Home Washing Machine & Wringer
“Home Washing Machine & Wringer,” ca. 1869. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Background
Some U.S. inventors of the Industrial Revolution focused on how to bring the wonders of mechanization into the home to relieve the burdens of daily live. One major advancement was the home washing machine.
Washing laundry by hand was extremely labor and time intensive. It was such a hated chore that any woman who could afford it hired someone else to do it for them. The home washing machine cut down on physical labor needed to wash clothing. Instead of individually scrubbing and wringing each piece of clothing by hand, a woman could turn a crank and let the machine do it for her. The home washing machine of the mid-1800s was not perfect. It still required physical labor, and only wealthy women could afford to own one. But it was an important first step in using the innovations of the Industrial Revolution to relieve the heavy burdens of housekeeping.
About the Document
This is an advertisement for a home washing machine that ran sometime in the 1860s. What is interesting about this ad is that it makes it clear that only wealthy women could afford to buy one. But it also makes it clear that wealthy women did not do their own laundry. Instead, the ad is showing that the machine would cut down on the amount of time their domestic servants spent doing laundry, freeing them up to do other household chores.
Vocabulary
- domestic servant: A person who is paid to cook, clean, and perform other household chores.
- Industrial Revolution: The era of American history marked by the rise of factories and mechanical inventions that transformed daily life.
Discussion Questions
- Who is this ad appealing to? What is its message?
- Why was the invention of the washing machine a major advancement for women in the 1800s?
- What does this advertisement reveal about social class in the 1800s?
Suggested Activities
- After analyzing this source, ask the students to add thought bubbles to each figure and write what they imagine each woman is thinking based on what they’ve learned.
- To learn more about the drudgery of laundry before the advent of the washing machine, and learn about the history of Black domestic workers, see Laundry Workers: Tools of the Trade and Laundry Workers Strike.
- Teach this image together with Depicting Domestics and Housework and Electricity for a larger lesson about the experiences of women who worked as domestic servants.
Themes
DOMESTICITY AND FAMILY
