The Agitator

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The Agitator iHorn is made from an 1900’s Simplex Premier manual washing machine agitator. In its original state, it had a broom handle attached to the agitator, which was manipula ted in an up and down motion to clean laundry. It was the butter churn approach to cleaning clothes. While the earliest drum washing machines were invented in England in 1782, they lacked an ability to agitate the clothing in order to eliminate scrubbing. One of the first innovations in washing machine technology was the use of enclosed containers or basins that had grooves, fingers, or paddles to help with the scrubbing and rubbing of the clothes. The person using the washer would use a stick to press and rotate the clothes along the textured sides of the basin or container, agitating the clothes to remove dirt and mud. This crude agitator technology was hand-powered, but still more effective than actually hand-washing the clothes. The Agitator was a useful tool which continues to produce clean sounds. It is a dirty piece of American economic history which is so unique it had to be preserved. Show more