Who developed the first dishwashing machine?
The first DISHWASHING MACHINE (power model commercially produced) was developed over a period of 10 years by Mrs W.A. Cochran of Shelbyville, Ind., and patented on 28 December 1886). Mrs Cochran’s husband had been able to raise enough to perfect the invention from friends who believed in her work. She built various models, some for family and others for hotel use, the larger ones being driven by a steam engine. A contemporary newspaper reported that the Cochran dishwasher was ‘capable of washing, scalding, rinsing and drying from 5-20 dozen dishes of all shapes and sizes in two minutes …’ The manufacturing rights were acquired in 1889 by the Crescent Washing Machine Co. of Chicago. Their first domestic model was put on the market in 1914 at $250. In Britain first electric dishwasher for domestic use was the Empress of the Kitchen, introduced by the Washing-Up Machine Co. of Fulham Road, London in 1922.
