1,069
edits
History of the Constructa brand: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 6: | Line 6: | ||
The situation was quiet in terms of developments on the washing machine market in Germany until the post-war era. If machines were used at all for washing, they were usually still semi-automatic wringer washers. Development was slightly more advanced at this time in the U.S.<ref>See Constructa Werke GmbH, 1965 in: Document collection folder (general) 1951-1958 Constructa, company history, BSH Corporate Archives, page 7.</ref>, with Bendix Home Appliances developing the world's first automatic washing machine there in 1937. There was a round glass door on the front for loading the appliance<ref>See "Here's how I do my week's wash now, Thanks to Bendix! (advert) in Life, November 22, 1937, page 131.</ref> – the porthole as it was known and which later became the trademark of Constructa.<ref>See inform, magazine for employees of Bosch-Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH, 1996/2, page 26.</ref> The Bendix washing machine already had practically all of the features of a modern washing machine, through there was no built-in option to heat the water, which is why a hot water connection was needed.<ref>See inform, 82/4, page 14.</ref> | The situation was quiet in terms of developments on the washing machine market in Germany until the post-war era. If machines were used at all for washing, they were usually still semi-automatic wringer washers. Development was slightly more advanced at this time in the U.S.<ref>See Constructa Werke GmbH, 1965 in: Document collection folder (general) 1951-1958 Constructa, company history, BSH Corporate Archives, page 7.</ref>, with Bendix Home Appliances developing the world's first automatic washing machine there in 1937. There was a round glass door on the front for loading the appliance<ref>See "Here's how I do my week's wash now, Thanks to Bendix! (advert) in Life, November 22, 1937, page 131.</ref> – the porthole as it was known and which later became the trademark of Constructa.<ref>See inform, magazine for employees of Bosch-Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH, 1996/2, page 26.</ref> The Bendix washing machine already had practically all of the features of a modern washing machine, through there was no built-in option to heat the water, which is why a hot water connection was needed.<ref>See inform, 82/4, page 14.</ref> | ||
The first model of a comparable washing machine was developed in Germany by Peter Pfenningsberg from the town of Mettmann. He produced the first German washing machines in small numbers in his home town from around the end of the 1940s.<ref>See Hans Josef Hadeler: Erinnerungen- und die ersten automatischen Waschmaschinen, in: Die Quecke, Ratinger und Angerländer Heimatblätter, 68 (1998), pages 166-167, page 166 here. Or in Düsseldorf? Accounts vary.</ref> The Düsseldorf-based entrepreneur Heinrich Reining recognized the potential and invested in the idea. The company Peter Pfenningsberg Maschinenbau GmbH<ref>See Michael Lumer: Constructa, die Geschichte einer deutschen Waschmaschinen-Marke, Vor 40 Jahren verlegte Constructa seine Fertigung nach Lintorf, in: Die Quecke, Ratinger und Angerländer Heimatblätter, 68 (1998), page 168-191, page 169 here.</ref> was founded in 1951 in Düsseldorf. Pfenningsberg soon succeeded in developing his washing machine so that it no longer required a hot water connection. Apart from the "Pfenningsberg Universal" washing machine for commercial use, Pfenningsberg also presented an unnamed "fully automatic washing machine for the modern home" at the Constructa trade fair in Hanover. At a price of 2,280 deutschmarks, the machine was prohibitively expensive for the average household (the average monthly income at the time was around 500 deutschmarks) and had to be screwed down to a concrete base with four strong screws so that it didn't "walk" around the room when spinning. The machine got its name from the trade fair in Hanover and was exhibited under the name "Pfenningsberg's CONSTRUCTA" at the spring fair in Cologne in 1952.<ref>Constructa Werke GmbH, 1965 in: Document collection folder (general) 1951-1958 Constructa, company history, BSH Corporate Archives, page 7.</ref> | The first model of a comparable washing machine was developed in Germany by Peter Pfenningsberg from the town of Mettmann. He produced the first German washing machines in small numbers in his home town from around the end of the 1940s.<ref>See Hans Josef Hadeler: Erinnerungen- und die ersten automatischen Waschmaschinen, in: Die Quecke, Ratinger und Angerländer Heimatblätter, 68 (1998), pages 166-167, page 166 here. Or in Düsseldorf? Accounts vary.</ref> The Düsseldorf-based entrepreneur Heinrich Reining recognized the potential and invested in the idea. The company Peter Pfenningsberg Maschinenbau GmbH<ref>See Michael Lumer: Constructa, die Geschichte einer deutschen Waschmaschinen-Marke, Vor 40 Jahren verlegte Constructa seine Fertigung nach Lintorf, in: Die Quecke, Ratinger und Angerländer Heimatblätter, 68 (1998), page 168-191, page 169 here.</ref> was founded in 1951 in Düsseldorf. Pfenningsberg soon succeeded in developing his washing machine so that it no longer required a hot water connection. Apart from the "Pfenningsberg Universal" washing machine for commercial use, Pfenningsberg also presented an unnamed [[The Constructa fully automatic washing machine|"fully automatic washing machine for the modern home"]] at the Constructa trade fair in Hanover. At a price of 2,280 deutschmarks, the machine was prohibitively expensive for the average household (the average monthly income at the time was around 500 deutschmarks) and had to be screwed down to a concrete base with four strong screws so that it didn't "walk" around the room when spinning. The machine got its name from the trade fair in Hanover and was exhibited under the name "Pfenningsberg's CONSTRUCTA" at the spring fair in Cologne in 1952.<ref>Constructa Werke GmbH, 1965 in: Document collection folder (general) 1951-1958 Constructa, company history, BSH Corporate Archives, page 7.</ref> | ||
===== Upturn ===== | ===== Upturn ===== | ||