There are plenty of things inside our houses right now that we may take for granted, from Tide laundry detergent to Drano and Advil. Some of these iconic brands have gone through big design changes throughout their histories. Listerine used to be an antiseptic for surgery, not mouthwash. The average American home has changed in innumerable ways over the last century, from the kitchen to the living room. Our favorite household products have changed along with them. Tide and Drano used to come in powder or crystal form, Listerine came corked in a glass bottle, and Windex was sold in an aerosol can.
Ivory Soap was first sold in 1878 by Procter & Gamble. It was marketed as the "Soap that Floats," since air was accidentally mixed into the formula, causing it to float.
Tide laundry detergent was launched in 1946. It was sold as a powder in cardboard boxes. It’s been the leading laundry detergent in the US since 1949.
Windex was first released in 1936 as windshield cleaner and came in glass bottles. It soon expanded to service home windows and was packaged in aerosol cans.
The first disposable Pampers diaper was sold in 1961, before that, washable cloth diapers were the norm. According to Procter & Gamble, it took years of research and development to create disposable diapers that parents could feasibly use, and that were both comfortable and cost-effective.
Dyson vacuum cleaners have only been around since 1990. Here’s what the first one looked like. Dyson vacuums are known for being bagless. The first "bagless vacuum,"called the G-Force, was sold exclusively in Japan by Dyson for a cool $2,000.
Listerine used to be sold in a glass bottle with a cork, back when it was first invented as an antiseptic in 1879. Listerine was inspired by an English doctor named Joseph Lister, who was the first surgeon to conduct procedures in a sterilized room in 1865, leading to a fall in mortality rates. Just over a decade later, another doctor, Dr. Joseph Lawrence, was inspired by Lister and began bottling Listerine, "a unique antiseptic for use in surgeries and bathing wounds."
Drano was originally sold as a crystal mixture in 1923. Drano is most likely everyone’s first thought when they encounter a clogged drain – for almost 50 years, it was the only name in drain cleaning.
In 1918, Frigidaire started to mass produce refrigerators for the home. The design looks more like a wooden cabinet. n 1924, Frigidaire added cubbies like these, for different products like ice cream and produce.
