19000001_0417

© Fonds historique / CNRS Images

Reference

19000001_0417

Stain removal pump photographed on February 28th, 1923

Stain removal pump photographed on February 28th, 1923. In the aftermath of WW1, the house-hold revolution was accompanied by vast developments in health and sanitation policies. Jules-Louis Breton, director of the ONSRII, was also named the first minister of hygiene. His concern for soldiers’ living conditions during the war logically transitioned to concern for workers and women’s living conditions. The mechanization and simplification of the thankless task of laundry cleaning was one of the ONRSII’s and its director’s central concerns (Breton was, after all, the inventor of several washers). Mr. Faloux’s stain removal pump was a small household appliance intended for "removing stains and impurities from textiles, that had to be dry and resistant so as not to be damaged by the pump."

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