If houses could clean themselves

Saturday, August 17, 2024
Cute robot cleaning a house Pixabay
Pixabay

If only houses could clean themselves…

On Wednesday, I started doing a few history-related posts, in support of my next non-fiction volume in my Author Tool Chest collection, “Real Steampunkery Tech: True Contraptions of the Steam and Diesel Eras.” An inventor I stumbled upon while researching that book would have readily answered that ponderation in my post title. Allow me to introduce Frances Gabe.  Her father was an architect, and she grew up around building construction. In 1929, she graduated young from the Girl’s Polytechnic School in Portland, Oregon.  The smart little bearcat was not patient with school. “I was born a most unusual person, so I had a heck of a time in school. Everything moved much too slowly,” Gabe stated. “My last day, I stood up in class and screamed at my teacher, ‘You told us that last week!'”
Patent Model Self-Cleaning House Patent No. 4,428,085 Wikipedia
Patent Model Self-Cleaning House, Patent No. 4,428,085, Wikipedia
In 1940 she began designing her self-cleaning house, and 12 years later finished building the prototype.  Although she didn’t patent the entire thing until 1984. (That patent consisted of 68 individual inventions.) However, she held several patents for individual inventions that she included in the house.   Gabe, who lived in Newberg, Oregon, USA, had an intense dislike of housework.  She designed and lived in a house in which each room had a 10-inch square, “Cleaning/ Drying/ Heating/Cooling” device on the ceiling.  To clean a room, you simply pushed a button, and the cleaning unit sent a powerful spray of soapy water around the room.  It then rinsed and blow-dried the room.   The house also had self-cleaning sinks, bathtubs, and toilets.  Her cupboard doubled as a dishwasher.  Her clothes were cleaned, dried, and stored while hanging in the closet.  Frances stored valuable objects (and things that should not get wet) under glass. Runoff water escaped through drains in the barely perceptibly sloping floors.  It was channeled outside to drain straight through her doghouse, where the dog got washed in the bargain.  Frances’ house was the only one of its kind ever built.
Frances Gabe self-cleaning house Shane Young 2002
Frances Gabe in her self-cleaning house. Photo by Shane Young 2002
I would have wanted to be Frances’ best friend.  However, the women in her community were incensed. “One time I had a group of furious housewives on my doorstep, telling me I was doing them out of a job and that if they didn’t have to clean their houses, their husbands wouldn’t need them anymore,” Ms. Gabe told The Guardian. “And I said, ‘Well, if you had more time to spend with your husbands, don’t you think they would like that better?’” I suspect that maybe those women didn’t want to have more time with their husbands… and the husbands probably didn’t want more time with their wives. Admittedly, I’m cynical that way. “Housework is a thankless, unending job, a nerve-tangling bore. Who wants it? Nobody! With my jaw set hard I was determined there had to be a better way!” she remarked about her invention.

The first half of the YouTube video below tells more about Frances Gates and her house.

Frances Gabe held 68 patents.  She lived to the age of 101.  There are some newspaper articles available online that have additional details about her many inventions and her life.

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Coming Soon!

It’s a summary overview of unexpected, odd, and downright freakish inventions of bygone days.  Included are 26 mini-bios of not so well-known inventors.

Real Steampunkery Tech: True Contraptions of the Steam and Diesel Eras

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So, my closing question is… Where the %$#@ is my self-cleaning house? Thanks for taking a step into a bygone era with me.   Friendly comments are encouraged.  Hugs!

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I must include the obligatory shameless self-promotion.
Speak Chuckaboo & Speak Flapper
Speak Chuckaboo & Speak Flapper, by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene
Universal Purchase Links Speak Chuckaboo Kindle:  relinks.me/B0B9W38LDJ Paperback:  relinks.me/B0B9T8MP1K Speak Flapper Kindle:  relinks.me/B083HNK3BB Paperback:  relinks.me/1656168553

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Copyright © 2024 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

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77 thoughts on “If houses could clean themselves

    1. Hi Robbie. Frances persevered and gradually achieved building her house. What I didn’t include: However, her invention(s) was never accepted or acknowledged. Her neighbors shunned her. It seems that she didn’t have any friends to speak of. She out lived her children. She died alone and forgotten in a nursing home. I relate to her a lot, although I can’t imagine living to 101. LOL

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      1. HI Teagan, children are frequently selfish as their parents age and require their support. Parents also become difficult and selfish too. It creates a difficult situation and the aged parent often ends up alone from what I see. Having children isn’t a guarantee of being loved and supported when you are old. This is what I see, in any event. She sounds like a genius.

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  1. What a fascinating woman and wild inventions, Teagan. I was and wasn’t surprised by the reaction of neighborhood women. That wouldn’t have been my reaction. I’m not a fan of housework at all. Thanks for sharing such a fun post.

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  2. Frances, you were ahead of your time, just like you were ahead in school. That’s a tough road, yet you persevered. Your house is, of course, everyone’s dream. I hope you are looking over my shoulder from above as I type this, as you were a true rock star. Teagan, thank you for sharing the story of Frances.

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  3. What an extraordinary woman! Teagan – this was a wonderful post for me to read at the start of a new week. A reminder that we need to think creatively and that there is always a new way of doing things! Many thanks!!

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    1. Hi Rebecca. I’m so glad you enjoyed this. Some of the personal details (not included here because I couldn’t fact check all of them) show her to be an audacious character indeed. I love that she renamed herself in later life (after her divorce), making up a surname that used the first initials of her middle, maiden, and married names. Another forgotten female inventor post goes live at midnight tonight. Hugs on the wing.

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    1. Haha. All that water could be a problem with the litterbox. But… I expect she would have conquered the problem if she put her mind to it. A couple of articles about her talked about her having Great Dane dogs. LOL, that sure explains why she added “dog washing” to the things the house could do!
      Have a great week, Teri. Looking forward to Bad Moon Rising! Hugs.

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  4. Love Frances’ invention.

    I too am a housework non-lover. This invention could still come to reality one day.

    Teagan, thank you for this spotlight on a unique person!

    Hugs

    Ps. – Finished the books. (great tale!) Will be mailing you once the Emmy voting is over!

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    1. Hi, Resa. It really has potential now, but it also did back then. Too bad so many people were threatened by the idea.
      I’m so happy you enjoyed the book version of the Delta Pearl! Enjoy the Emmy season. Hugs winging back to you.

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  5. The last thing we need in the Ohio River Valley is more humidity! lol! Still, it’s a fascinating concept. It would go perfectly with the Lustron homes of about the same timeframe as her idea. Lustron homes are built of enameled steel, and all the shelves are made into the walls. The water would just run off. I could go for that combination, although it would mean my learning to be neat and tidy, and that’s a hard learning curve for me. lol!

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    1. It’s good to see you, Marian. Haha, I can relate to that particular learning curve. I really think her design could be viable and even practical today, given advancements in technology. It makes one wonder why that never happened. Thanks for mentioning the Lustron homes. I’ll look into them. Hugs to you and the kitties.

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    1. Thanks, John. I enjoyed learning about Frances too. She was an extraordinary person, but for the sake of a blog post length, I left out those details. We’re still frying over here. I hope this latest heat dome dissipates before it gets to you. Big hugs.

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  6. I have a T-shirt that says “Well-behaved women seldom make History.” I wore it on casual Fridays when teaching American History to 8th graders, alternating with my Banned Books sweatshirt. It’s not true, of course, but the well-behaved women, all too often, went unnoticed. Thanks for noticing, Teagan. I look forward to reading more about them.

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    1. It’s good to see you, Bruce. Ha — that’s fabulous about the shirts! I agree with the first one, because it really is rare as far as I can tell. To the second, I’ve often said that I wish my books would get on the banned list because that would cause sales.
      There were a lot of details about Frances as a person that I left out. It seems she was quite a character. One article was outrageous and fun, but I didn’t find those details repeated, so I had to be skeptical and not include it here. Although I’m trying to stick to the inventions here. Thanks for reading and commenting. Hugs.

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    1. Wouldn’t that be great, Jan? I’ve never lived in a place as dusty as this one. The first time I lived in NM (near Albuquerque) there was a big vacant, undeveloped parcel across the street from my house. I knew I would get dust from it. BUT EVEN THAT was not as dusty as what I have now. If I could, I’d hermetically seal everything. LOL. Let the dust bunnies breed, and have a restful weekend. Hugs.

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  7. The leaks and mold would steer me away from that design but, I like the way she thinks! I detest housework! I’ve always wanted my own Rosie the Robot to clean my house. I’m getting closer to having one. I have an iRobot vacuum for the floors now.

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    1. An entire generation of us grew up with Rosie Robor envy, Deborah. LOL. Hopefully the blow dry part prevented mold. Granted it wasn’t very practicable, but imagine how ordinary advancements and updates could have improved the design. Why that didn’t happen is food for thought. 😀 An iRobot is a great start. Maybe I should try one… Hugs!

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      1. Just don’t expect too much from Roomba she’s pretty dumb…thankfully! She hasn’t quite figured out how to map my house, but I think that’s more my fault than hers as I keep moving her from room to room rather than letting her figure it out. I bought the stronger pet hair version both times I’ve bought one thinking it’s stronger than a regular one. Who knows? Yes, we’re on our second one. We wore out the first one after 5-6 yrs of use.

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  8. I have never heard about her, but I will research her surely. Having lost my parents early, house cleaning became a part of my routine, so I don’t mind cleaning my house. Yeah, house cleaning can be a boring chore, but only until you get started. I used to go to work, come home, clean the house, take a bath, and then relax. If I do not clean the house, I will be sitting in an unclean environment which I don’t like. The same applies to my toilet as well. So, cleaning is like a necessary unwanted task. Many of my friend’s mom who came to my home often thought I had a maid but I never had one. I think my only drawback, and a big drawback is that I can’t cook. All I can do is boil eggs and make noodles, that’s it. Apart from that, I can do laundry, wash utensils, clean the home, iron clothes, and hand sew any torn clothes (I cannot do crotchet). I guess that’s pretty much my home skills.

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    1. It sounds like getting it to become a system and daily routine was very helpful to you, Sharukh. Kudos! If you aren’t a great cook, that seems like a balance. Nobody should have to be good at everything. LOL, I never got the hang of crochet either. 😀 Hugs to you and Sarah.

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      1. I’ll tell you something funny, maybe your readers will enjoy it as well. I got my first job in a 3-star hotel via my brother’s reference. All knew I was a waste. So, one day the captain (Head of Room Service Dept) ordered me to chop onions. There were around 100 onions in that sack. I was about to say (that I have no idea how to chop) but before I could, he handed me a huge knife and said – chop them quickly, I’ll take a round of the building and return, by then this work should be done. He left. For me, that was a huge sharp knife and more than the onion I was worried about my delicate fingers. So, I sat aside and started peeling an onion. I used my visual geometry skills to ensure that I was chopping all pieces the same width. I never realized 45 minutes later I was on the first onion but almost done with it. The captain came and he was like – WHAT? Are you still on the first one? I was like yeah, He was SO furious, I think he was trying to come up with the most abusive word he could spit at my face but he couldn’t. He took a deep breath and said to his junior, Please take Sharukh off the chopping section and went away.

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    1. I hear that, GP! Seriously though, my biggest objection is what strong cleansers do to my sinuses and asthma… and how nearly everything is a “back hurty” chore for me these days.
      It’s really sad when you think about Frances’ house though. Think about the exponential rate of how technology has increased since she first started building that house. With regular updates, her design would be easily feasible today. Yet nobody has ever been willing to allow it to happen. It’s food for thought. Hugs.

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      1. Oh, I have thought about it and with the tech of today, it is quite feasible! In some cases, I have to wear my pandemic mask to do housework, as my sinuses are chronic!
        But – can you imagine those corps., like P&G? They’d have a fit !!

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    1. Frances seems like an audacious and fun woman, Pete. I left out the personal details, wanting to keep my posts brief, and focus on the inventions. However, a movie about her would be fabulous.
      I’m in line right behind you for one of those houses. 😀 Thanks for reading and commenting. Hugs.

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  9. Frances was clearly ahead of her time. Of course, if it were my house, I’d be surrounded by a soggy mess of things I forgot to put back under their waterproof covers, but it might be a risk I’d be willing to take. Pursuing a “crazy” idea is worthy of a certain amount of pride. Frances went above and beyond that. Thanks for an entertaining post to start my weekend, Teagan.

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    1. Hi, Dan. I’m happy you enjoyed this. When I look at the details of her design, it would be easily feasible today. Considering when she designed it, we could have grown up with the “system” of how things were put away being already ingrained in our daily routines. We wouldn’t even think about it. Watertight storage units would be commonplace and made attractive too. Mold wouldn’t be a problem because she had already included drying units. Those would have advanced too. It really makes one wonder. Wishing you and yours a fun and relaxing weekend. Hugs.

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    1. It’s good to see you, Darlene. Yes, mine too! Her determination alone makes her my hero. At a time when men didn’t want a woman working — particularly in architecture or construction… Meanwhile, most women couldn’t break into the workforce or even have their own bank accounts, so the women were against her, thinking they’d be made obsolete — or simply jealous. Yet she kept going, becoming more outrageous and “in their face” by the day. Thanks for reading and commenting. Hugs.

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