Cochrane's great grandfather, John Fitch, was a civil engineer who ran a steamboat service. He invented a number of innovations for the steamboat. His son Shaler had a daughter, Irene Fitch, who married civil engineer John Garis. Garis helped build Chicago before the great fire. Josephine Garis was the daughter of Irene and John Garis. Creativity seemed to run in the family.
Socialite in Shelbyville
Josephine married William Cochran, a successful grocer and court clerk. Cochrane herself was a socialite; she added an "e" to the end of her name to make it more "European."
Cochrane hosted numerous dinner parties. She one day noticed her fine china, in her family since the 17th century, was chipping. Unable to trust the servants to the task of handling this china, Cochrane began washing her own dishes. But this solution offended her socialite sensibilities.
She knew there had to be a better way of washing dishes without the hands-on work. So she set about thinking of a way to accomplish this.
Cochrane's husband was ill at the time and they were scheduled to take a retreat to improve his health. Cochrane stayed home to work on her idea. William returned home without his health much improved and died two weeks later. His death left Cochrane with only fifteen hundred dollars to her name and more than that in debt.
Josephine Cochrane got busy.
Invention of the Dishwasher
A hand-cranked dishwashing machine had already been patented by Joel Houghton in 1850. But Cochrane devised a better way of doing things.
With the help of a young mechanic, George Butters, Cochrane worked in a wood shed behind her home. She measured the dishware and designed wire compartments to hold each; plates, cups and saucers. These compartments were then placed inside a wheel laid flat into a copper boiler. A motor turned the wheel while jets squirted hot soapy water from the bottom of the boiler and over the dishes. The user had to pour hot water over the dishes for rinsing. Later models included a self-rinse cycle.
Friends and neighbors were excited about the new invention. Cochrane was encouraged to manufacture the machine and received a patent on December 28, 1886. She called the machine the "Cochrane Dishwasher" and began making the machines for friends. She was soon getting orders from restaurants and hotels in Illinois.
Cochrane founded the Garis-Cochran Dish-Washing Company, named for her father and husband, and began advertising the dishwasher in periodicals. She found promoting the product to be a more challenging task than actually inventing the machine.
Chicago World’s Fair
The 1893 Chicago World's Fair provided her with the break she needed. The Fair used her dishwashing machines in its kitchens, exposing it to the general public.
Her machine won honors for "best mechanical construction, durability and adaptation to its line of work."
In 1897 Cochrane opened her own factory with George Butters overseeing the manufacturing process.
Cochrane changed the name of her company to Cochran's Crescent Washing Machine Company. After her death in 1913, the company was purchased by The Hobart Manufacturing Company. In 1949, Hobart, under the KitchenAid® name, introduced home dishwashers to the public. KitchenAid brand is now part of the Whirlpool Company.
Sources:
Shelby County Historical Society
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