The story of one extraordinary lady.

Chicago, November 1920, the early days of the „Roaring Twenties“.

A tremendous economic boom after World War I and an upsurge in the number of motorcars and other technical devices brought about prosperity and affluence on a scale which had never been seen before. It was, however, also the first year of Prohibition, during which alcohol was not allowed to be produced or sold in the USA – in other words, the perfect breeding ground for one of America’s most infamous criminals, Al Capone.

Apart from the economic boom, this period also witnessed great social change – concerts, theatre and cinema became affordable for many people and sports became a widespread passion. The 1920s were also a turning point in the history of women’s emancipation. Women carved out their place in the world of employment, and expressed their newfound confidence through fashion and performance.

On Tuesday 16th November 1920, a woman named Louise S. Kracke applied for a patent for a new type of "window cleaner". At this time, there were a lot of motorcars on the roads of Chicago, such as the Ford Model T. However, there were still many horse-drawn vehicles on the move as well. Louise S. Kracke’s invention was a window cleaning device which made it significantly easier to clean multi-sash building windows, which were much more common back then.

The inaccessible corners of the glass panes could be reached and cleaned effortlessly by means of a movable wiper plate attached to a long, curved handle. This device was also perfect for cleaning the flat glass panes used in motor vehicle manufacturing at the time, provided that they were almost vertically upright.

On 17th May 1921, the UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE granted the patent with the number 1.378.243.