John thurman vacuum cleaner biography of michaels

James Murray Spangler, a department-store janitor in Canton, Ohio, suffered from asthma. Sweeping the rugs every night stirred up dust and dirt, which left him gasping for breath. It was 1907, and agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration did not yet exist, so Spangler was left to his own devices.

John thurman vacuum cleaner biography of michaels images

He fashioned a machine from a tin soapbox, a sateen pillowcase, and a broom handle. Inside the box, an electric motor powered a fan and a rotating brush. The fan blew air out one end of the machine through the pillowcase. At the other end, air and dirt stirred up by the brush rushed in to take its place.

Spangler patented his device, which he called a “suction sweeper,” in 1908.

He sold a few to friends and relatives but lacked the money to set up a factory. One satisfied customer was Susan Hoover, whose husband, William H