By: Laura Meyers
Did you know that some of the most liberating technologies for women in history were created by male entrepreneurs? Those dirty misogynists. Men probably only invented such things for their own personal gain. For example, the refrigerator. One day they decided, hey, you know what, woman? I want my sandwiches cold.
1. Dishwasher
The first dishwashing machine was created in the 1880’s by a woman named Josephine Cochran, an Illinois native. Cochran was motivation to invent such a machine because she was tired of her good china dishes being broken when hand-washed, and she wanted to help liberate tired housewives from the same drudgery.
So, she went out to the shed in her backyard, and with the help of a young mechanic and created one of the first liberating technologies for women. The United States Patent and Trademark Office said she measured the dishes first, then made wire compartments, each designed to fit plates, cups or saucers. “The compartments were placed inside a wheel that lay flat within a copper boiler. A motor turned the wheel while hot, soapy water squirted from the bottom of the boiler and rained down on the dishes,” one report reads.
Friends and neighbors were excited about the invention. Cochran applied for a patent and it was approved in 1886. One woman’s testimonial suggests that Cochran’s new machine was “indispensable.”
“Dear Mrs. Cochran, Please accept my congratulations on the success of that wonderful piece of mechanism, the ‘Dish Washer.’ Having Seen it work, I can testify that it will do all work required, as advertised, and am assured that it will be as indispensable to our homes as the sewing machine. No one who is in need of such an article and understands the worth and value of such a machine would think of doing without it. Respectfully, Mrs. L.S. Baldwin, Windsor, ill., Feb. 5, 1889.”
2. Washing machine
The Thor was the first electric-powered washing machine. It was introduced by the Hurley Machine Company of Chicago, Illinois in 1908. The machine’s design was created by a man named Alva J. Fisher. The Thor was a drum-shaped washing machine with a galvanized tub and electric motor. It received its patent in 1910.
After four more decades of improvements and innovation, the first washing machine with five push buttons was introduced; including wash temperature, rinse temperature, agitation speed and spin speed.
In comparison to earlier washing techniques, including the scrub board or washing mill, this machine saved women hours in a day and provided a higher quality cleaning process for clothing and materials. Brownie points for you, Mr. Fisher.
3. Car
The origin of the automobile is indefinite. However, the Library of Congress says that the first car created in the United States was built by George Baldwin Selden around 1876. It ran on gasoline and had a combined internal combustion engine with a carriage.
Robert S. and Helen M. Lynd’s studied the Midwestern community of Muncie, Indiana, and published their work in a book titled Middletown (1929). In the novel, one farm woman is noted as telling an inspector from the United States that the reason her family had chosen to buy a car instead of indoor plumbing is because “You can’t go to town in a bathtub.”
In a survey conducted of rural young people in Missouri in 1937, 35% of farm girls drove cars in comparison to 72% of farm boys, but another 37% of farm girls wanted to learn how to drive.
But then in 1929, General Motors launched a new public relations campaign that encouraged a “two car household,” and that’s when women began to mobilize on their own. The automobile allowed for more time to attend events, made grocery shopping quicker and more efficient, and presented women with the first opportunity to be independently mobile.
4. Refrigerator
Until the invention of the refrigerator, women utilized salts, packing techniques, and cellars to keep some food and meats cold through seasons, which required a significant amount of manpower to create and maintain.
The first practical refrigerating machine was built by Jacob Perkins in 1834; it used ether in a vapor compression cycle.
Then in 1928, Thomas Midgley, Jr. aided by Charles Franklin Kettering invented a “miracle compound” called Freon- an inflammable gas that undergoes an evaporation process again and again that maintain a low temperature. Allowing women a safe, convenient place to keep food at a constant low temperature with as little labor as possible.
5. Sewing machine
The very first sewing machine was invented by Thomas Saint in 1790. In an article titled Our First Experience with a Sewing-Machine, published in 1858, Henry Ward Beecher wrote, “The dismayed woman of the house saw her three days’ prepared work melting away before noon, as a three days’ April snow disappears in a few hours!”
Although the sewing machine no longer is associated with women’s emancipation, the dawning of such a technology freed women hours of labor to instead focus on intellectual studies or recreational activities.