Developments in the Design of the Iron

Solid irons and irons filled with coals (such as those pictured here) were superceded by gas and oil heated irons in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The first electric irons were created in the 1880s but did not become standard domestic equipment until sometime into the twentieth century. The electric iron on the right in this picture dates to the 1950s. It was during this decade that the steam iron was invented.