Musings of a Local by Iris Mead - REMEMBER THE MAYTAG MAN? A Personal Story

I do, as my father was one, for 35 years! His name was Stanley C. Mead and was the Maytag and Whirlpool representative and only washer repairman in the Margaretville, Roxbury, Fleischmanns and beyond area for all that time. Working from a small red barn in Halcottsville behind our house, he repaired all brands of washers and dryers. I remember the barn having many washers sitting around, some used ones for sale, some waiting to be repaired and re-sold and some junkers behind the barn for parts. Of course, there was one or two brand-new ones to show potential customers what was available. In no way was it a “showroom”. As part of the barn, an inside room held a long workbench, many shelves lined with tools and parts,

and I always remember the big vise he had on the bench. Stan could fix anything or make a part to fix anything. Also in the red barn were cubbyholes where he kept stock for the Hinman milking machines that he also sold. Farms were still plentiful in this area at the time.

Since he traveled many miles around the area, I liked to ride with him occasionally, especially when he had to repair the machines at the big hotels, like the Takanassee and the Grand Hotel, which was built partly in Delaware County and partly in Ulster County. It was exciting to drive up to these big hotels with many guests around and wish I could stay there. The laundry rooms were not that exciting, hot and crowded, and then there were the big ironing machines, called ??, that had large round rollers that ironed sheets and pillowcases quickly and more efficiently than by hand. Dad was always welcomed both there and by housewives because when the washer was broken dirty clothes piled up. House calls were around $15-$25 depending on mileage and extent of the repairs needed and not always paid at the time of the call.

Stan went to work as a young man with his uncle, Demas Mead, who was then the local washer repairman, and coincidently had a repair shop on Swart Street in Margaretville, the street that Stan was living on when he died in 1981. My father worked on washing machines when they were run on gasoline, through wringer washers with round tubs, sometimes having to remove a finger or two from the wringers, and then to the automatic washer we know today. He would order his merchandise from a distributor in Binghamton and they would be delivered by truck to the red barn.

After he retired, I wrote to the Maytag Company in Ames, Iowa, which made the best cheese, by the way, and told them about my father and his years of selling Maytag’s. He received a certificate but no cheese. There are still people in the area who remember Stan Mead and the service he provided for 35 years and the Maytag’s that lasted years, it was the Whirlpools that broke down.