Roto-Rooter
Encyclopedia
Roto-Rooter is a United States
company which originally specialized in clearing tree roots and other obstructions from sewer
lines.
In the late 1920s, Samuel Oscar Blanc (1883–1964) was motivated by a stubborn clogged drain in his son's (Milton L. Blanc) Des Moines, Iowa
apartment to seek a better solution.
By 1933, Milton & Samuel Blanc had fashioned a sewer-cleaning machine from a washing machine
motor
, roller skate wheels and a 3/8" steel
cable. The cable rotated sharp blades to cut tree roots out of sewer lines, eliminating the tedious and expensive need to dig. Blanc's wife, Lettie (née Lettie Jensen), called his invention
, a heavy-duty plumber's snake
, the "Roto-Rooter."
By the mid-1930s, Blanc was selling "Roto-Rooter" machines for $250. Many who were eager for work in the midst of the Great Depression
started their own Roto-Rooter businesses throughout the upper Midwest, the Great Plains
and the Northeast
.
Roto-Rooter guaranteed results without having to dig up the lawn to reach underground sewer pipes.
In 1980, the Blanc family sold Roto-Rooter Corporation to Cincinnati-based Chemed Corporation. Chemed began purchasing some independent Roto-Rooter franchises and operating them as company-owned locations under the newly formed Roto-Rooter Services Company. Chemed sold off some of its holdings in Roto-Rooter in both 1984 and 1985, bringing its ownership stake to just below 60%, and launched a bid in 1996 to reacquire the 42% of shares that it had earlier sold off.
The Roto-Rooter was created in 1954 and has been one of the longest-running and best-remembered musical jingles in history:
The memorable bass voice in the commercial was that of Tom Fouts
, more widely known as Captain Stubby of Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers
.
Roto-Rooter is featured in the SyFy
show Ghost Hunters
as the two founders of TAPS
work for Roto-Rooter as plumbers in the company's Providence, Rhode Island
branch. There are segments featuring Jason Hawes
and Grant Wilson
working as plumbing technicians in their day jobs at Roto-Rooter in between paranormal investigations on the show.
In the 1980s, some Roto-Rooter franchise
s and company-owned locations began to offer around-the-clock service and general plumbing
repair for both residential and commercial
customers. Today, plumbing service represents approximately half of the company's business, while the other half is sewer and drain-cleaning work.
Roto-Rooter is a provider of plumbing and drain-cleaning services.
International franchise operations have been established in Canada
, Japan
, the Philippines
, Hong Kong
, Indonesia
, and Singapore
.
Roto-Rooter Corporation, based in West Des Moines, Iowa, maintains a manufacturing plant, which produces Roto-Rooter tools and machinery for the plumbing and drain-cleaning industry. The company also produces two lines of commercial drain-care products.
2005 marked the company's 70th anniversary.
Employees of Roto-Rooter are mostly non-union
. The CEO of Roto-Rooter Group is Spencer Lee. The CEO of Chemed Corporation, Roto-Rooter's parent company, is Kevin J. McNamara. The CFO of Chemed Corporation is David P. Williams. Charles Scavo is President of Roto-Rooter Corporation in West Des Moines. Rick Arquilla serves as President and COO of Roto-Rooter Services Company, based in Cincinnati, and appeared in an April, 2010 episode of the CBS reality show, "Undercover Boss
".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
company which originally specialized in clearing tree roots and other obstructions from sewer
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
lines.
History
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
apartment to seek a better solution.
By 1933, Milton & Samuel Blanc had fashioned a sewer-cleaning machine from a washing machine
Washing machine
A washing machine is a machine designed to wash laundry, such as clothing, towels and sheets...
motor
Electric motor
An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...
, roller skate wheels and a 3/8" steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
cable. The cable rotated sharp blades to cut tree roots out of sewer lines, eliminating the tedious and expensive need to dig. Blanc's wife, Lettie (née Lettie Jensen), called his invention
Invention
An invention is a novel composition, device, or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or idea, or it could be independently conceived, in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social...
, a heavy-duty plumber's snake
Plumber's snake
A plumber's snake, sometimes known as a "toilet jack" or "electric eel", is a flexible auger used to remove clogs in plumbing that cannot be loosened with a plunger....
, the "Roto-Rooter."
By the mid-1930s, Blanc was selling "Roto-Rooter" machines for $250. Many who were eager for work in the midst of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
started their own Roto-Rooter businesses throughout the upper Midwest, the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
and the Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
.
Roto-Rooter guaranteed results without having to dig up the lawn to reach underground sewer pipes.
In 1980, the Blanc family sold Roto-Rooter Corporation to Cincinnati-based Chemed Corporation. Chemed began purchasing some independent Roto-Rooter franchises and operating them as company-owned locations under the newly formed Roto-Rooter Services Company. Chemed sold off some of its holdings in Roto-Rooter in both 1984 and 1985, bringing its ownership stake to just below 60%, and launched a bid in 1996 to reacquire the 42% of shares that it had earlier sold off.
Advertising
At first, service vehicles bore the slogan: "Roto-Rooter's patented cutting blades slice through roots and cut them away...Razor-Kleen!"The Roto-Rooter was created in 1954 and has been one of the longest-running and best-remembered musical jingles in history:
"Call Roto-Rooter, that's the name, and away go troubles down the drain."
The memorable bass voice in the commercial was that of Tom Fouts
Tom Fouts
Tom C. Fouts was a midwestern farmer, author, and comedian. He was more popularly known as Captain Stubby. He was born in Carroll County, Indiana and grew up there as well. He is perhaps most well known for his Roto-Rooter ad...
, more widely known as Captain Stubby of Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers
Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers
Captain Stubby and the Buccaneers was a country-comedy band that performed largely in the Midwest United States from the late 1930s into the 1960s.-Members:...
.
Roto-Rooter is featured in the SyFy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
show Ghost Hunters
Ghost Hunters
Ghost Hunters is an American paranormal reality television series that premiered on October 6, 2004, on Syfy . The program features paranormal investigators Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson who investigate places that are reported to be haunted. The two originally worked as plumbers for Roto-Rooter as...
as the two founders of TAPS
The Atlantic Paranormal Society
The Atlantic Paranormal Society is an organization that investigates reported paranormal activity. Based in Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, TAPS was founded in 1990 by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. In 2004, the organization itself became the subject of Ghost Hunters, a popular weekly...
work for Roto-Rooter as plumbers in the company's Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
branch. There are segments featuring Jason Hawes
Jason Hawes
Jason Conrad Hawes is the founder of The Atlantic Paranormal Society , which is based in Warwick, Rhode Island. He is also one of the stars and co-producers of Syfy's Ghost Hunters, which is in its seventh season.-Family:He and his wife have five children - three girls and twin boys...
and Grant Wilson
Grant Wilson
Grant Steven Wilson is the co-founder of The Atlantic Paranormal Society , which is based in Warwick, Rhode Island. He is also one of the stars and co-producers of Syfy's Ghost Hunters, which has just been renewed for its seventh season.-Personal life:He and his wife Reanna have three sons...
working as plumbing technicians in their day jobs at Roto-Rooter in between paranormal investigations on the show.
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
s and company-owned locations began to offer around-the-clock service and general plumbing
Plumbing
Plumbing is the system of pipes and drains installed in a building for the distribution of potable drinking water and the removal of waterborne wastes, and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures in such systems. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping...
repair for both residential and commercial
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
customers. Today, plumbing service represents approximately half of the company's business, while the other half is sewer and drain-cleaning work.
Roto-Rooter is a provider of plumbing and drain-cleaning services.
International franchise operations have been established in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
Roto-Rooter Corporation, based in West Des Moines, Iowa, maintains a manufacturing plant, which produces Roto-Rooter tools and machinery for the plumbing and drain-cleaning industry. The company also produces two lines of commercial drain-care products.
2005 marked the company's 70th anniversary.
Employees of Roto-Rooter are mostly non-union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
. The CEO of Roto-Rooter Group is Spencer Lee. The CEO of Chemed Corporation, Roto-Rooter's parent company, is Kevin J. McNamara. The CFO of Chemed Corporation is David P. Williams. Charles Scavo is President of Roto-Rooter Corporation in West Des Moines. Rick Arquilla serves as President and COO of Roto-Rooter Services Company, based in Cincinnati, and appeared in an April, 2010 episode of the CBS reality show, "Undercover Boss
Undercover Boss
Undercover Boss is a television franchise series that has been released in multiple countries, originating in 2009 on the British Channel 4...
".