Property News · April 14, 2016

Housework deprived of terrors by vacuum cleaner: archive 14 April 1960


14 April 1960: ‘A long hose with a nozzle travels rapidly over the carpet, absorbs all the dust and discharges it into the street, where it pours out in a thick stream’“The company’s horse or automobile van will arrive early in the morning, and before evening all the carpets, upholstery, tapestry or silk panelling in any ordinary-sized house will be fresh, clean, and free from dust.” This splendid proposition by the British Vacuum Cleaner Company in 1903 was followed by a modest hint: “House-cleaning being thus deprived of its terrors, it is perhaps fair to assume that quarterly cleanings will take the place of annual ones, and houses will be thereby rendered infinitely more healthy and sanitary.”The new vacuum cleaning, which banished terror from the home, also provided entertainment in the street. The machine, painted bright red and looking like a fire-engine, was drawn up outside the house and hoses run in through the windows. So many dumbfounded onlookers used to collect that the police issued summonses to the company for obstruction. Even after the machine no longer attracted crowds, the company was still fined regularly for obstruction until a test case was taken to appeal and their right to work from the streets was upheld by the Lord Chief Justice. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Housework deprived of terrors by vacuum cleaner: archive 14 April 1960

You may also like...