What the first models of toasters, vacuum cleaners, hair dryers and dishwashers looked like

I am sure that 99% of readers of this article have household appliances. The kitchens of the average person are furnished with kettles and multicookers, and the bathroom has a washing machine. But it was not always so. It’s scary to think, but at the beginning of the 20th century, not everyone even had electricity. Looking at the prototypes of modern devices, it is difficult to guess that they contain a hair dryer or a vacuum cleaner. However, that’s exactly what I’ll tell you about today!

First toaster

People have always loved toast, but before the advent of a special device, bread was simply dried over a fire. Not very practical - you can’t light a fire in the middle of the house in the morning. That is why in 1893 Alan McMaster from Scotland introduced the first toaster to the public.

It was deprived of the body we were used to and worked on copper wires. The bread was toasted on only one side. It had to be turned over manually. The device never gained popularity. It turned out to be quite fire hazardous and inconvenient for everyday use.

In 1909, the American company General Electric developed a new prototype of a familiar device called the D-12. He already looked like the usual one, he knew how to turn the bread himself. Unlike Alan's device, this toaster operated without smoke or fire.

What a hairdryer used to look like

The need for a hairdryer has arisen among beauties for a long time. Before the invention of the first devices, fashionistas dried their hair in a stove or over an open fire. Yes Yes exactly.Naturally, such experiments often ended in serious injuries, burns and heat strokes.

Already at the end of the 19th century in America, a fixed tube of a vacuum cleaner began to be used as a hairdryer. A little later, dryers appeared - vacuum vacuum cleaners under which you had to sit. These were often shown in old American films.

The first portable hair dryer appeared only in 1980. In design, it was practically no different from the usual device, but did not have a dozen modes and special attachments.

Manual dishwasher

At all times, no one wanted to wash dishes. Richer people hired maids for this, but the poor had to wash their hands until they bled. And I’m not even being dramatic, because the usual water tap and detergents did not exist in those days either. I had to scrub the plates for hours, trying to get rid of the ingrained dirt.

Therefore, already in 1850, Joel Goughton came up with the first manual dishwasher. The device was a small cauldron equipped with several meshes. It was necessary to put dishes in them.

Water was poured into the container. To wash its contents, the housewife had to turn a special handle. This invention was not particularly popular, but an electric machine was soon invented based on it.

Manual vacuum cleaner

The world's first patent was received in 1860 by American Daniel Hess. According to his idea, the vacuum cleaner was equipped with a rotating brush. Thanks to a complex system of bellows, the device created a powerful air flow. The air that entered the device passed through two water chambers, being cleaned of dust and dirt. It sounds interesting, but the invention never got beyond the idea.

In 1868, Ives McGaffney invented the Whirlwind.It was a fairly light and compact manually operated vacuum cleaner. For it to work, you had to simultaneously push the device and turn the handle, setting it in motion. This decision was not very convenient, but the housewives of that time did not yet have a choice.

The first electric vacuum cleaner appeared only in 1901. It was based on a device that was widespread at the time for blowing dust off seats.