By The experts and innovators seem to be appealed by the universal principle in the whole world of innovation which is not only about being large, find new and complex technologies to live with the evolution of humanity but also finding the practical solutions to large and small groups of society to deal with everyday problems and tasks and this is the case of the birth of the vacuum cleaners.
It may seem frivolous, perhaps a minor and of little significance issue, but in the twenty-first century, where the home comfort still left much to be desired and the development of the machines was unstoppable, the patent of this appliance prompted its creator the humblest home to multinational business.
Who invented the vacuum cleaner?
James Murray Spangler, as described by the documents of the archive in his hometown, Ohio (USA), he worked as a janitor at a department store and was in charge of maintaining the department.
For years, he suffered from the ravages of asthma, but it was only an intuition to him that he became quite sure that his illness was due to the dust that came off the carpets cleaned in the workplace.
To deal with this issue, he sought for a simple solution. He mounted vertically mechanized carpet sweeper making use of a vertical stick, a cloth bag and a small engine with automatic suction capacity located in the area of the brushes and connected it to the bag. The year was 1907 and this was actually the first vacuum cleaner and today it has become a household product.
The historical account reveal that four decades before Spangler implemented the idea, another American, Daniel Hess, created a machine capable of cleaning carpets with a similar philosophy, it but worked with a water tank and it was quite burdensome for standardized mass production since it weighed 40kg.
It can be assumed that Spangler was inspired by the suction system of the machine created by Daniel Hess and he tried to devise it with handy and easy manufacturing apparatus and then to improve the original design and patented it and vacuums were born.
Unlike many other cases, this time the official document was not left in a drawer and Spangler was lucky to have investors and he built a company called Electric Suction Sweeper Company. The partnership could not for long and later Spangler partnered with William Hoover who invested enough for the company to change its name and turn into an international empire.
In the beginning, only men used vacuum cleaners considering they were not made for women and the big hotels and businesses were the main customers. But the fact that having the device was synonymous with social status, combined with practicality, many homes didn’t want to miss the latest innovation and today it is a part of every home.
