America's first vacuum cleaner needed a hand crank

On June 8, 1869, the U.S. Patent Office granted Patent No. 91,145 to Ives W. McGaffey of Chicago for an “Improved Sweeping-Machine.” It is widely recognized as the first U.S. patent for a hand-powered vacuum cleaner.

McGaffey’s device, which he marketed as the Whirlwind, was a contraption of wood and canvas. There was no motor. The operator had to turn a hand crank to create a current of air while simultaneously pushing the unit across the floor—an ungainly two-handed exercise.

Cleaning the rug meant cranking and shoving at the same time.

The airflow drew dust into a porous chamber, trapping dirt while letting the air escape. Clever, but awkward and expensive, the Whirlwind never sold well.

Electric suction had to wait. British engineer Hubert Cecil Booth patented a powered vacuum system in 1901, finally relieving households of the crank that McGaffey’s pioneering design had demanded.