American manufacturer and distributor of household items
Rubbermaid
is an American manufacturer and distributor of household items. A subsidiary of
Newell Brands
, it is best known for producing
food storage containers
and
trash cans
. It also produces
sheds
,
step stools
, closets and shelving,
laundry baskets
, bins,
air fresheners
and other household items.
[1]
[2]
History
[
edit
]
Rubbermaid was founded in 1920
[3]
in
Wooster, Ohio
as the Wooster Rubber Company by nine businessmen. Originally, Wooster Rubber Company manufactured toy balloons.
[4]
In 1933, James R. Caldwell and his wife received a patent for their blue rubber
dustpan
. They called their line of rubber kitchen products Rubbermaid.
[5]
In 1934 Horatio Ebert saw Rubbermaid products at a New England department store, and believed such products could help his struggling Wooster Rubber. He engineered a merger of the two enterprises in July 1934. Still named the Wooster Company, the new group began to produce rubber household products under the Rubbermaid brand name.
In 1984, Rubbermaid acquired
Little Tikes
, a toy maker. In 1985, Rubbermaid acquired competitor Gott Corporation.
[6]
In 1996, Rubbermaid acquired
Graco
baby products.
[7]
In 1999, Rubbermaid was purchased by Newell for $6 billion. Then Newell changed its name to Newell Rubbermaid.
[8]
Newell Rubbermaid changed its name again to the present-day
Newell Brands
in 2016 as part of a takeover of
Jarden
in another merger.
In 2003, the company announced its move out of Wooster to Atlanta, Georgia; 850 manufacturing and warehouse jobs would be eliminated, and 409 office jobs would move to other locations. A Rubbermaid distribution center remained at the former headquarters for some time, until it was recently purchased by GOJO Industries, Inc.
[9]
On November 16, 2004, Rubbermaid was used as a prime example in the
PBS
Frontline
documentary "Is Walmart Good for America?"
[10]
Timeline
[
edit
]
- 1920 Wooster Rubber is launched.
- 1927 Horatio Ebert and Errett Grable took over managing the company from the original 9 founders.
[11]
- 1933 Rubbermaid is launched.
- 1933 First Rubbermaid dustpan is introduced.
- 1934 Wooster Rubber and Rubbermaid merge to form Wooster Rubber Company and sell Rubbermaid products.
- 1942 WW2 eliminated Rubbermaid's housewares business, but the company was able to convert to military manufacturing.
- 1947 Rubbermaid introduces a line of rubber automotive accessories.
- 1955 Wooster Rubber Co. offer first public offering.
- 1956 Rubbermaid ventures into
plastic
products.
- 1957 Wooster Rubber Company changes name to Rubbermaid.
- 1965 Purchases German company Dupol.
- 1976 1,100 members of the United Rubber Workers union call a strike.
- 1981 Purchases Con-Tact plastic coverings.
- 1984 Acquires the Little Tikes Company.
- 1999 Newell acquires Rubbermaid for $6 billion and changes corporate name to Newell Rubbermaid.
- 2003 Rubbermaid headquarters move from Wooster, Ohio to Atlanta, GA.
- 2016 Newell Rubbermaid becomes Newell Brands as part of a takeover of Jarden in a merger.
- 2017 Newell sells the Rubbermaid totes line to United Solutions.
[12]
Former Rubbermaid CEOs
[
edit
]
Companies acquired by Rubbermaid
[
edit
]
Prior to Rubbermaid merging with
Newell Company
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Homepage"
. Rubbermaid
. Retrieved
October 29,
2010
.
- ^
"Rubbermaid Air Care Dispensers and Refills"
. UK: Rubbermaid Products (Supplied by Soho Consulting)
. Retrieved
December 19,
2019
.
- ^
"Rubbermaid Inc Facts, information, pictures"
.
Encyclopedia.com
. 2006
. Retrieved
April 30,
2016
.
- ^
Katom.
"Rubbermaid Company History"
. Retrieved
November 23,
2014
.
- ^
Gentry, Erin (July 14, 2009).
"Rubbermaid History"
. Rubbermaid Blog. Archived from
the original
on July 15, 2011
. Retrieved
December 19,
2018
.
- ^
"Rubbermaid-Gott"
.
The New York Times
. Reuters. September 12, 1985.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
January 31,
2020
.
- ^
"Rubbermaid Buys Graco For $320 Million | The Spokesman-Review"
. Retrieved
January 31,
2020
.
- ^
Katom.
"Rubbermaid Company History"
. Retrieved
November 23,
2014
.
- ^
Cimperman, Jennifer Scott (March 9, 2005).
"Rubbermaid's gone, but Wooster is still standing"
.
The Plain Dealer
. Cleveland. Archived from
the original
on July 8, 2011
. Retrieved
February 22,
2011
.
- ^
"
Is Walmart Good for America?
"
Frontline
, Season 23, Episode 4.
PBS
. November 16, 2004.
- ^
Katom.
"Rubbermaid Company History"
. Retrieved
November 23,
2014
.
- ^
"United Solutions buys $70M Rubbermaid storage business"
.
Worcester Business Journal
. Retrieved
November 25,
2018
.
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Brands
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1
formerly, "Sanford L.P."
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