College, which he left in 1897. In 1898 he joined the his father's successful saddlery business, W. H. Hoover Company, making saddles, harnesses, and other leather goods. In 1903, when the firm was incorporated, Hoover's father became president and Hoover served as vice president, focusing his attention on the new line of leather products for automobiles. In 1905 he married Grace Louise Steele, the daughter of a New Berlin doctor; they had four children.
In 1907 an invention appeared in Canton, Ohio, that changed Hoover's life. James Murray Spangler, a 71-year-old janitor who worked at Zollinger's Dry Goods Store in Canton, realized that the dust he agitated during his cleaning aggravated his asthma. Seeking a solution, he constructed the world's first vacuum cleaner, a crude device that used makeshift components such as a sewing machine motor, a Bissell carpet sweeper brush, and a pillow case for a bag. Together with a partner, Spangler created a new enterprise, the Electric Suction Sweeper Company, to market the device, but the firm foundered. Spangler met with Hoover and his father; the elder Hoover--who foresaw an imminent end to the leather saddlery business because of the automobile--was convinced that vacuum cleaner manufacturing had a promising future.
In August 1908 the Hoovers took over the Electric Suction Sweeper Company, moving its operations to a corner of their saddlery factory. Spangler accepted a generous royalty and was kept on payroll as an official. Hoover's father, president of the new concern, put H. W. in charge of making a profitable business with the vacuum cleaners, naming him vice president, general manager, and sales manager of the company. H. W. provided leadership for the growing venture, since other Hoover family members were still involved in leather goods manufacturing. He moved with dispatch, and by December 1908 his company was producing its first vacuum cleaner, the Model O. The company's first national advertisement, which Hoover wrote, appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, asking consumers to try the electric suction sweeper for ten days, free of charge. The company, which favored home demonstrations of the product, developed an extensive network of salesmen to demonstrate and sell the sweeper, rather than relying on retail outlets. The advertisement produced a deluge of inquiries from consumers who were attracted to the new product because it represented an improvement over brooms, carpet beaters, carpet sweepers, and feather dusters. As home electricity became more available, the popularity and success of vacuum cleaners soared. The company's sales multiplied during its early years, with 372 cleaners sold during its first year, 4,000 during 1912, and 9,000 by 1914.
During World War I the company suspended cleaner production in order to manufacture leather goods such as saddles and tool cases for the European Allied forces and tarpaulins and water buckets for the U. S. Army. (During World War I the town of New Berlin changed its name to North Canton as an expression of patriotism.) In 1919, after it had completed its wartime contracts, the company abandoned its leather goods business in order to concentrate on vacuum cleaner manufacturing. That year the company adopted the highly successful advertising slogan, "It Beats As It Sweeps As It Cleans," to promote its vacuum cleaners and also opened a manufacturing plant in England. In 1922 the company dropped the name "Electric Suction Sweeper Company" and became simply the Hoover Company, with H. W. Hoover as president, a position he held for the next twenty-six years. The following year the company reached a milestone when its one-millionth vacuum cleaner rolled off its assembly lines.
Beginning in 1921 Hoover also began to hold international Hoover sales conventions at Hoover Park in Canton. The park was transformed into an enormous tent city, complete with a hospital, post office, and other amenities. Hundreds of Hoover salesmen converged at the site, meeting for several days. The conferences helped to stimulate business and unify policies within the company.
During the Great Depression Hoover spearheaded Canton's drive for relief funds. Vacuum cleaner sales declined, but rather than laying off his employees, Hoover instead cut their working hours. He was deeply committed to maintaining close personal contact with his employees, and as president he visited the assembly lines almost daily to talk to workers, addressing many by their first names. During World War II the Hoover Company virtually halted vacuum cleaner production and switched to wartime manufacturing of radio and radar equipment, parachutes for fragmentation bombs, plastic products, such as helmet liners, and proximity fuses, which were regarded as an invention critical to winning the war. In 1940 Hoover arranged for the evacuation of eighty-four children of employees of his company's British operations. The children were brought to Canton and North Canton homes for the duration of the war. Hoover housed one ten-year-old girl at his own home, and every Thanksgiving he held a party to which he invited all the relocated British children, who affectionately called him "Uncle Hoover."
Hoover presided over the successful postwar conversion of his company; the first year that vacuum cleaner manufacturing resumed yielded a record profit of almost $22 million. In 1948 Hoover retired as president of the Hoover Company, leaving a legacy of successful company leadership that transformed a leather goods business into the world's largest manufacturer of vacuum cleaners. Hoover was succeeded as president by his younger brother, Frank, who had been serving as vice president. Hoover became chairman of the board of directors until 1954, when he became honorary board chairman. In that same year Hoover's son, H. W. Hoover, Jr., assumed the presidency of the company. One of the last and most successful vacuum cleaner innovations that Hoover saw his company introduce was a 1953 model with a disposable paper bag.
By introducing and successfully marketing the vacuum cleaner, Hoover helped to bring fundamental changes to the American home. As the vacuum cleaner represented a considerable expenditure, it enhanced the housewife's role as a consumer, giving her more authority as a discretionary spender. The device quickly became central to domestic cleaning, bringing higher standards of cleanliness to the home and making housework less laborious. The vacuum cleaner also made carpeted homes not only possible but practical. It was a critical part of a movement during the twentieth century that saw the home become more mechanized, clean, and comfortable.
Hoover was actively involved in the civic affairs of both North Canton and Canton. One of his greatest interests was the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). He helped to underwrite the cost of a new North Canton YMCA building, which opened in 1923. He served as a trustee of the Canton YMCA for almost a quarter century and was its president from 1924 to 1946. He also directed a YMCA fundraising campaign that raised over $300,000. Hoover's other notable civic achievements included his support of a new library in North Canton and his drive to create Witwer Park, a popular recreational site in North Canton. In 1946, in recognition of his years of civic service, Hoover received the Canton Chamber of Commerce's first annual Award of Merit.
During the last twenty-five years of his life, Hoover spent winters at a Miami Beach, Florida, home that he purchased in 1938. He wife accompanied him on these trips until her death in 1949. Hoover also continued to work daily until 1953, when ill health forced him to curtail his activities. During the last months of his life he suffered a number of health setbacks, including two severe heart seizures and one cerebral attack. He died in Canton.
The following article is supplied by ANB Biography: http://www.anb.org/articles/10/10-00805.html
Family William
Henry Hoover
--Father Susan
Troxel
--Mother Grace
Louise Steele
--Wife Siblings Name
(b. Year) Children Name
(b. Year)
Name
(b. Year)
Herbert
William Hoover, Jr.
Copyright © 1998-2016 History Guy Media; Last Modified: 12.10.16
"The History Guy" is a Registered Trademark.