C. Ryan Barr
The Vacuum Cleaner
The electric vacuum
cleaner is one of the single greatest appliances invented for the common
housewife. It allowed for more time relaxing and less time cleaning, "no more
shaking of small scatter rugs out the window, no more beating of carpets and
rugs in the backyard during those long-gone annual spring cleanings."1 However, the invention of the vacuum
cleaner did not happen over night, there were a number of inventors attempting
to construct this machine for many years.
The electric vacuum cleaner has evolved tremendously since the
invention of the common "corn tuft" (raw material used on the end of the
brooms) house broom. The mass production of the house broom was the initial
"spark" that started the evolution of the vacuum cleaner. "The first factory
for the manufacture of brooms from corn was founded in 1857 by Edenexer Howard
in 1884."2 A market soon appeared for the
manufacturing of brooms which became dominated by The Amsterdam Broom Company,
founded by Julius Wasserman. Wasserman’s company made an extensive line of all
types of brooms including their famous "Gold Bond" broom. Amsterdam described
the production of this broom as "utilizing the best quality corn and allowing
only hand-picked operators to work on its construction."3 To complement the brooms, dustpans also became
mass produced in the early to mid 1800s. These companies didn’t last long with
the invention of the carpet sweeper and the vacuum cleaner entering the
consumer market.
At the same time as the broom companies emerged numerous competitors began
to produce the carpet sweeper. With the idea being relatively
new, and bad reviews by the public, along with the war, the carpet sweeper
didn’t catch on until the mid 1800s. By this time many companies were involved
in production, assigning distinct names to their sweepers like "Weed," "Boston,"
"Welcome," "Whirlwind," and "Lady’s Friend." The idea behind the names if these
sweepers was to grab the consumers eye, to make the housewife believe that it
would make her a "superior mother, and a better housewife."4 Carpet sweepers were a helpful invention for the
housewife but they still did not perform well enough to satisfy the fatigued
housewife.
The need for more assistance in the everyday chores of the housewife
prompted inventors to produce a more efficient means of cleaning
cumbersome dust and dirt. Inventors like Corrine Dufour, and David Kenney were
quick to notice the opportunity and steadily tried to improve the carpet
sweeper. Corrine Dufour invented an Electric Sweeper and Dust Gatherer which
consisted of two electrically rotating brushes, a suction, and a damp sponge
used to collect the dirt. This invention was ineffective and wasn’t very
successful. David Kenney is considered as one of the true inventors of the
vacuum cleaner (it is unsure who actually invented the first vacuum) he was the
first to patent his vacuum cleaner invention. This vacuum Kenney developed
was simply "an advanced development of the mechanical broom (carpet sweeper)."5 However, the first vacuum cleaners produced
were large and heavy, due to the lack of technology in developing the motors.
This meant that women were unable to effectively operate the vacuums without the
help of a man to move the large contraption. "It would be several years before
a reasonably powerful, lightweight fractional horsepower electric motor was
developed."6 With this in mind many companies
produced central vacuum systems with a large unit in the basement and suction
tubes dispersed threw the walls of the house in every room.
As technology grew companies began producing lightweight effective vacuum
cleaners for the market. Among these companies were Hoover
(which is one of the models displayed in the Greenbelt Museum), Eureka, and Regina. Most sales of the vacuum cleaners were
provided by
door-to-door salesmen, or by larger corporate salesmen until the late 1940s.
This is mainly because of its cost and fact that the vacuum was a
relatively new concept. In the 1944 Sears catalog the vacuum cleaner was
present in the index section but "no picture was available because of the
lack of sales of the item."7
(Picture on the left displays two man powered vacuum cleaners with an
outlet for a "central vacuum system" on the wall.)
Those who were fortunate enough to own a vacuum cleaner, "life was just
that much easier."8 Just as Mrs. Wilson
described, the vacuum made life much easier for the common housewife in the
1940s. Mrs. Wilson was and original resident of the Greenbelt community in
the 1940s. She had one child and stayed in the same type of house as the
Greenbelt museum. Her chores were very tedious when compared to that of the
modern wife. With the invention of the vacuum cleaner Mrs. Wilson said she
had more time to spend in the kitchen, cooking. With the lack of electrical
appliances n the kitchen it is obvious that cooking was very time consuming.
Sean
explains in
his analysis of the common meat grinder in the Greenbelt museum, that there
was much effort involved in making chopped meat products. He explains that
people were able to buy chopped meat but it cost more than a solid strip of
beef. And with most people of that time period having limited funds wives
were expected to put-forth that extra effort to save money. The vacuum
cleaner allowed for a less amount of time cleaning and more time relaxing.
And considering the large cleaning tasks the wives had to perform daily, every
extra minute counted. The majority of women (especially in the Greenbelt
community, where the mothers had to stay home with their children) spent their
days cleaning and cooking. Their chores were much like that of this 29-year
old
Trenton woman explains: "I get up and do the dishes and make the beds and sweep
the floors. I scrub the kitchen once a day, wash and iron, and then towards the
evening I get dinner." 9 Mrs. Trenton was a
common housewife of the 1940s. She didn’t live in the Greenbelt community
but the lifestyle of the housewife during the 1940s was much the same no
matter what community you lived in. This short description describes how
tedious a housewives everyday chores were during the depression and war. Many
women from the Greenbelt community performed the same tasks. The vacuum cleaner
just enabled them to finish some of these chores more quickly. This would allow
the wife’s some extra time to socialize with their neighbors,read a book, or
listen to the radio. The vacuum was
only one of many innovative appliances that made life easier for the restless
housewife. Other household inventions like the electric
stove, also made life much easier for the Greenbelt housewife, as explained
by Lisa Estrada. The invention of the electric stove was another
appliance that helped wives tremendously in their everyday chores.
As Lisa Estrada states "It has been said that it might take four
women from dawn until mid-afternoon to prepare breakfast and dinner
for ten people." If it weren’t for electric stoves it could take one
woman all day to cook for four people. That would leave no time for
cleaning, shopping, and no time for relaxing. All-in-all,
life during the 18th century wasn’t at all easy for the common housewife.
However, the invention of the vacuum, electric stove, iron, and other household
appliances was a large step in the evolution of the housewife. Mrs. Wilson
summed it up well when she said "it just made our life much easier."10
Return To
Project Home Page
Bibliography
Return To My Homepage