Speed Queen

Speed Queen is a laundry machine manufacturer headquartered in Ripon, Wisconsin, USA. Speed Queen is a subsidiary of Alliance Laundry Systems LLC, which bills itself as the world's largest manufacturer of commercial laundry equipment. It makes a large variety of residential and commercial products, from 25-pound-capacity tumblers to 250-pound washer-extractors, as well as dryers. Its commercial machines are a popular brand for laundromats, apartment buildings, and hotels.

History

The company was founded in 1908 by Joe Barlow and John Seelig as Barlow & Seelig Manufacturing. They got their start by taking existing machine designs and improving them. In 1922, Speed Queen was the first company to introduce washers with nickel-copper tubs. The brand name "Speed Queen" was created in 1928. During World War II, it switched production to support the war effort, manufacturing 20 mm shells, and parts for airplanes, tanks and guns. Later, it was sold to McGraw-Edison Company (which also owned Eskimo fans and Toastmaster), and then to Raytheon. In 1998, Raytheon Commercial Laundry, owners of the Speed Queen brand, was sold to Alliance Laundry Systems.

Speed Queen (disambiguation)

Speed Queen can refer to:

Glastex

The Glastex Company, founded in Tinley Park, Illinois, produced a range of fiberglass products including fiberglass fibers for industrial use. Beginning in 1953, Glastex began to manufacture fiberglass boats, making it one of the earliest builders of molded fiberglass boats in the United States. From 1953 to 1962, Glastex built "Speed Queen" boats.

Glastex Company president and founder, William J. Horvath, expanded the company to a 47,000-square-foot (4,400 m²) facility in Monmouth, Illinois after an early-1958 zoning dispute regarding manufacturing use of the 7-acre (28,000 m²) property and the 9,000-square-foot (840 m²) building located there. In 1958, Glastex employed twenty-two people and produced on average six boats a day before expanding to Monmouth later that year. Felt Enterprises bought the Glastex Company in 1961. The Monmouth, Illinois facility began building Sea Star Boats in 1968 and continued until 1981. Reorganized in 1982, Felt Enterprises built Mach I Boats until 1991. In 1993, the company was reorganized again and was known as Envision Boats, Inc. which operated until 2009.