Howard Snyder: The man who put Maytag on top

In most of the histories written on the Maytag Corporation, founder F.L. Maytag is credited with many of the innovations in the washing machine that made the company a powerhouse in its field. But recent research done by local historian Tom Hoover indicates that F.L. Maytag may better be described as a shrewd businessman who knew a genius engineer and an innate innovator when he saw one.

Hoover believes that the real reason Maytag did not come to a much earlier demise than it did was due largely to one man in the company’s early history: Howard Snyder.

“F.L. was a visionary and a daring entrepreneur,” Hoover said. “He had a fetish for quality. He created a culture of quality, but it was Howard Snyder that saved the company several times. F.L. made millions of dollars and he gave away millions of dollars, but Maytag survived because of Howard Snyder.”

Snyder was not an engineer or college educated, but he had a knack for fixing things; he was a tinkerer. He had the ability to listen to his fellow employees and figure ways to make things better.

F.L. Maytag came to Newton in 1880 from his boyhood home near Laurel. He worked for McKinley-Bergman and a year later sold his share of the company and bought three area lumber yards. In 1893, he bought a one-quarter share in the Parsons Band Feeder Co. that made attachments for threshing machines. For the next three years, the company struggled with a recession and a series of wet growing seasons. At that time, Skow Manufacturing Co. in Newton also was making feeder attachments for threshing machines, and they were working just fine.

In 1896, F.L. took a trip to Austin, Minn., to investigate Parson’s self-feeders, manufactured by Skow. It was there he met Howard Snyder. Snyder was making adjustments to the company’s feeder attachments. F.L. hired Snyder on the spot. He came to Newton in 1896 and became a salesman. F.L. felt that all salesmen should be like Snyder: to be able to sell and to understand how the product works as well.

The two men began to travel together and became good friends. In 1904, they traveled to Halstead, Kan., to view the Ruth Self-Feeder Co., which at that time was out-selling Parsons’ products. Snyder talked F.L. into buying the company for $80,000.

The following year, Snyder invented the Success Corn Husker and Shredder. The machine came with a warranty, and during the 14 years the company built them, the warranty was never used.

But by 1904, F.L. began to invest heavily in the South Dakota Central Railroad, a short-line route from Sioux Falls to Watertown. Although there were initially 10 investors, F.L. eventually became the sole investor for nearly 10 years. He was in deep debt by 1914, having lost about $200,000 in the railroad.

To compound the debt, in 1909 F.L. purchased the Mason Auto Company, based in Des Moines. The luxury cars were designed by the Dusenburg brothers and sold for $1,250 up to $1,700. But the company struggled, and after production was moved to Waterloo, F.L. sold the company back to Mason, losing several hundred thousand dollars on that venture.

Other questionable investments made by F.L. included the Iowa Mausoleum Company and the Citizens State Bank. F.L. was putting the company in jeopardy.

In 1907, F.L. was convinced to get into the washing machine business, although the One-Minute Washer Co. and the Automatic Washer had beaten Maytag into the industry in Newton. But the idea that the product could be sold year-round was enticing. F.L. had bought out the Bergman brothers and in 1909 bought out Parsons as well, creating the Maytag Company for the production of washing machines.

So the Pastime Washer was introduced, with Howard Snyder having a major role in its development.

“They were nothing more than mechanized washboards,” Hoover said.

But Snyder invented a corrugated tub made of cyprus wood. Then, the Hired Girl, another Snyder product, was put on the market. It boasted an improved agitator, basically a three-pronged “milking stool” design built into the lid to agitate the clothes.

“Snyder introduced the idea of continuous improvement,” Hoover said. “There was quality, yet simplicity, and it was important that the product looked good as well.”

In 1912, electricity was added to the washing machine, another Snyder innovation.

While on a trip to Chicago, F.L. was introduced to the Elgin Motor, in both one-half and one horsepower sizes. He bought one and brought it back to Snyder, seeing the potential of adding literally thousands of rural customers to the ranks. Snyder began tinkering and converted the 4-stage motors to the much more efficient 2-stage, the forerunner of today’s lawn mower motors. F.L. eventually bought Elgin Motor Co. and brought them to Newton, creating the Multi-Motor.

Also that year, Snyder put his mind to creating an aluminum washtub. Up to that time, tubs were made of wood, and it was believed that a seamless aluminum tub was impossible. Maytag Co. had a foundry at that time, and they set to work to make a seamless tub.

The Model 70, with a seamless aluminum tub, was introduced in 1919. The previous year, a cabinet washer was introduced, which created a tumbling action for the clothes, another Snyder innovation. The cabinet washer had a design flaw, however, and could be easily overloaded.

By the time the Model 70 hit the market, the Maytag Co. was in dire straits. They were having problems with the Multi-Motor, World War I was under way and Maytag was not a wartime company, so they were experiencing shortages. Production began to fall off and employees had to be laid off. In addition, the cabinet washer had been overproduced, and F.L. Maytag was close to bankruptcy. L.B. Maytag, F.L. Maytag’s son, assumed company presidency in 1920, and he asked Snyder to come up with a total redesign on the washing machine.

What Snyder came up with, the Model 72, also known as the Gyrofoam Washer, ultimately saved the company.

Hoover admits this story might be apocryphal, but the Model 70 had a “milking stool” type agitator in the lid, and one day the agitator fell off and landed with legs up at the bottom of the tub. Snyder saw this and realized that the agitator should be in the bottom rather than at the top. The change would force water through the clothes rather than whipping them on the corrugated sides. This was a major change in clothes-washing technology. The Model 80 was introduced in 1922, which featured the agitator at the bottom of the tub. A later model fixed a post problem that caused leakages.

In 1922, Maytag was only the fourth largest washing machine company in Newton. By 1926, it was a world sales leader.

By 1925, Howard Snyder had contracted multiple sclerosis and became homebound. He died in 1927, at the age of 57. Snyder’s funeral included a mass procession of Maytag employees that extended for a half-mile, led by the Newton Municipal Band playing the West Lawn Dirge. He was buried alongside his wife in Austin, Minn.

Hoover feels that Howard Snyder was very nearly lost to history simply because of the kind of man he was.

“Snyder was very humble. He never sought the limelight,” Hoover said. “He had a tremendous sense of humor, and he was a good listener. He was beloved by the salesmen and the men on the shop floor. To them, he was just one of the guys.”

Hoover said he feels he has nearly enough to write a book about Snyder but is missing original source material dealing with his relationship with F.L. Maytag. He hopes that someone has some kind of documentation, either letters, journals or internal memos that will shed more light on the lives of the two men so responsible for Maytag Company’s successes and failures. The majority of the Maytag corporate documents went to Whirlpool when it bought out Maytag, and Hoover said that Whirlpool is not granting him access to the material.

F.L. Maytag built the Maytag Hotel in 1926. The Salvation Army Citadel, Skiff Hospital and the Newton YMCA all were recipients of F.L. Maytag’s philanthropy. Much of that financial support would not have been possible, Hoover believes, had Howard Snyder not played the integral part he did in the early days of Maytag Co.

Anyone who has information or documents about Howard Snyder and his relationship with F.L. Maytag can contact Tom Hoover at (641) 791-0398.

John Jennings can be contacted at (641) 792-3121, extension 425, or by email at jjennings@newtondailynews.com.