history

In 1893, a firm known as Parsons Band Cutter & Self-Feeder Company was formed by George W. Parsons and F.L. Maytag, along with A. H. and Will Bergman. After several previous reorganizations of the firm, the name of Maytag Company was finally adopted in December. 1909. Washing machines were in their infancy, and the Maytag Company soon became an industry leader. The short-lived diversion into the tractor business probably resulted from the extraordinary demand for tractors at the time, partially as a result of the First World War. Maytag’s early withdrawal probably was a sound decision, since in the 1920s hundreds of tractor builders succumbed to the double-edged sword of the tractor price war and the postwar depression.