– photo courtesy of liquidedge.tumblr.com
Now, far be it from me to tout the inventions of the 1800’s that were suppose to make work for women ‘easier’. Ahem; nonetheless, here is a Chicago connection. The first manually powered vacuum cleaner was invented in Chicago in 1868 by Ives W. McGaffey. There it is, the Whirlwind wonder (it was called the “Whirlwind” for reasons we can only surmise).
Ah, but now for another moment of truth. Did you know that Illinois’ State Dance is the Square dance?”
– photo courtesy of http://www.statesymbolsusa.org
My question is this: why not round dancing? I like round, it’s got a good shape and I am sure I can dance to it. Square is okay, but round is, why, revolving, ever-moving.
And here is another point I am pondering on this rainy Wednesday here in CHItown: there is an official state dance?? Really…………… This led me to wonder if the origins behind this little dance ditty had anything to do with that Whirlwind vacuum vehicle! Perhaps whilst the lady of the home was whirling around the parlor at lightning speed, going to and fro, she needed a partner to swing her around the table as such. Move to the left, ah, there’s some nasty dust, turn to the right, okay, I’ve got the dirt, oh, what a fright!
I guess I’ll get out the vacuum now and start dancing (I mean cleaning)!
The Chicago Files 