Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Things We Rely On

Earlier in the week I was using the vacuum cleaner on the upstairs carpets.  I kept switching on and off, as you do when you have to stop to move something out of the way, or when meticulously avoiding the deaf cat who used to be terrified of the sound the cleaner makes but now doesn't know you are right behind her with one of her worst fears, when low and behold, I switched it on - nothing!  I tried again, no response!  I checked the plug hadn't been pulled out of the socket - it hadn't.  I unplugged it and plugged it in again - nothing.  I emptied the cylinder over the wheelie bin in quite a breeze and got half of it back in my face, I cleaned the filter with the little brush, put everything back, switched on - nothing!  Paul then checked the plug to see if the fuse had gone, it hadn't.  It looked as if a new  cleaner was needed.  We looked at lots of websites to see what was available and that got me thinking about vacuum cleaners and I remembered a book I've had for ages about the history of them and other household appliances we now can't manage without.


This is a super little book and the development of the vacuum cleaner makes for interesting reading.  Apparently, so the author tells us, the suction vacuum cleaner nearly didn't happen at all because their inventor, Hubert Cecil Booth, nearly choked to death on a mouthful of dust whilst testing his theory that to get the dust out of a carpet you needed to suck the dust up from the fibres and not blow it out from the fibres.  He had seen  a machine demonstrated that was intended to clean railway carriages by blowing air and raising the dust in the hopes it would land in the attached box.  Booth thought that the dust was better sucked out than blown out and he patented his first vacuum cleaner in 1901and launched the British Vacuum Cleaner Company to produce what he called 'The Puffing Billy' which was a red horse drawn machine much like an early fire engine.  It needed several uniformed attendants to work it and it was hired out to owners of fashionable houses who loved to be seen by their friends and neighbours with the red machine outside their homes. A sign both of cleanliness and wealth. The first vacuum cleaner I remember as a little girl in the 1950s was a grey cylinder one with Goblin written on the side.  I think the fact that it had something to do with a goblin used to intrigue me!  Incidentally, Goblin vacuum cleaners were also produced by Hubert Cecil Booth's British Vacuum Cleaner Company from the 1930s onwards.

That isn't the end of the story! The next morning I plugged my hairdryer into the same socket I'd used for the vacuum cleaner - nothing!  Oh no,I thought,  not the hairdryer as well and then the penny dropped!  After all that it wasn't any of the appliances that were at fault it was the socket on the wall! 

20 comments:

  1. Hopefully the socket will be less expensive to deal with than 2 appliances!

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    1. Yes, it was! My husband took a look and said a neutral wire had come loose so he fixed it, luckily he is quite good with that sort of thing:)

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  2. Imagine having uniformed attendants to operate the vacuum cleaner for you! I hope you managed to get your socket sorted!!! x

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    1. Socket sorted! Wouldn't that be great? You can see why the home owners wanted to be seen to be using the 'puffing billy':)

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  3. good job you discovered it was the sockets fault before you bought a new vacuum cleaner!

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    1. It certainly was, I wasn't looking forward to chosing a new one!:)

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  4. Loved the story about the development of the vacuum cleaner. That looks a great little book.
    It sounds like you got a fair mouthful of dust yourself!

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    1. It is quite an interesting book. I felt so dusty for the rest of the day:)

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  5. Fascinating story about the history of the vacuum cleaner; I can just imagine the neighbours' curtains twitching when the Puffing Billy turned up in the road. You've been left with the problem of the socket, but it must be a relief that you don't have to replace your own vacuum cleaner (or hairdryer).

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    1. Yes, I wasn't looking forward to chosing a new vacuum cleaner and the socket was easily sorted:)

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  6. I didn't know all that about vacuum cleaner history - interesting. Just as well you didn't buy a new cleaner before finding out about the socket! Our Dyson (the DC01 - the first one) conked out recently - I went to the local charity warehouse the next day and got one for £10 which works perfectly! :-) x

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    1. What a good idea! Even if it doesn't last long it's worth £10 for the charity:)

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  7. I quite like the idea of someone coming round to the house to do my vacuuming. And puffing billy wouldn't have blown a socket either!

    Is this truly progress? ;)

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    1. Makes you wonder doesn't it? I'm not too fond of vacuuming either - especially the stairs:)

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  8. It is hard to imagine life without a vacuum cleaner although I suppose people had wooden floors and even flag floors which could be swept and mopped. I still say Hoover the carpet, despite the fact that we haven't owned one for years.

    Have a Happy Easter Rosie. x

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    1. We rely on them don't we? I expect I wouldn't have been rich enough to be able to secure the services of 'puffing billy' I'd have been beating the rag rugs out in the back yard over an outside line with a carpet beater! Happy Easter to you too, Valerie:)

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  9. Couldn't cope without my cleaner. I've learned a lot reading your post. Mx

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  10. Oh my, I'd have gone mad if I were you, since I cannot live without my hairdryer and vacuum cleaner!
    x

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    1. Lol - If it were a choice between the two I'd chose the hairdryer - I really can't manage without one of those:)

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