John Jones Buys an Atmospheric Pressure Clothes Washer
It’s the Story
Table Rock Pioneer Museum visitor Wesley Imig of Atlanta holds an atmospheric pressure clothes washer, maker unknown.
Image of Crooker’s atmospheric pressure clothes washer from the 1878 patent
Don’t you just love a good story? Better yet, one set in Pawnee County.
In 1879, John A. Jones of Table Rock bought a miracle device to ease his wife Ellen’s household chores. He paid the magnificent sum of $5.00 for this device, which was called “H. D. Crooker’s Atmospheric Clothes Washer.”
Jones’ payment did more than secure the device. It was expensive – Jones paid top dollar. Atmospheric pressure clothes washers eventually sold for around $3.50 and almost 50 years …
