History
Innovation has been the hallmark of The Hoover Company since 1908, the year it was founded in North Canton, Ohio. The company’s first product — the Model O upright — would become the first commercially successful portable electric vacuum cleaner.
The product was born from need. James Murray Spangler, a department store janitor, had difficulty sweeping the floor because dust aggravated his asthma. An inventive man who held patents on farming implements, he created a contraption from a tin soapbox, sewing machine motor, broom handle, and pillow case. It managed to pick up dirt, channeling it into the pillow case and away from the air he breathed.
Spangler received a patent for his “suction sweeper,” but did not have the funds to market it. He contacted William Henry Hoover, a family acquaintance and a leather-goods entrepreneur, who saw the potential of the machine. Hoover bought the patent, retained Spangler as factory superintendent, and built a company that would become the leader in floor care and a name recognized around the world.
Even early on, The Hoover Company was a leader in its industry with a series of developments in-house, including the spiral beater bar that gently tapped the carpet to loosen dirt so that the dirt could be swept away by the suction of the machine.
