c. 1920

Horton Hybrid Washer, Model 32

The Horton Manufacturing Company was founded in Bluffton, Indiana in 1871 by Dr. Theodore Horton to make the first mechanical washer for home use. By the early 1880s the small firm needed capital to meet demand for their products. With Fort Wayne investors, lead by John C. Peters, the company was incorporated and moved manufacturing to Fort Wayne in 1883. Over the years the company improved its designs and expanded distribution, making the claim by 1924 that it supplied half the washing machines to a worldwide market. Horton Manufacturing was located on Osage Street and employed between two and three hundred Fort Wayne residents. The company managed to survive the Depression and contributed to the war effort by producing 40 millimeter shell casings during World War II. It did not survive the competitive consumer market for laundry appliances after the war and ceased operations in 1952. This hybrid washing machine, Model Number 32, can be operated both manually and with electricity. It featured a wooden wash tub with wringer attachment on top and a General Electric motor to power the washer.