Italiano
The dishwasher has a history that is worth telling!
Joel first
Right in the middle of the 19th century, Mr. Joel Hughton, a New Yorker about whom the history books give little information, filed a patent for his new invention, called “Table furniture cleaning machine“.
Scientific American hailed the invention by declaring it would “save women a deal of trouble“.
We are talking about a machine that is very different from what we know today. Manually operated and quite tiring to make it run.
Of course, washing dishes by hand without running water was certainly no fun.
But Mr Houghton’s invention was an impractical iron barrel on a scaffold of pipes (similar to a concrete mixer of today) into which boiling water had to be thrown with buckets. In short, not exactly the ultimate comfort.
His invention was not at all successful. Maybe that’s why the history books don’t mention him…
Then Levi
Another inventor, Levi Alexander, tried again in 1865, 15 years later. He added hand cranks and gears to Houghton’s machine to spin dishes on a rack through water. Once again, a commercial failure.
As a matter of fact, society was probably not ready for this kind of novelties.
The common perception was that such an innovation, which aimed to lighten the housewife’s work, would eventually diminish her role in the household.
I sense this perception was especially common among men tho…
And finally Josephine!
However, a few years later, Josephine Cochrane, a high-society woman with a penchant for dinner parties, could no longer stand how her servants took so little care in washing her porcelain. Exasperated by the failed attempts of her two predecessors, legend says she stated:
“If nobody else is going to invent a dishwashing machine, I’ll do it myself”.
Josephine had the “forma mentis“, coming from a family of engineers and innovators. And also a valid assistant: the engineer George Butters.
However, what was soon missing was the money.
When her husband died (in 1883), she found out to her dismay that despite the comfortable life she had led up to that point, they were submerged in debt.
Kudos to the widow for not giving up! She managed to obtain, in 1886, the patent for her dish-washing machine: this now had “compartments” specially designed for cups, plates, glasses and whatnot.
“A continuous stream of either soap-suds or clear hot water is supplied to a crate holding the racks or cages containing the dishes while the crate is rotated so as to bring the greater portion thereof under the action of the water”.
This time the commercial success arrived.
Even though the customers were only hotels and restaurants.
To see the dishwasher in households, we had to wait until after the Second World War.
But that’s another story.
I like the stories about professional catering equipment better!
Speaking of which… you can contact me if you want me to write something about your activity!
