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These things surround us in everyday life and regularly carry out domestic service. And we do not even suspect that many devices that make everyday routine not so burdensome and tedious are the creations of enterprising female hands. Today we will correct this omission and tell you about inventions for the home and everyday life, the creators of which are resourceful and talented women.
Goodbye, unwashed dishes!
You will probably be surprised to find out who invented the dishwasher, or rather, its first prototype. This was the American Josephine Cochrane, the great-granddaughter of the famous inventor of the steamboat John Fitch and the wife of the successful entrepreneur and politician William Cochrane. After the death of her husband from a serious illness, she was left alone, without means of livelihood and with a whole heap of debt obligations. The invention of the dishwasher helped her to get back on her feet, and at the same time become famous throughout the country.
The first model was a bulky wooden bucket with a metal basket on a rotating axis inside. It was driven by two pistons located in the lower part. Dirty dishes were put in a basket, the tank was filled with water, which gradually became hot thanks to the heater from below. The basket slowly rotated around its axis, and the water rising from below washed the dishes from all sides.
Josephine Cochrane patented the unit on December 31, 1885, and a few months later set up mass production. After much doubt, on the advice of friends, she presented her brainchild at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893. The dishwasher caused an unprecedented stir, after which sales immediately went uphill. This allowed the inventor to open her own company “Garis-Cochrane” and become one of the most successful businesswomen in America.
Strong and independent mop
The name of the woman who invented the mop with a mechanical spin became known after the release of the wide-screen tape “Joy” with Jennifer Lawrence in the title role. Her biography really deserves a whole movie.
After a painful divorce, single mother Joy Mangano was left with three children. She had to work several jobs to support her family. As it usually happens, salvation came from nowhere. Joy was hosting guests, and at dinner one of them accidentally broke a glass of wine. Trying to collect the fragments with a rag, the woman severely injured her palm. She thought it would be great to have a mop that could wring out a rag by itself.
The idea, which at first seemed ridiculous, came to life. The first model of the mop, called Miracle Mop, or miracle mop, consisted of a handle, a washing part made of cotton threads and the actual mechanism with a spin. Having invested 100 thousand dollars from her own savings in the implementation of the project, she was able to return only 10 thousand dollars. But that didn’t stop Joy. In 1991, she signed a contract with a TV channel and recorded a promotional video. The idea was considered a failure and even hurried to terminate the agreement. However, to the surprise of the producers, after the first screenings, 18 thousand mops flew like hot cakes. By 1995, Joy founded her own company and began to receive $ 1 million from sales every year. And in 2000, the company sold $ 10 million worth of miracle mops.
Special purpose panties
Millions of new mothers in various countries should be infinitely grateful to the American Marion Donovan for what a woman has created. And she created the world’s first disposable diapers.
Working as a deputy editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, she hardly found time to fully engage with her newborn daughter, in particular, constantly washing diapers. To make life easier for herself, the woman found a very original way. She cut out a kind of children’s panties from a waterproof bathroom curtain, supplemented them with an insert from a diaper and sewed this design to ordinary panties. Then she slightly improved the idea and began to use wooden sawdust as a filler.
Waterproof panties turned out to be such a practical thing that Donovan decided to launch them to the masses. But before that, I made some adjustments. It was decided to replace the sawdust with a special absorbent paper, and the safety pin with a safe metal clasp. The invention was such a stunning success that one store chain bought the rights to sell it from a woman for $ 1 million. It was these disposable panties that later became the prototype of the famous Pampers, the first package of which was sold in 1961.
A priceless burden on your shoulders
Another invention invented by a woman, which gave rest to the tired hands of mothers, is a kangaroo bag for newborns. The authorship of this know-how belongs to the American nurse Ann Moore. In the 60s of the last century, as part of the Peace Corps, she went to West Africa. In Togo, she saw something that struck her with its simplicity and practicality. African women, unaware of the existence of strollers, carried babies behind their backs, cunningly wrapping them with a piece of cloth to the body. Thus, their hands were free for other household chores, and the babies themselves, feeling the mother’s warmth, felt completely safe and almost did not cry.
Another fateful event that happened to Ann on the African continent was a meeting with her future husband Mike. They returned to America hand in hand, and soon they had a daughter. That’s when the experience gained in the expedition came in handy. The woman tried to sew something like a backpack made of thick fabric in the African manner for transporting the child. After several unsuccessful attempts, a kangaroo backpack was born, which is incredibly popular among mothers to this day. With the help of a well-thought-out shape and a system of fixing straps, it can be fixed both on the back and on the chest. At the same time, children are in the most comfortable position and can even sleep carefree while their mother is doing her own business.
Spinning-the clockwork disk is spinning
It will definitely not occur to you that among the things invented by women, there is a circular saw. Meanwhile, this achievement is attributed to Sarah Tabitha Babbitt, a resident of Hardwick, Massachusetts. She was a middle-class weaver and belonged to the Protestant religious sect of shakers. They believed in the second coming of Christ and recognized the ancestor of the sect, Anna Lee, as his female incarnation.
According to the” legend”, Sarah Babbitt had an epiphany when she watched how two men could not cut a log with a two-handed saw. The woman suddenly realized that the cut in the wood deepens only when the saw moves forward, and the return movement is idle. After a little reflection, they came to the conclusion that the correct saw should have the shape of a circle and rotate in one direction, moreover continuously. In this case, the energy will not be spent in vain.
It is rumored that Sarah assembled the first saw herself from a metal disk with sharp teeth and brought it to the spinning machine with the help of a special design. Men’s hands perfected the idea and connected a circular saw with a device powered by hydroelectric power. The first working prototype was assembled in 1813. Paradoxically, Babbitt did not register the patent because of her religious beliefs. There is evidence that in addition to the saw, the woman developed an optimized head for a spinning wheel and a technology for the production of artificial teeth. Both inventions were also left without a patent.
Women are able to surprise with a variety of talents, including entrepreneurship, an extraordinary mind and the ability to find elegant solutions to the most tricky problems. Our story serves as a vivid proof of this. If you didn’t find something in it that women invented and thereby made our daily life better and more pleasant, be sure to write about it in the comments.