Agitator

The electric agitator washer by the Beatty Bros. Ltd., Fergus, Ontario, c. 1927 (770307).

By the mid-1920s, the agitator began its ascension as the preferred agitation technique. Building on the design and placement of the dolly, a bakelite agitator (driven by a motor placed beneath the tub) moved clothes about in the tub aided by its curved fins or "wings". The back and forth action of the agitator reduced the tendency of clothes to tangle into a clump.

The electric agitator washer by the Beatty Bros. Ltd., Fergus, Ontario, c. 1927 (770307).

In Canada, the Beatty Brothers Ltd. of Fergus, Ontario, pioneered the use of the agitator in 1927 (770307). The use of the agitator in their vertically oriented tinned or nickel-plated copper washers permitted a greater depth of water and therefore had a greater load capacity than other machines of their day.

Visit The Wellington County Museum & Archives website for more information relating to the history of Beatty Bros. Ltd. (external link)