Located on the south side of the Stage Stop porch, the display begins at the 1830’s with “scrub boards” and a bucket.

The “funnel-on-a-stick” was invented in 1877 by Cyrus Dodge. Dodge and Walter Zuill started the Dodge & Zuill Co. The “funnel-on-a-stick” remained in use with a bucket of soapy water through the 1920’s.

The “ribbed washer” that used a hinged agitator in a rectangular metal tub was invented in 1846 and remained in use into the 1920’s.

Whether using a bucket or a rubbed washer,

In 1907, Fredrick Louis Maytag made a wooden-tub, hand operated washing machine.

The next step in washing machine automation was to have a washer that ran on belt-power (with a belt connected to a tractor or stationary gas or kerosene engine).

In 1910, Dodge & Zuill introduced the first motor-driven washing machine. In 1915, Dodge & Zuill received the highest medal for their “Model C” machine at the Panama Pacific International Exposition.

They continued to improve their machines and in 1919 their company name was changed to the Syracuse Washing Machine Co. Our copper-tub “Easy Washer” is a “Model M” dating to about 1919.

By 1911, Fredrick Louis Maytag had invented his first electric washing machine. Many people in the country didn’t yet have electricity, so he also developed a small gas engine in 1914 to run the machine.

In 1919, Maytag made the first aluminum-tub washer. In 1922, the “gyrofoam” washer was designed that used only water agitation to clean the clothes.