Axel Wenner-Gren (1881-1961) was one of Sweden's great entrepreneurs. He created a company that almost from day one was a global success. He turned the vacuum cleaner and the fridge into products that every household could afford, which revolutionized every day life, not the least for women.
The book "Shape living for the better: The First 100 years of Electrolux" (Business History Publishing, 2019) is written by business journalist and historian Ronald Fagerfjäll. It begins with the early life and successes of Axel Wenner-Gren. He made his fortune with Electrolux and became one of Sweden's richest people, living a life of grandeur, working on various (more or less imaginative) business project, all the while donating money to research.
After Wenner-Gren's departure from the company in the 1950s, Electrolux continued to provide homes with new innovations in smart design. Iconic products were the vacuum cleaner "The Loaf", the bench dish washer "Round Can", the chargeable vacuum cleaner Ergorapido and the world's first robotic vacuum cleaner Trilobite. By the end of the 1980s, Electrolux had become the world's largest white goods manufacturer, after the new leadership under Hans Werthén acquired several competitors.
About the book
When working on the book, author Ronald Fagerfjäll have had access to Electrolux large corporate archive at the Center for Business History in Stockholm. The archive does not only hold unique and long-forgotten documents, but thousands of images and photos. The book contains about 300 images from the company’s centennial, many previously unpublished.
Shape living for the better: The first 100 years of Electrolux is printed in a hard-cover English version, published 21 January 2019. A Swedish version of the book has been published in pdf for download. A shorter version of the Swedish and English book is available as audio book.
Project team
The book’s project team at Business History Publishing (owned by the Center for Business History) was:
- Editor: Karin Jansson Myhr
- Image editor: Martin Månson
- Publishing assistant: Mikaela Nordin
- Project manager: Jenny Bergman
- Project manager at Electrolux: Paul Palmstedt
- Art direction and form: Johan M Sandell/Devocy
- Cover illustrations: Kajsa Eldsten
- Print: Åtta45 Järfälla, Stockholm
