Josephine Cochrane (1839-1913) invented a machine that brought the feeling of luxury straight into your own home–the commercial dishwasher.
Josephine Cochrane (1839-1913) invented a machine that brought the feeling of luxury straight into your own home–the commercial dishwasher.
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History classes can get a bad wrap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, and Ale Tejeda. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
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This month, we’re talking about innovators – women who helped shape the world we live in today.
Today’s Womanican invented a solution to one of the most tedious tasks in the kitchen. It was a machine that brought the feeling of luxury straight into your own home. Let’s meet the inventor of the commercial dishwasher, Josephine Cochrane.
Josephine was born on March 8th, 1839 in Ohio. She was the daughter of a civil engineer and the great-granddaughter of the inventor of the first patented steamboat in the U.S. Needless to say, the inventor's spirit was in her bones.
When Josephine was 19, she married William A. Cochran straight out of high school. She took her husband’s last name but made it her own by adding an “e” to the end. Early in their marriage, her husband found great success in the dry goods business. With their newfound wealth, they moved into a mansion in Illinois and Josephine embraced the role of a socialite.
She hosted lavish dinner parties, proudly displaying her collection of heirloom dishes that dated back to the 1600s. The dishes were delicate and difficult to clean. To her dismay, she discovered that her servants had chipped the fine china while washing them. So, Josephine tried to take things into her own hands and started to wash the china herself.
Josephine quickly tired of all the washing and was determined to find a mechanical solution. She got to sketching out a design for a new machine. In 1883, while she was in the early stages of exploring what this machine could look like, her husband died. She was left with a mountain of debt. What initially started as a pursuit borne out of pure curiosity became her best shot at financial success.
In 1885, Josephine filed her first patent application for her dish washing machine. Some had attempted to design dishwashing machines before. But Josephine’s invention was the first to use water pressure to clean the dishes. Those previous machines required the user to pour boiling water over the dishes. Josephine’s invention also had racks designed to fit and hold dishes in place as the jets sprayed them with water.
The following year, she built the first prototype with the help of a mechanic named George Butters. At the end of 1886, Josephine received a U.S. patent for her “Dish Washing Machine.” She was ready to start selling.
She pursued hotels and restaurants as her first target customers. It was no easy task, especially as a woman. She later recalled what it was like to approach the Sherman House, a large hotel in Chicago, saying, “You cannot imagine what it was like in those days…for a woman to cross a hotel lobby alone. I had never been anywhere without my husband or father—the lobby seemed a mile wide. I thought I should faint at every step, but I didn’t—and I got an $800 order as my reward.”
Once she had a few orders in hand, it was time to start manufacturing. But Josephine lacked the cash to get the business moving quickly.
It wasn’t until 1893 that business really picked up speed. That year, Chicago hosted a world’s fair. Josephine was the only woman with a machine on display. She wowed the audience, demonstrating how she could take a stack of 240 dirty plates, cups, and saucers, and turn them into sparkly clean dishes in just two minutes. She was awarded the highest prize for “best mechanical construction, durability and adaptation to its line of work.”
She was also rewarded with new orders. Customers were sold on the possibility of her machine saving them time and money. She saw a sharp increase in orders from restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and colleges.
In 1898, Josephine opened her first factory. She established Cochran’s Crescent Washing Machine Company and sold her dishwashers far and wide. Though, during her lifetime, her machines continued to be more of interest to businesses than individual consumers.
Josephine died in 1913 at the age of 74. A few decades after her death, her dishwashers finally started becoming popular in households. Today dishwashers remain a staple in many American homes. Her company eventually became KitchenAid and today is owned by Whirlpool. In 2006, Josephine was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
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Special thanks to co-creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan.
As always, we’re taking a break for the weekend. Talk to you tomorrow!