The Ettore Products Company is an Oakland based, family-owned and operated cleaning supply manufacturing company begun in 1936 by Ettore Steccone, an Italian immigrant. Today the company manufactures 80% of the world's squeegees.
Steccone arrived in the United States in 1922, where he worked hard supporting his family washing windows. The tools of his trade were heavy and awkward, so Steccone designed a better squeegee, which he patented and named the New Deal.
After years attempting to gain acceptance of his invention, it wasn't until the early 1950 that Steccone and his five employees moved out of his garage, finally relocating into a factory building.
His invention revolutionized the window cleaning profession, and today is the best selling squeegee in the world, with annual revenue of $50 million.
Ettore Steconne was 87 years old when he passed away in 1984.
As of 2005, over 60% of the squeegees produced by Ettore Products are constructed by the 80 employees in the Oakland factory, producing 150,000 squeegees a month.
Additional Links
- Meet Ettore Steccone Ettore official website
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Squeegee capital / Oakland's Ettore a giant in the field SFGate
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Friday, January 23, 2004 Ettore Steccone: Inventor of Modern Squeegee The Annotico Report
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California's Gold #5002 - SQUEEGEE California's Gold