Dishwasher Machine Sales

Dishwasher Machine Sales

The 1896 attached article was for the recruitment of persons in the Mount Sterling, KY area to sell Mound City Dish Washers. The making of dish washers [two words] was not new in 1896. The first dish washer was invented and patented in 1850 by Joel Houghton. It was made of wood with a wheel that splashed water over the dishes. The Lavadora dishwasher was invented in 1858. In 1860, inventor L. A. Alexander patented a device with a hand crank and gear that allowed for the spinning of racked dishes through a tub of water. Neither the dishwashers nor the addition of the crank and gear worked very well. A more successful hand-operated mechanical dishwasher was invented in 1887 in Shelbyville, IL, by Josephine Cochrane, a wealthy socialite, and George Butters, a mechanic. Josephine Cochrane is often credited as the original inventor of the dishwasher. Still, the sale of dishwashers was few, very few. Washing dishes by hand had worked just fine for centuries and it did not require the handsome cost of a new hand-powered gadget. It was not until the 1950s that there were steady domestic sales of dishwashers among the wealthy. They were portable, small, cabinet-top appliances. Dishwashers were still being developed as electric kitchen appliances with a standardized size and shape. By the 1970s, the dishwasher had become more affordable to U.S. and Western European households. In the 1980s, it became common to have a space reserved in new kitchens for the floor model dishwasher. In the 1990s, manufacturers began adding energy saving features and variable washing times. Still, there was the anti-dishwasher advocates/movement, and not every home in the U.S. had or has a dishwasher appliance; the latest statistics show that 65% of the U.S. households have a dishwasher appliance [Statista.com].

Harris and Mason

1896-07-28

1. “A Chance to make money,” Mt. Sterling Advocate, 1896-07-28, front page.

2. Josephine Cochran, Inventor of the Dishwasher thoughtco.com

3. A Look at the Past: The History of Dishwashers – Chilling History

4. Cabinet-top dishwasher photo image by onlynoodle @ Pixabay.

5. Mt. Sterling Advocate history in Chronicling America

Reinette Jones, University of Kentucky Librarian & African American Studies Academic Liaison

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