Women’s Inventions That Have Changed The Way The Modern Kitchen Operates

Appliances were created to make life easier for all who can afford them. These days, most households are equipped with modern kitchens, complete with modern equipment and appliances that make it easier to get things done.

These appliances were once nonexistent and some may have remained that way without the intuition and grit of some special women who we now pay tribute to. Keep reading to meet some of them as well as their creations.

Josephine Cochrane — dishwasher

Cochrane's dishwasher has been saving lives for decades. With one of these, you don't have to worry about doing the dirty dishes when you return home after a grueling day at work or think twice about having a buffet at your home because of the number of dishes it leaves behind. The dishwasher was invented by Josephine Garis Cochrane. It was patented in 1886 and it consisted of a manually operated pump system. It underwent seven years of testing before it was exposed to the World's Columbian Exposition of Chicago where it achieved success that made the inventor open a factory called the Garis-Cochran Dish-Washing Machine Company, which was later acquired by the Whirlpool Corporation.

Margaret Knight — paper bag

Paper bags are products most people take for granted these days. Not many know that these timeless things were created by Margaret Knight in 1860. Back then it was such an ingenious invention that a man named Charles Annan tried to get it patented before Knight could. He was a deep misogynist and his reason was that no woman could have come up with something so complex. Knight was forced to sue. Fortunately, was able to prove that she made the prototype using evidence like tests and sketches.

Lillian Gilbreth — the pedal bin and the electric blender

Lillian Gilbreth was the first woman to enter the National Academy of Engineering, or the prestigious national engineering academy of the United States of America. She was a mother of 12 children and a brilliant mind who studied the essential gestures of everyday life and then applied them to engineering, leading to the creation of important tools such as the pedal bin and the electric blender.

Florence Parpart — the modern refrigerator

The first patent of the refrigerating machine can be traced back to 1851 and is registered by the US John Gorrie. Other patents were also recorded as years passed. However, thanks to the census records and patent applications of the US government, we now know that Florence Parpart is also one of the engineers who submitted a patent for the refrigerator. She did so in 1914 for the modern refrigerator, which made the icebox obsolete for those who were able to use electricity.

Nancy Johnson — ice cream maker

On September 9, 1843, Nancy Johnson filed a patent for her invention, the ice cream maker. She decided that rather than endure the stress of manually making ice cream, you could insert a crank over the container of the sorbettiera to turn the mixture. Her invention remains relevant, even after the influx of electric ice cream makers.