Historical story

New! Vacuum cleaner that can also wash your poodle

NEMO Science Museum has a huge depot, full of special, but often also everyday devices. As of today, you can view a selection of the most beautiful and important devices from the history of technology online.

NEMO Kennislink took a look at the depot and was not only given a tour between the crammed shelving units, but also many great stories and fun facts. Volunteers Han Noot and Jos Hattink have researched the technical and cultural history behind a selection of objects from the collection. This history shows how new technical inventions changed society in various ways. Take the simple example of the vacuum cleaner manufacturer Hoover from America. Americans still use this brand name as a verb for vacuuming.

Closer to home you can also see how technology changed our world, such as in the early days of electricity. Jos:“With the arrival of electricity in the 1880s and 1890s, small private power stations supplied the power, initially only for lamplight. But the creation of a surplus made them think about how people could use electricity in other ways in addition to light. In Amsterdam, for example, they developed an iron that you could plug into the lamp socket.”

Jos:“To get energy you had to put money in a coin meter. These coin meters were often placed in the house for free, to encourage people to start using electricity. When reading the meters, the inspectors often found water in the tray of the coins. As it turned out:the coin meters also worked if you put an ice coin in them!” Han:“The caps of certain bottles were the same size as the coin, so when you filled the cap with a small layer of water, you got an ice coin that fit in the meter.” Free electricity, checkout!

Depot as treasure house

The objects that the volunteers talk about are in the closed depot in Amsterdam-Noord. Museums always have many more objects than can be exhibited and that also applies to NEMO Science Museum. The museum researches, conserves and stores its objects in the depot. In addition, NEMO lends pieces from the collection to other museums for their exhibitions and uses them for its own temporary exhibitions.

Museum visitors therefore always see only a part of all the treasures that a museum has, and that is a shame. NEMO has more than 17,000 historical objects that have something to do with science or technology. Household appliances such as coffee machines, televisions and vacuum cleaners from the twentieth century, but also early electricity meters, huge transformers or lamps from the nineteenth century.

View online

A selection from the collection of almost one hundred and fifty objects can now also be seen on Google Arts &Culture. This is an online platform where you can find art. Not only individual objects, but also as a kind of Google Streetview, where the 'walks' through the museums. For example, NEMO Science Museum allows visitors all over the world to come into contact with its most important heritage objects in the field of technology and energy from the comfort of their home.

The basis of this selection are the four core collections of the museum:Lighting, Energy generation and storage, Installation technology and Technology in and around the house. Most featured devices fall under the latest core collection. It also contains the most recognizable objects, such as old televisions, radios, washing machines and coffee machines. Jos has researched the history of these household appliances and his favorite object is therefore a house-garden-and-kitchen object.

“The English Tea Maker gives a very nice picture of the time in which it was developed. It is a tea maker from the 1920s, with both a timer and an alarm clock. Before that, the breakfast girl brought breakfast in bed to the English middle-class families in the morning. With the rising wages, maids only became a thing for the rich and then this device was developed. When the alarm went off, your tea was ready”, says Jos.

Han has a natural science background and he looked more at the operation of devices and which inventions preceded their development. His stories are more common in the objects from the other three core collections. “I think the Ampere-hour meter with pendulum clock by Siemens &Halske from the nineteenth century is most special. You had to wind this meter to measure your electricity consumption. You need a time measurement for this, but there was no electric or digital clock then, so it went with a pendulum clock. A great example of the transition to a new era.”

Coffee machines and toasters

While the gentlemen show me around the objects that are part of the exhibition, it is striking how many coffee machines are on display. “The Dutch are coffee drinkers, which is why so many coffee makers have ended up in the collection. Over time, many different techniques have been used, each of which required a different design. The museum wants to show this development”, says Jos.

The oldest coffee makers date from before the First World War (1914-1919), when Germany was the main supplier of electrical appliances. However, with the outbreak of the war, Dutch producers were given the opportunity to fill this gap and more home appliances are being produced.

The toasters also provide a nice timeline:they are becoming more efficient and capable of more and more. For example, at the beginning of the twentieth century you still had to turn your sandwiches yourself, while this is done automatically with later types. The design is also adapted to these technological developments, and from the 1950s they get the oh-so-recognizable pastel color.

Jos:“In the sixties, marketing becomes more important and with it the appearance of the devices. For example, household appliances are increasingly given sweet colors to make them attractive to housewives, hence the pink toasters and vacuum cleaners.” Han adds:“Before that time, designers were already working on a beautiful exterior, but that was secondary. The main thing was that the product was technically well put together.”

Coffee grinder annex leaf blower

What I find most interesting are the stories behind the devices that we no longer use, such as multifunctional devices. According to the advertisements, they could not only vacuum but also paint walls, wash your pet, blow leaves and grind coffee. Jos:“These kinds of multifunctional devices were developed because motors were very expensive at the time. By having all kinds of attachments fit on a motor, you had several devices in one and you saved the purchase of several expensive motors. But it wasn't really convenient, so as soon as the engines got cheaper, nobody bought them anymore.”

The number of fascinating anecdotes from Jos and Han about the objects in the collection is practically endless. So take a look at the online exhibition or visit an open day at the depot in Amsterdam-Noord. It is well worth a visit…