By Mary Dodge Allen
How did a widow with no formal education in mechanical engineering - successfully design, manufacture, market and sell an innovative dishwashing machine in an era when a woman managing a business was rare?
Josephine Garis was born into a prominent family on March 8, 1839 in Ashtabula County, Ohio. Her father was a civil engineer who operated mills in Ohio and Indiana.
When her mother died, Josephine moved to Shelbyville, Illinois to live with her sister. She soon met William Cochran, a successful businessman who ran a dry goods business. In 1858, at the age of 19, Josephine married William, who was nine years older. They had two children - a boy, Hallie, who tragically died in childhood, and a daughter, Katharine.
In 1870, William moved his family to a mansion in Chicago, and they joined the city's high society, hosting many elegant dinner parties. Josephine enjoyed using her family's 17th-century heirloom china at these events. But she was frustrated when the servants who washed the dishes often chipped and broke her prized china. When Josephine tried washing the china herself, she found she also chipped the dishes.
Her husband William, who had become a violent alcoholic, died suddenly in 1883. He left Josephine with $1,500 (the equivalent of $47,000 today) along with mismanaged finances and unpaid debts. While paying off these debts, she realized she was in financial trouble. She began devoting all her energy to developing her dishwashing machine.
Her Business Begins:
Josephine hired a young mechanic, George Butters, to help her build a working prototype from her detailed sketches. Day after day, they worked together in a woodshed behind her house. Butters always entered the shed through the back door because Josephine worried her reputation might be ruined if neighbors saw him coming to her house every day.
On the day after Christmas, 1886, J.G. Cochran was awarded patent no. 355,139 for her "Dish Washing Machine."
Although Josephine was not the first to invent a dish washing machine, she was the first to use water pressure, rather than scrubbers to clean the dishes (the process that is still in use today). And her machine had specialized racks to hold the dishes and flatware in place.
Josephine called her invention the Garis-Cochran Dish Washing Machine. She enlisted financing from wealthy investors and used established manufacturing firms to build her dish washing machines. But finding competent employees proved frustrating.
Male workers who were aware of Josephine's lack of mechanical training, often tried making 'improvements' to her machine, which disrupted the manufacturing process. Josephine complained, "I couldn't get men to do the things I wanted in my way, until they had tried and failed on their own. And that was costly for me."
Through her wealthy friends and contacts, Josephine began to sell her dish washing machines to wealthy households with enough money to pay the high price (over $100) and with home water heaters large enough to run the machines.
To expand her sales, Josephine began selling a much larger model of her dish washing machine to restaurants and hotels. In 1887, a friend introduced her to the manager of Chicago's Palmer House, one of the most famous hotels in the country. Her sales pitch impressed the manager and resulted in her first large order.
The second hotel she visited was the Sherman House, and she needed to make a sale without the benefit of a formal introduction. In the 1880s, an adult woman of her social class rarely left home unless accompanied by a man.
Walking alone into the hotel, Josephine recalled, "was almost the hardest thing I ever did. You cannot imagine what it was like in those days... for a woman to cross a hotel lobby alone... the lobby seemed a mile wide. I thought I should faint at every step, but I didn't - and I got an $800 order as my reward."
The Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893:
Josephine Cochran's big break happened at this huge event, which took place during a six month duration in 1893. It was considered the event of the century and was attended by more than 27 million people.
The large-sized model of her Garis-Cochran Dish Washing Machine - the model sold to hotels and restaurants - was showcased in Machinery Hall, along with many other innovative inventions. Of all the devices displayed in that massive hall, hers was the only device invented by a woman.
Her dish washing machine worked with amazing speed. Over 200 dirty dishes could be loaded in the dish racks. Pulleys and gears then transported them inside the machine. Minutes later, after being washed by soap and hot water pressure, the dishes emerged, sparkling clean.
The Garis-Cochran Dish Washing Machine won an award at the Exposition. It was declared the "best mechanical construction, durability, and adaptation to its line of work."
Josephine's Dish Washing Machine wasn't just on display, it was also being used by the World Exposition's many restaurants.
The publicity her dish washing machine received at the World's Columbian Exposition led to more orders than ever before. In addition to hotels and restaurants, she began selling to hospitals and colleges.
Her Own Factory:
In 1898, Josephine established her own factory under the name, Cochran's Crescent Dish Washing Company, with George Butters as factory manager. Sales continued growing across the country, and as far away as Alaska and Mexico.
Josephine wasn't the type to sit back and rest. She was always involved in the business, and she constantly looked for ways to improve her dish washing machine.
In August 1913, Josephine passed away in her Chicago home, at the age of 74. The cause of death was said to be a stroke, brought on by nervous exhaustion.
Josephine received a second, posthumous patent in 1917 for an improved version of her dish washing machine.
Josephine Garis Cochran was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.
"If I knew all I know today, when I began to put the dishwasher on the market, I never would have had the courage to start. But then, I would have missed a very wonderful experience."
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Mary Dodge Allen is currently finishing her sequel to Hunt for a Hometown Killer. She's won a Christian Indie Award, an Angel Book Award, and two Royal Palm Literary Awards (Florida Writer's Association). She and her husband live in Central Florida. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Faith Hope and Love Christian Writers.
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