SkipIt Pioneers: Episode 4 – Josephine Cochrane

Time to pay homage to another “skipping” pioneer. In this episode, we’d like to congratulate Josephine Cochrane, the inventor of what would become the modern day dishwasher. Cochrane was the granddaughter of John Fitch, the inventor of the steamboat, so it would seem the capacity to create was in her blood.

Legend has it that she came up with the invention because her servants were always chipping her fine china. She is said to have exclaimed, “If nobody else is going to invent a dishwashing machine, I’ll do it myself!”

"Let's see if they can chip my fine china now!"

Cochrane first unveiled her “Cochrane Dishwasher” at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and won the highest prize for “best mechanical construction, durability and adaptation to its line of work.”

Some might call her response overkill, but here at SkipIt, we simply call it awesome.