Vacuum Cleaner History

Like a lot of inventions over the years the invention of the vacuum cleaner is also surrounded with great debate as to who came up with the first vacuum cleaner. We have to go as far back as the 1800's to try and understand what people had in their homes and how they went about cleaning.

Firstly we can trace one of the earliest and better known devices back to 1860 when David Hess came up with a way to solve a problem which housewives were having at the time. In those days people used rugs on the bare wooden floors to try and keep the dust down to a minimum. Of course all the dust remained on the rug and the only way off was to hang the rug and whack it with a stick. Shortly after came the rug-beater, which resembled a tennis racket.

However, it was only David Hess who thought there must be an easier way to do the rug cleaning and he came up with a Carpet Sweeper which had a rotating brush with a bellows system which provided the suction. Is or was this a 'vacuum cleaner'? The machine also consisted of two water chambers which collected the fine dust and particles. The only problem with this invention is that there is no proof it was ever produced.

Then along came Melville Bissell, who's surname will sound familiar if you know your vacuum cleaners, who also came up with a carpet sweeper that picked up dirt and deposited it in a pan behind the sweeper head.

But it wasn't until 1899, when what can be described as the first 'motorized' cleaner, was invented by John Thurman and it was another few years before Hubert Booth of London came up with the first electric vacuum. The only problem was that the vacuum was so big it was stored on the back of a
trailer outside the house and a very long hose was run inside to do the cleaning.

As time went by more and more inventors had a go at coming up with the ultimate cleaner and one which could be used in the home without much fuss and was portable. Then along came James Spangler in 1908 with the first portable suction cleaner. This cleaner proved to be extremely popular and
for some reason he sold the patent to William Hoover. Yes, the man who's name has become synonymous with house cleaning. The fact that the Hoover name stuck was a testament to how good and popular the early cleaners were and now nearly 100 years later the vacuum cleaner can still be best
described a clunky, noisy piece of hardware. Although innovative designs such as the Dyson and the next generation robotic Roomba are starting to give us some idea of what we can expect of 21st century vacuum cleaners.

Whoever is responsible for the invention of the vacuum cleaner, of which I believe there are many, would be proud to know that the principles of their early day designs still remain in vacuumcleaners in millions of homes around the world.

These days, vacuum cleaners are a familiar tool in any household cleaning arsenal, but this has not always been the case. In days gone by, cleaning was a job performed by using more primitive tools, like the trusty sweeping brush or broom. And while these tools were undoubtedly of enormous value to the house cleaner who had little else to work with, we have come a long way since then, and, in some ways, have come full circle.

It was the Industrial Revolution that set the cleaning world alight. Before that time, the sweeping brush was king, and really, it was probably quite adequate. But though the presence of heavy dust and grime increased during the revolution, as the cities in which many people lived became covered in soot and other industrial by-products, the dirt that was created was really not sufficient reason for housewives to become the queens of cleanliness they did. Around this time, though, a huge propaganda campaign was born that alarmed people with its prophecies. Health and lives were in mortal danger if dirt was not tamed, and cleaning products of all sorts witnessed an enormous jump in sales.

It was against this backdrop that the first vacuum cleaner came into being. Invented in Chicago in 1865, this hand pumped device lead the way in vacuum cleaner development. Followed by a range of similar devices, the design became more and more intricate as the years progressed, with the cleaners growing ever more ornate and multifunctional, being used as sideboards, among other things. However, requiring two people to operate it, this type of machine was less than user friendly.

The democratization of electricity availability opened new door in vacuum cleaner development. Emerging just after the turn of the twentieth century, the electric vacuum cleaner, made by brands such as Hoover, made housework easier for millions. Using a fan motor and a pillowcase as a dust collector, a man named Spangler began a trend. Soon after, William H. Hoover came aboard, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Today we are eager to eliminate dirt from our lives as were our Industrial Revolution forefathers, and the choice of vacuum cleaners available today reflects this trend. And while housework can be a tiresome chore, it was this enthusiasm for cleanliness that brought the vacuum cleaner into our world, so that now, after a hundred years or so of technological development, we can rid our homes of dust and dirt in minutes.