American advertising: GE portable dishwasher (1950)

 

Square of round, take your pick!

Timeline:

• 1850.  Barrel with hand crank invented by Joel Houghton
• 1889.  Hand-operated Lavaplatos introduced by Josephine Cochran exhibited at 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
• 1924.  Englishman William Howard Livens introduces an electric-power dishwasher
• 1933.  General Electric displays it automatic dishwashers for home use at the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago
• 1936.  General Electric introduced first front-loading, single-rack automatic dishwasher
• 1949.  KitchenAid introduces an automatic dishwasher for home use based on the design of Josephine Cochran.
• 1950.  General Electric's portable automatic dishwasher gets big advertising push.
• 1958.  Only 4% of U.S. households have an automatic dishwasher.
• 1997.  50% of U.S. households have an automatic dishwasher.

Related posts:

GE automatic electric blanket.  (8/2/2026)

GE refrigerator.  (7/31/2026).