The Victorian era was the age of inventions. Many of the items we take for granted in our homes today originated in the Victorian period -- as this brief list below demonstrates. One of the most significant inventions for the Victorian woman was the sewing-machine -- a device that saved not only a woman's time but her eyesight. The typewriter brought huge changes to the world of business and publishing. Other items that we take for granted today include the match (the "lucifer"), the thermometer, the fire escape, and of course the phonograph -- the beginning of the era in which a person could enjoy music in the home without having to make it herself!

Domestic Inventions (Illustrated London Almanack, 1845)

On a variety of inventions and improvements in stoves, fireplaces, heating, clocks, etc.

The Thermometer (Illustrated London Almanack, 1849)

The Fire Escape (Leisure Hour, 1860)

How to Use the Barometer (Leisure Hour, 1860)

Queen of Inventions: The Sewing Machine (Godey's, 1860)

Save your health and eyesight - invest in this marvelous new invention that enables the needlewoman to perform her work in comfort.

The Fairy Sewing-Machine (Godey's, 1863)

Hines' Combination Cooker (Demorest, 1873)

The Spectroscope (Demorest, 1873)

The Microscope, by Prof. Samuel Lockwood (Harper's Monthly, 1876A)

The Microphone, by J. Munro (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

The Phonograph, by J. Munro (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

Edison and His Inventions (Scribners, 1879B)

The electro-motograph (an early form of the telephone); the chemical telephone; signalling with the electro-motograph; the carbon button and the telephone; the articulating telephone; the carbon telephone; the carbon rheostat; the micro-tasimeter; using the tasimeter to detect icebergs; the pressure relay; the hygrometer; the odorometer.

The Invention of the Power Loom (Demorest, 1879)

Fire Prevention, by Charles Barnard (Century Magazine, 1886A)

How fire-fighting and volunteer fire-fighting associations work; new inventions for fire prevention, including the fire-extinguisher, the automatic sprinkler, hand-pumps, and the chemical grenade.

Typewriter Speed (Demorest, 1887)

Tips on understanding claims about a typewriter's speed when choosing a model for purchase.

The Type-writer and Type-writing (Girl's Own Paper, 1888)

A look at a new-fangled invention that just might change the world...

The Invention of the Lucifer Match, by James Clephan (Monthly Chronicle of North-County Lore and Legend, 1890)

The Poetry of the Searchlight (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1893)

Searchlights in peace and war.

What the Phonograph Will Do for Music and Music-Lovers, by Philip G. Hubert, Jr. (Century Magazine, 1893B)

It's hard to imagine a day when one couldn't have music in the home at the touch of a button - when, if you wanted music at home, you had to make it yourself!

Sir James Simpson's Introduction of Chloroform, by Eve Blantyre Simpson (Century Magazine, 1894A)

Dr. Morton's Discovery of Anesthesia, by E.L. Snell (Century Magazine, 1894B)

In this case the anesthesia was ether.

Edison's Invention of the Kineto-Phonograph, by Antonia and W.K.L. Dickson (Century Magazine, 1894B)

The kineto-phonograph was actually a form of movie projector.

Something About Type-writing and Typists (Girl's Own Paper, 1895)

"Even in these progressive days, when typewriters are to be found in every town in England, and we are overwhelmed with typewritten circulars and letters, there are a great many people who have but a very hazy idea of what type-writing is, and of the immense numbers of girls that it provides with steady employment."

Tesla's Oscillator and Other Inventions, by Thomas Commerford Martin (Century Magazine, 1895A)

Baby Incubators, by James Walter Smith (The Strand, 1896B)

Small Wonders of the Microscope, by William G. FitzGerald (The Strand, 1896B)

The Evolution of the Typewriter, by C.L. McCluer Stevens (The Strand, 1897A)

Giant Lathe for Turning Cathedral Columns (Strand, 1901A)

A huge lathe designed to turn columns for a cathedral being built in New York.

Solar Motor at South Pasadena, California, by H. Lukens Jones (Strand, 1901A)

A giant solar motor capable of generating between 10 and 20 horsepower.

See also

• Science & Technology Roundups

• Odd Victorian Inventions

• The First Century of the Republic: Scientific Developments