October 11, 1987
By Jan Buffington
Vigo County Historical Society
Rough-hewn device early clothes washer
The following statement appears in a patent given to Englishman Rodger Rodgerson in 1789: “ . . . An entirely new machine called a laundry for the purpose of washing and pressing of all sorts of household linen, wearing apparel and other things, in a much less expensive and laborious and expeditious manner than any hitherto practiced.”
The patent was the apparent starting point for the use of the term “laundry,” as we know it today. Before 1780, laundry only referred to ironing.
As Rodgerson filed his patent in England, similar ideas were developing in France and Germany. In America, inventor Nathaniel Briggs was issued a patent on March 28, 1797, for a device to be used in “washing cloaths.”
These early machines used varied forms of friction in their construction. Names assigned to the various friction components were the kicker, beetle, cradle, dolly and poser. They were to take the place of rubbing, beating, stomping or mashing dirt from clothing--practices that had been used since Ancient Egyptian times.
Innovations were many and varied. Some washers were made of half-barrels and corrugated bottom-boards made of wagon-wheel spokes. Another type featured a large corrugated roller with four small rollers beneath. They were fashioned to revolve as they met the grooves of the large roller. This rubbed the clothes as they went through.
Another used boxes fitted with assorted inner parts meant to flex the clothes. Some were turned with cranks; others were played back and forth as the machine was rocked on a cradle.
The cataract washer was invented by John Schull in 1831. It consisted of two concentric cylinders, one inside the other. The outer cylinder was watertight and held the inner, open-worked cylinder which revolved on “gudgeons.”
The tin Continental Washing Machine was advertised to “wash a single collar or any amount of small articles up to a bulk of two or three sheets.” The Housewife’s Darling was said to have only one moving part, with an action that rubbed and squeezed the fabric “without any strain.”
In the 1906 Sears and Roebuck Catalog, one could order the new and improved model of the Chicago American. It was made of the “best Louisiana cypress” and was “corrugated on the inside like a washboard.” It also had “improved gearing and an adjustable pin wheel.”
In 1851, during the California Gold Rush, carpenter Charles Matel applied power to the washer and was credited for the nation’s first motor-operated washing machine. He purchased a 10-horsepower donkey engine from a ship’s captain and attached it to a 12-shirt washer. It worked! This moved the laundry out of the inventors’ era and into the manufacturers’ era.
The hand-operated, “labor-saving” washers had a few flaws. The constant rubbing quickly wore out fabric. The metal rivets and screws used to hold the tub together rusted and left spots on clothes. After many wash loads, the wood splintered and embedded in the fabric. Finally, the lever or crank used to create the rubbing action was hard on the homemaker.
This week’s historical treasure is a patented Holdon Globe Washer. It is a hand cranked cradle washer. The bottom is made of tin and the rest is mostly wood. Inside is a removable wooden cradle made like a curved, open-worked washboard. The heavy, hinged lid has a metal hand crank attached to another curved wood cradle. It rocks when the crank is turned.
Before using this washer, the homemaker made sure the side drain was plugged, then removed the cradles. After filling it with hot soapy water, she put in the first cradle, then the clothes, then shut the lid. A small hook holds the lid down. The crank was turned until the clothes were clean. She could check on the wash through a door on the lid.
This machine has three big disadvantages: the heavy parts made turning the crank difficult; there is no wringer; and the constant rubbing of the cradles rips off buttons and quickly wears out fabric. The washer is located in the tool room of the museum.
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.