Home helpers

Not so long ago, cleaning and cooking were time-consuming, boring jobs. These clever devices lend a hand around the home so we can spend our time in more interesting ways. Home helpers

The APPLIANCE of science

Washing machine

Imagine having to wash and dry your clothes By HaNd. The first domestic washing machines removed some of the strain but were hand-powered, while enormous, clanking, steam-powered washing machines operated in businesses. Finally, electric washing machines were invented in the early 20th century—one of the first was invented by American Alva Fisher in 1908. This Canadian version dates from around 1920.

Vacuum cleaner

Starting in 1901, British engineer Hubert Cecil Booth offered vacuum cleaning to rich Londoners with his huge Horse-drawN, gasoline-driven machine, from which a long hose would snake into the house through a window. James Spangler, a janitor in a US department store, invented a much smaller electric vacuum cleaner in 1907. He started a business that later became the Hoover Company.

Can opener

After canned food was invented in 1812, there was a long wait to open it safely. Canned army rations had instructions to use a Hammer aNd CHisel. People bashed and gouged away until 1870, when American inventor William Lyman patented a can opener with a cutting wheel. In the 1920s, safer rotary can openers were invented, based on Lyman’s design.

In the 1900s, wealthy English ladies threw vacuum cleaner parties to impress their friends .

This dishwasher from 1921 connected to a hot faucet via a hose attachment.

Dishwasher

By the 1800s, American women were fed up with doing the dishes. More than 30 of them came up with machines to take on the dull task, but the first successful one was invented in 1886 by socialite Josephine Cochran, who wanted to find a way to stop her china from being chipped by heavy-handed servants. Her machines were hand-powered for use at home, but bigger steam-powered ones were installed in hotels and restaurants.

Microwave oven

These handy food heaters were invented during World War II, after American radar scientist percy LeBaron Spencer noticed that the microwave-producing radar set he was using had melted his chocolate bar. He realized the machine’s potential for Cooking food, and the first commercial microwave ovens went on sale in 1947.