History of Vacuum Cleaners

The popular vacuum cleaner design that we know today can be traced back to the middle 1800’s. The first successful attempt at making a mechanized carpet-cleaning product was in Chicago. A man named Ives McGaffey developed a simple machine that would clean dirt from rugs and carpets. While the machine was mechanical in nature, it was not electrical. It required a person to hand crank the vacuum as it went along the rug.

McGaffey’s invention was a step forward from traditional methods of carpet cleaning. For centuries the methods were rudimentary. What a person did was use an instrument called a carpet beater. The carpet beater was made of wood and resembled a tennis racket. They were extremely popular until vacuum cleaners eventually became inexpensive.

 

The vacuum that McGaffey invented did not succeed for a number of reasons. The first reason was that it required a user to hand pump it. This meant that it required a great deal of personal energy. The second reason was that the great fire of Chicago destroyed most of the inventory.

Around the same time that McGaffey invented his vacuum there was another man who developed a different system that attempted to expedite the carpet cleaning process. John S. Thurman developed a gasoline-powered machine that would use powerfully compressed air. This design was also not successful.

The machine was not for private sale. Thurman would bring it to the person’s home and operate it for them. The problem with Thurman’s design was that it required gasoline, was large, and also did not have a suction design.

Even after mechanical vacuum cleaners had been invented the manual carpet beaters continued to be used. The main reason people preferred these carpet beaters was that a carpet beater was cheap and the early model vacuum cleaners were expensive. A person would take a rug and hang it on a line and beat the dust and dirt out of the fabric. This was nowhere near as thorough as the cleaning that the vacuum cleaners would eventually provide.

 

James Murray Spangler invented the basic vacuum design that everyone is familiar with. Spangler used a pillowcase as a bag to collect dust. He also incorporated an electric powered fan to create suction. This basic design was to be followed for decades.

Spangler was not a wealthy man and therefore he did not have the funds to create and produce the vacuums on a large scale. In 1908 Spangler sold the design to William Henry Hoover. The Hoover name was to become the industry leader for many years and hoover vacuums were extremely popular.