History of the Washing Machine essays

History of the Washing Machine essays As a society that depends on high tech gadgets and gizmos, we tend to overlook the origination of our devices that have been built to simplify our lives. One of the most useful devices that virtually all of North America depends on is the Washing Machine. This is an appliance that has been around in a variety of forms for nearly two and a half centuries, though many would believe it to be a fairly recent invention, perhaps 40 to 50 years passed, as many of our parents and grandparents tell us stories of how they used washboards to clean their clothing. What could possibly have existed before it? The answer; an assortment of other machines as well as methods varying from the cage with wooden rods and a handle that was built in 1782 to the first electric washing machine that was built in the year 1906. Using the friction caused from rubbing clothing against rocks, and rinsing the clothes in a stream in order to clean them, no doubt became a tedious task in a short time. However, the technology did not exist to improve on this method. That is, not until the year of 1782, when the first washing machine was designed by a man named H. Sidgier from Great Britain. This machine consisted of a cage with wooden rods and a handle that was used for turning. Sidgiers design led the age of washing machines into the 1800s when companies began to create machines that used paddles or dollies and were hand operated. This, in turn, led to the invention of the revolving drum in 1851. The patent was made by James King; an American. This machine was similar to the modern machines of today. Later, Harrison Smith produced the same but with a reversing action in 1859. A wringer was added to the designs in 1865. In 1874, William Blackstone, a merchant from Indiana, built his wife a birthday present. He had constructed a machine that would remove and wash away dirt from clothing. Blackstone built and sold his machines...