"Necessity is the mother of all invention."  That's what we've been told all our lives.  But is that true?  Actually, it's not.

Some inventions did come about because a particular device or process was desperately needed at a particular time (like radar in WWII or polio vaccine when thousands were being crippled by the disease.) But a lot of the really useful ones have come about because somebody just got a bee in his or her bonnet about something that could make life better.

Face it:  it's great to have a dishwasher to do the grunt work.  But when it's broken or when you move someplace that doesn't have one, you don't die.  You just use the sink and some soap.  However, Josephine Cochrane couldn't let the idea of a machine go -- and we've got her to thank for our convenience today.

This week you'll learn about some of our most beloved appliances and inventions.  Enjoy, and increase your appreciation of them the next time you hit the button.

Jim Nixon
at The Cleaners

I'm sorry that this week's newsletter is a bit later than usual. I've been experienced the joy of setting up a new computer system plus I'm still in meltdown from the Greeley Stampede activities. Fortunately, I've just about regained my hearing which was lost at the Grand Funk concert.

Dr. Ruth Rogan Benerito

The inventor of wrinkle-free cotton -- Wash and Wear.

These days, you don't think much about it when you buy a cotton garment, but before Dr. Benerito discovered how to keep it from wrinkling, anything cotton was a tremendous chore to maintain.  A large portion of household work time was spent at the ironing board, laboring to make the durable cotton clothes, table linens, and even bed sheets presentable.  Without ironing, they were nothing but wrinkles.

Ruth Rogan Benerito was born in New Orleans in 1916 -- a time not known for the encouragement of women in professional and technical fields.  But Ruth's mother was a prototypical feminist, and encourage her daughter to pursue whatever interested her.  Ruth completed high school at 14, had her bachelor's degree in chemistry when she was 19, and went on to earn a master's at Tulane and a PhD at the University of Chicago.

Throughout her career in chemical research -- which continues to this day as, at age 86, she still tutors students in the subjects she loved to work on and teach -- Benerito used her lively intelligence to make our lives better.

It was while she was looking for ways to help the cotton industry, which was struggling after the introduction of synthetics after WWII, that she found a way to cross-link adjacent cellulose polymer chains in cotton, giving it some resilience so that it could recover from creases and not wrinkle.  She also developed ways to make it flame-resistant.

To read more about Dr. Benerito, click on her photo above.

Summer Cottons Coupon

It may be wash and wear, or "permanent press", but that doesn't make it impervious to stains.  That splash of mustard from the last barbecue, the ring around the collar of your favorite shirt, the vacations stains of unknown origin -- you know you've got them.  Bring 'em on!  Take $3.00 off your next order and let us get you ready to wear again.  (Include a copy of this e-mail with your order.  Offer expires July 13, 2002.  Cannot be combined with other offers.)

Life wouldn't be the
same without them!

Here are a few of those inventions that weren't "necessary" in the strictest interpretation of the word, but have become a part of our everyday lives.

The Refrigerator

We go in the kitchen, we open the door, and everything is cold.  And we take it for granted.  But refrigeration techniques have been evolving for 3000 years!  As early as 1000 B.C., the Chinese cut and stored ice for use in warmer weather.  "Ice Boxes" were just that -- an insulated box with ice in it that you set the food on.  A lot like some of the camper refrigerators used to be. 

It wasn't until the 18th century that scientist Michael Faraday liquefied ammonia to cause cooling -- which is the basis of today's refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and dehumidifiers.  In 1911, General Electric released a home refrigerator -- though it had compressors driven by long belts attached to motors in the basement!  Automatic ice makers hit the market in the 1950s and 1960s.  Today, the fridge is one of the most common home appliances, and is found in 99.5% of homes in North America.

The Dishwasher 

Though the first patent for a "dishwasher" was issued in 1850, the contraption was made out of wood and had a hand-turned wheel that splashed water on dishes.  It didn't really work, but it got a patent.

The real inventor of what we call a dishwasher today was Josephine Cochrane, a wealthy woman from Shelbyville, IL who had a lot of dinner parties.  Her servants kept breaking her dishes, so in 1886 she made a machine that was totally automatic and did the job better.  A motor turned the wheel, while hot soapy water squirted from the boiler and rained down on the dishes.  She unveiled her invention at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and won its highest award.

Mrs. Cochrane didn't stop there.  She patented her design and went into production.  Her company is now the well-known upscale kitchenware corporation KitchenAid.  Dish washers caught on in the 1950s when they were made smaller and cheaper, thus attracting average homeowners.

Vacuum Cleaner

Some inventors get too involved in their ideas!  Hubert Cecil Booth of Gloucester, England, studied civil and mechanical engineering.  After seeing a demonstration of a new American "cleaning machine" that blew dirt into a collecting bag, he began working on the idea that suction would be better.

He tested his idea by putting a handkerchief on a cushioned chair and sucking on it very hard.  Of course, he started choking -- but when he turned over the handkerchief, it was filthy from the dust that had been trapped in it.  He worked for years on the concept, and to make it a practical device (the first one used a suction pump that had to be transported on a horse-drawn carriage!)  His breakthrough came when he demonstrated it by cleaning a carpet in Westminster Abbey for the coronation of Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.  They promptly had one installed in the palace.

The Toilet

This was another long-term project -- over 500 years of innovation have gone into the humble throne of today.  The very first flush toilet was invented by Sir John Harington in the 16th Century for Queen Elizabeth I.  It was called a "water closet" and was seen as a joke among England's peers.  It didn't catch on in his lifetime.

There were various innovations along the way, but it was Thomas Twyford who revolutionized the water closet business in 1885.  He was a leading potter, and built his one-piece toilet out of china.  The toilets finally made it into homes in common use beginning in the early 19th century.

To learn about other fascinating details of appliances and items we use every day, check out Marshall Brain's How Stuff Works website:

Click here to learn more!