Shaker Inventions

The Shakers’ communal style of living meant that they could never depend on “someone else” to get a given job done. They all had to work together to meet the community’s needs. Therefore, Shakers came up with many inventions to make everyday jobs a little easier. Shakers are most famous for inventing the clothespin and the flat broom. Other, less glorified, inventions include the metal pen, packaged garden seeds, a threshing machine, a pea sheller, an apple parer and corer, and a revolving oven. Shakers also made significant improvements upon the wood stove and the washing machine. In one Shaker village, a steam engine provided energy to wash, dry, and iron the laundry.