A Brief History of Family Gassman Appliance
Our story begins in the little town of Paris, Ohio in the 1950s, when Willis Gassman did Appliance, Electrical and Water pump service. His son Wayne worked on jobs with him from the time he was in grade school. In 1979, after college and meeting his beautiful wife Janet, Wayne Gassman moved with his family to Lansing, Michigan and started Gassman Appliance as sole proprietor. They moved to Boring, Oregon in 1986, bringing the family business along.
Advertising with only the Nickel Ads, business got off to a quick start, covering the entire Portland area from Hillsboro to Mt Hood. As time and business progressed & traffic got heavier, the service area narrowed down to the East side & less populated areas.
Gassman Appliance formed an LLC in the mid 2000s and its first employee was hired in 2007. In 2020, Octavio Orozco began as an employee, and in 2022, he purchased both Family Appliance and Gassman Appliance, merging the two companies together at the former DeWitt Appliance & Jim Phillips Appliance Repair location.
Wayne is still a part of the business and is excited to watch Octavio continue to grow it!
Speed Queen Wringer Washers 1956, 1957 models:
These washers lived in a nursing home near Louisville Ohio, and worked 8 to 10 hours a day, 7 days a week for about a year, with only wringer repairs (from wear & heavy use).
The owner said, “anything that lasts more than a month here is a good one!”
- With hot water & homemade lye soap
- Agitate, then wring into next washer
- Agitate, then wring into ‘spinner’
- ‘Spinner’ is the old Bendix washer
- Hang clothes on the line outside.
- In below freezing weather, the clothes ‘freeze dry’ stiff on the line
Lois Gassman
The original Gassman Appliance in Paris, Ohio – Circa 1980.
Willis Gassman
Wringing cloth through the wringers.
The Speed Queen Automatic washer (far right) was passed down in the family and retired in 2015 when a new AWN432 replaced it.
The 1979 Speed Queen washer in the background, was passed down in the family, A daughter used it until it was replaced with a new Speed Queen pair in 2015.
(The rest of the story: It is still being used today by a granddaughter and great grandchildren.)