First Washateria opens
FORT WORTH (1934) On this date in 1934, the first washateria (laundromat) in the United States was opened by C. A. Tannahill in Fort Worth.
This went pretty much under the wire. It was a trivia question on the local news. Can't find much documentation.
MrMachine
04-20-2011, 10:03 AM
First Washateria opens
FORT WORTH (1934) On this date in 1934, the first washateria (laundromat) in the United States was opened by C. A. Tannahill in Fort Worth.
This went pretty much under the wire. It was a trivia question on the local news. Can't find much documentation.
Yes, I do recall reading somewhere that the first "washeteria" in the US opened in Texas, and I remember seeing a photo where they just had some wringer washers in a store. You directly paid an attendant to use them because they didn't have coin operated machines until the 50's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-service_laundry#Wash-A-Teria_.28United_States.29
A number of years ago my Dad went on vacation in Italy. When he came back he joked that the Italians had the world's first laundry. It was a square marble pit that the Romans filled with water.