1906 - Everyday Life

Everyday Life

President Roosevelt's 21-year-old daughter Alice Lee is married in the East Room of the White House February 17 to Congressman Nicholas Longworth (R. Ohio), 39, who was with her in Secretary of War William Howard Taft's party last year on a trip to Hawaii and the Orient.

Stetson Hat maker John B. Stetson dies of apoplexy at his De Land, Florida, home February 18 at age 75, leaving a $5 million fortune to his family. His factory on the outskirts of Philadelphia employs 3,500 people and produces 2 million hats per year for sale worldwide.

New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc. has its its beginnings in the New Balance Arch Co., founded at Belmont, Mass., by English-born entrepreneur William Riley, 33, to supply shoemakers with arch supports. Entrepreneur Paul Kidd will buy the company in 1929 and start making specialized shoes for people with problem feet and for athletes who can find no running shoes except those with spikes (see 1962).

The permanent wave introduced by Swiss-born London hairdresser Charles Nessler, 34, takes 8 to 12 hours and costs $1,000. Only 18 women avail themselves of Nestle's service, but by the time the permanent wave is introduced in the United States in 1915 it will be much cheaper and take far less time (see Buzzacchini, 1926; Nestle Colorinse, 1929).

Lever Brothers introduces Lux Flakes for chiffons and other fine fabrics (see Lifebuoy, 1897; Rinso, 1918; Lux Toilet Form, 1925).

Ontario, California, electric utility meter reader Earl Richardson begins manufacturing lightweight electric irons under the name Hotpoint. Homemakers have told him that they do their ironing on Tuesday, would use electric irons if they were not so heavy, but want to iron during daylight hours, not at night. Richardson persuades his plant supervisors to experiment with generating electricity all day on Tuesday as an experiment, and the plant gradually extends its hours of operation (see 1882; 1912; washing machine, 1907).