Vacuum Cleaners
- Comments
-
Glasgow Museums has a collection of approximately 75 vacuum cleaners and attachments dating from the 20th century. These include an Edwardian Dandy Vacuum cleaner, manufactured by J B & Co Glasgow; a 'Baby Daisy', made round about 1913 and 'The Reeves Pneumatic Broom'. We also have a range of accessories, attachments, ephemera and carpet shampoos. It was a bridge builder called Hubert Booth who first invented the vacuum cleaner round about 1901. The story goes that he witnessed a demonstration of a railway carriage cleaner that merely blew the dust out and was thoroughly unimpressed by it. He very quickly realized that suction was required. Thinking over how this might work he began to experiment. His first experiment was simply to lay a white handkerchief on the arm of a chair and suck hard through it. When he removed the hanky from the chair there was a dark circle where it had captured the dirt from the upholstery. Booth’s first invention was a suction pump with a cloth bag. Improvements in technology like the vacuum cleaner made cleaning less arduous for housewives and servants and played a part in the ever changing role of women in the home.
- Broader term
- Staff Contact