The Vacuum Cleaner: A History That Sucks

The Vacuum Cleaner: A History That Sucks

Ehren Gerhard

Mrs. Anderson

English IV

March 28th, 2004

In our past, we have always demonstrated an insatiable quest for cleanliness. For example, as early as 2300 BC twig brooms were being used to tidy up peoples cave dwellings. (Inventors) In the early 20th century, the United States was enveloped with the rise of the industrial revolution. Surprisingly, one close to home detail was yet to be improved: home sanitation. Later, a revolutionary idea to suck in dirt and dust was considered by British inventor, Hubert Cecile Booth. (Dream) This idea was the start of a cleaning revolution that influenced cleaning practices, controlled disease, and begun a sales industry.

With the persistent affliction of household disease due to sanitation, a more effective cleaning solution was in order. Current cleaning devises were limited to nothing more than a mop and a carpet sweeper. The inventor of the carpet sweeper, Melville Bissell, Originally developed it to preserve his health by sweeping away the dust in his crockery shop. The inventor soon recognized the sweeper’s market potential. They secured tufts of hog bristles with string, dipped the tufts into hot pitch, inserted the tufts into brush rollers, and trimmed them with scissors. (Dream) In another case, American James Spangler suffered from asthma and hypothesized that airborne dust from his carpet sweeper was the aggravate. He invented the electric vacuum cleaner principle that is commonly used in households today. (Dream)

Another prevalent dilemma of the time was the maintenance of large structures. At the time, there were many airborne diseases and illnesses that necessitated proper sanitation and disposal. During World War 1, Hubert Booth received an urgent request to vacuum clean the Crystal Palace where the 1st World Expo was held. This was because soldiers in the Crystal Palace kept dieing from an infectious disease that contaminated it. Booth's vacuum cleaning pump sucked in a tremendous amount of dust from the Crystal Palace. It was plagued with germs and thus he subdued the disease. Leaders of Germany, Russia, and France, who attended the Royal Coronation of Edward the Seventh, were all anxious to buy Booth's vacuum cleaning pump. (Inventors)

The response to these modern marveled cleaning machines was obviously enormous. And so became the patent field and sales market. Door to door cleaning