The Maytag Corporation manufactures home appliances, most well known for its washing machines, also produces dryers, dishwashers, cooktops, refrigerators, and ranges. Claire G. Ely (1905-2004) was an employee of the Maytag company for forty one years. He worked for the Kansas City Branch and then was transferred to Newton, Iowa upon his promotion in 1952 to Manager of Product and Market Planning, eventually becoming Vice President of Marketing. This collection consists of materials collected or created by Clare G. Ely and includes biographical information about the Maytag family, historical information about the Maytag company, and documents the career of Ely from Branch Manager to Vice President. The collection includes press releases, newsletters, bulletins, newspaper clippings, correspondence, reports, pamphlets, photographs, and certificates.

The Maytag Corporation manufactures home appliances. It is most well known for its washing machines, but also produces dryers, dishwashers, cooktops, refrigerators, and ranges. Downer P. Dykes (1927-2014) was an industrial designer for the Maytag Corporation from 1953 until approximately 1960. He spent the majority of his career as a professor of industrial design at Kansas University from around 1960 to 1988, and was chairman and head of the industrial design department. This small collection of Maytag washing machine and dryer designs includes mechanical experimental drawings and pencil drawings by Dykes, primarily of various smaller parts of the machines, although some show the overall machine structure and design.

Items with a specific and limited use, created with the intention of being discarded after serving their purpose, are called ephemera. This collection consists of mixed-format ephemera from various endeavors within American culture, primarily the manufacturing and selling of products or services.