Ironing

"Ironing was usually done the day after washday. First the clothes had to be dampened by sprinkling with water, rolled and left to sit from one to 12 hours. Three to six irons, each rubbed with beeswax and wiped before each use, stayed hot on a piece of sheet iron set on a hearth free from cinder or ashes, and later on the stove. Every iron fresh from the fire had to be tried on a piece of paper or spare cloth to be sure that it would not scorch the cloth. Large articles were ironed on tables, covered with a woolen ironing blanket and then a linen or cotton ironing sheet. By 1894, Montgomery Ward offered three different folding ironing boards."

(Strasser, S. Never Done. New York: Pantheon Books, 1982. p.108).

The Introduction of Electricity

Because electricity was first used for lighting the home, most power companies, as late as 1905, turned on the generators at sunset and turned them off at daybreak. The family wishing to benefit from the new electrical appliances could not do so during the day. A meter reader from California, who was developing an electric iron, convinced the power companies to turn on the electric power for one 24-hour period on Tuesdays (ironing day). The experiment paid off and because of it, the plant gradually extended its hours of operation.

The electric iron was first patented in 1882 and first sold in the US in 1893. It relieved women of the hot work of continually heating heavy flat irons, although it was not until 1927 and the introduction of the thermostat that ironing became an easier chore. Irons were previously either "off " or "on" and the heat was controlled by unscrewing the iron from the light socket, or unplugging the cord from the iron. Most electric irons still weighed more than five pounds which made ironing fatiguing, hot work, as the heat from the soleplate radiated up the handle. In addition, the electric element was separated from the metal portions of the iron only by a thin sheet of mica resulting in the hazard of an electric shock. When the power cord twisted during use there was a tendency for the iron to short-circuit.

By 1920, a pressed metal construction made irons lighter and minimized the transfer of heat from the element to the user's hand. Manufacturers also introduced irons with a coiled wire collar mounted where the cord connected with the iron. This reduced the problem of short-circuits.

Fine Tuning the Iron

With the development of the thermostat, or bimetallic temperature control in the 1920s; high, medium and low temperature settings were introduced. Shortly thereafter the control unit was modified into a disk which could flex at any point. This allowed for an infinite variety of temperature settings. New materials reduced the weight of irons. Manufacturers introduced permanently attached cords, reinforced with rubber and often a coiled spring where the cord fastened to the iron. After 1940, the majority of changes in the clothes iron were related to convenience and special functions.

Saunders Pyrex Iron, circa 1943

Steam Irons

In the late 1930s, the modern steam iron was introduced to assist in removing wrinkles and to prevent scorching. Not until the late 1950s did General Electric develop an iron which could be used dry, for steam or to spray water. Steam irons had been used in commercial laundries since the early 1900s, however they were twice the size of a conventional iron and weighed one third more.

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Vacuum Cleaners

Prior to the introduction of "electric suction cleaners", most housewives used brooms and dust pans. Many of the mid-Victorian homes had large "Axminster" or "Turkish" carpets on the floors of principal rooms. In order to remove dirt, dust and animal dander from the nap of these floor coverings, the carpets were removed from the home and beaten with a device similar to an oversized fly swatter called a rug beater.

In the late 1870s, Melville Bissell began marketing his invention, a carpet sweeper with revolving brushes which picked up the dust and dirt and deposited it inside the sweeper housing. It depended on the rotation of the wheels to drive the sweeping mechanism and only removed debris from the uppermost regions of the carpet nap.

By the 1890s, wealthier households were using a semi-mechanized suction cleaning device in which the operator or an assistant pumped a set of bellows to create suction. In 1901, an English inventor, H. Cecil Booth, patented his suction cleaner. The first commercial vacuum cleaner was huge - the size of a modern refrigerator - with a pump, dust-collecting chamber and power unit. It had to be transported along London streets on a dolly and was used for offices, theatres and private homes. A long, flexible hose was brought into the home, often through a window.

The vacuum cleaner greatly improved sanitation and health. Tons of germ-laden dust were removed from theatre seats, home and shop floors. One of Booth's first assignments was to vacuum the vast expanse of blue carpet in Westminster Abbey for the 1901 coronation of Edward VII. During World War I, Booth hauled 15 of his machines to the Crystal Palace and for two weeks they sucked up the dirt from floors, walls, staircases and girders. Twenty-six truckloads of dust were carted away and buried. This helped eliminate a spotted fever epidemic which was beginning to take hold of naval reserve men who were living in the building.

Upright model vacuum cleaners introduced between 1910 and 1920, operated on two principles. One used a fan to suck dust and dirt into a Kenney patented "renovator" or nozzle where it passed to a cloth bag suspended vertically on the handle. The second, produced by the Hoover Suction Sweeper Company, used a fan combined with a rotating head which was intended to loosen dirt prior to its being sucked into the bag. In 1920, a vacuum cleaner cost about $50.00 and the attachments about $14.00. The majority of vacuums used in Canada at this time were manufactured in the United States.

After 1940, two distinct types of vacuum cleaners were made: the canister and the broomstick. Canister models relied on the suction of a high speed fan and were sold with a series of attachments. Broomstick models used the beater head technology.

The design and manufacture of vacuum cleaners was greatly affected by plastic which was both easily worked and light in weight. Plastic also supplanted other materials in the manufacture of vacuum cleaner wheels. By the 1960s, in some cases, only the motor and axles were made of metal, the remaining parts of the machine were a variety of plastics. The vacuum cleaner eliminated the dust and dirt where germs bred. Its use improved the health of the family.

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Washing Machines

For centuries, people on sea voyages washed their clothes by placing the dirty laundry in a strong cloth bag, and tossing it overboard, letting the ship drag the bag for hours. The principle was sound: forcing water through clothes to remove dirt. Catharine Beecher, an early advocate of bringing order and dignity to housework, called laundry "the American housekeeper's hardest problem". Women from all classes tried to find ways to get relief from doing laundry. Some hired washerwomen and others used commercial laundries. Eventually mechanical aids lightened the load.

"In the early days, without running water, gas, or electricity even the most simplified hand-laundry used staggering amounts of time and labour. One wash, one boiling and one rinse used about fifty gallons of water -- or four hundred pounds -- which had to be moved from pump or well or faucet to stove and tub, in buckets and wash boilers that might weigh as much as forty or fifty pounds. Rubbing, wringing, and lifting water-laden clothes and linens, including large articles like sheets, tablecloths, and men's heavy work clothes, wearied women's arms and wrists and exposed them to caustic substances.

They lugged weighty tubs and baskets full of wet laundry outside, picked up an article, hung it on the line, and returned to take it all down; they ironed by heating several irons on the stove and alternating them as they cooled, never straying far from the hot stove."

(Strasser, Susan. Never Done. New York: Pantheon Books, 1982, p. 105)

The First Washing Machines

The earliest manual washing machines imitated the motion of the human hand on the washboard, by using a lever to move one curved surface over another and rubbing clothes between two ribbed surfaces. This type of washer was first patented in the United States in 1846 and survived as late as 1927 in the Montgomery Ward catalogue.

The first electric clothes washers, in which a motor rotated the tub, were introduced into America about 1900. For a number of years, the motor was not protected beneath the machine and water often dripped into it causing short-circuits and jolting shocks.

In Canada, the first electric washing machines began to appear about 1910 and came from the facilities of established companies, unlike electric ranges which were produced by companies incorporated for that purpose. At this time, all washing machines were constructed with coopered cedar or cypress tubs and had either manual or powered wringers. They operated exactly like their manual predecessor except that now a motor instead of the operator's arm powered the mechanism. The machine still needed to be filled and drained manually, and each washed item put through the wringer.

By 1911, it was possible to buy oscillating, cylinder, domestic washing machines with sheet metal tubs mounted on angle-iron frames with perforated metal or wooden slat cylinders inside.

Manufacturing Challenges

From a technological perspective, washing machine manufacturers faced a number of challenges. These included discovering a method of transferring power from the motor to the mechanism, finding a suitable motor with sufficient initial starting torque, and ensuring that the operator did not get an electrical shock during operation.

In the transference of power, some washing machines were chain driven, some belt driven and others used shafts and gears.

To overcome the initial resistance in starting a washing machine, a fractional horsepower motor which would not burn out or overheat during the start-up period was used. This was usually a 1/8 or 1/4 horsepower motor, manufactured out-of-house by Westinghouse or Robbins and Myers.

To prevent electric shocks, the stator and rotor of the machine were enclosed in a housing equipped with a fan to prevent overheating.

Improvements

From the customer satisfaction perspective, a machine that would wash without shredding the clothes needed to be developed. This meant that if the original scrubbing machines were used, the machine had to be operated at different speeds for different textiles. To overcome the problem, washing machines that sloshed water through the clothing by agitation were developed. Either the tub moved or a baffle placed inside the tub moved.

Early washing machines had a heavy, dirty, cast-iron mechanism mounted on the inside of the tub lid. The introduction of a metal tub and reduction gears to replace this bulky apparatus was a great improvement. By 1920, the coopered wooden tub was no longer being manufactured.

Beatty Brothers of Fergus, Ontario was the first company to produce an agitator washing machine. The early Beatty machines had ribbed copper tubs which were nickel or nickel-chromium plated. In the US, the first firm to adopt agitator technology was Maytag. The vertical orientation of these machines became the industry standard replacing the horizontal rotating axis of earlier machines.

Beatty Washing Machine Circa 1927

Starting in the 1920s, white enamelled sheet metal replaced the copper tub and angle-iron legs. By the early 1940s, enamelled steel was used and sold as being more sanitary, easier to clean and longer lasting than the other finishes. The sheet-metal skirt was also designed to extend below the level of the motor mount.

In the early 1920s, a number of Canadian machines were offered with built-in gas or electric water heaters. By the 1930s, domestic water heaters were in many homes and the washing machine heater was of little use. The addition of a motor-driven drain pump at this time moved the machine one step closer to complete automaticity.

The next development of the washing machine was the fitting of a clock timing device which allowed the machine to be set to operate for a pre-determined length of wash cycle. Now, the operator no longer needed to constantly monitor its action.

By the early 1950s, many American manufacturers were supplying machines with a spin-dry feature to replace the wringer which removed buttons, and caused accidents involving hair and hands. In 1957, GE introduced a washing machine equipped with 5 push buttons to control wash temperature, rinse temperature, agitation speed and spin speed. The Washing Machine Gets its Own Room

It is interesting to note how technology and household design combined to change the placement of washing machines. Now that they had to be attached to a supply of hot and cold water, they were not equipped with casters. Because the washing machine was no longer mobile, a portion of the house was set aside permanently for its operation and storage. Where previously the washing machine was used in proximity to the kitchen sink and then rolled out of the way, now it was often relegated to the basement or given a room exclusively for its use!

More on washing machines


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Fans

Between 1892 and 1910, many small household appliances went from experimental to commercial production. Of these, the most viable was the electric fan.

By 1910, fans had reached a degree of sophistication whereby the basic device had fostered specialized offspring. It was possible to purchase desk and ceiling fans in several diameters, as well as such specialized devices as a horizontal fan outfitted with a fruit bowl that was designed to be placed on the dining room table. Most of this generation of desk and table fans were equipped with multiple setting speed control mechanisms. Eight years later, the oscillating mechanism had been perfected and was available as an option on desk fans.

When electric fans were introduced in the 1890s, they were not fitted with a guard mechanism around the blades. By 1910, the guard was integral to any product sold and sometimes assumed a decorative function.

Although the basic mechanism had been perfected, electric fans required routine maintenance. During the operating season the oil in the drip cups had to be replenished to prevent the bearings from becoming noisy or seized.

Few of the early Canadian firms undertook to manufacture electric fans. Instead many electrical suppliers acted as agents for American-made products.

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Toasters

One small appliance, which gained prominence on the Canadian breakfast table in the period after 1910, was the electric toaster. The basis of this device was a ribbon of nichrome resistance wire wound on a flat sheet of mica or asbestos board. Most early electric toasters were not enclosed; instead, the bread rested on a wire frame on either side and in close proximity to the vertical element. Manufacturers soon introduced small racks on top of the toaster housing to keep the toast warm.

In order to toast both sides the bread had to be turned manually. By 1920, a number of manufacturers had introduced toasters with mechanical devices for reversing the slice of bread. However, it took almost ten years for doors to be added to enclose the toasting element.

The early toasters were designed to draw electricity from light sockets. Most were made of pressed and cast nickel-plated metal, however some were more ornate.




Star-Rite Toaster circa 1923

Between 1920 and 1940, the toaster underwent several major alterations. The first was the addition of a housing and doors to upright models. Later, a curved piece of metal was added to the bottom edge of the inside surface of the toaster doors so that as the door was lowered the bread slid down and was reversed by the metal strip.

The evolution of the toaster demonstrates an important development in the electric appliance industry, that of automaticity. Initially the toasting required both time and watchfulness on the part of the operator. In 1910, with the National Electric oven-type toaster both sides of the bread could be browned at the same time.

In the 1920s, a well-type toaster was introduced that featured a clock-timing mechanism that rang after the bread had been in the well for a pre-set period of time. Once the bell sounded, the power was switched off and a spring-loaded mechanism raised the toast. The problem with this method was that the toaster depended on time, rather than heat for doneness and toast made after the element had heated up could well be over done. To alleviate this problem, manufacturers began to incorporate a bimetallic strip which broke the circuit and shifted a lever to release the toast carrier once the inside of the well was sufficiently hot. Toasters with this "pop-up action" began to appear in catalogues around 1940.

References:

• Cowan, Ruth Schwartz. More Work For Mother. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1983.
• Klingender, Franz, The mechanization of domestic equipment, 1890-1960: "To lighten the burden of womenkind", National Museum of Science and Technology, 1994.
• Panati, Charles, Panati's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things. New York: Harper & Row.
• Strasser, Susan, Never Done. New York: Pantheon Books, 1982.

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