4) Vacuum Cleaners
The very first vacuums were manually operated, meaning the suction came from wood and leather bellows which had to be operated separately from the the hose. This meant that it took two people to operate it!
Vacuums were quite expensive when they first came out which meant that only large and rich households could afford to buy one. In these cases, they had several maids or more on hand so having a two-person cleaning machine was not considered inconvenient at all. But, of course, this also meant that only the wealthy could buy them. This all changed with advent of handy electrical outlets and the birth of the middle class.
Today’s vacuum cleaners are usually very easy to operate and have features no Edwardian could have dreamed of.
3) Hot Plates
While chaffing dishes may not have changed much since the 1800s the hot plate certainly has. This skillet hot plate burner isn’t flat, but rather has the pan already built-in. This model is powered by alcohol instead of electricity.
