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A 1970's Hoover Steam Iron. Hoover introduced the first UK-produced steam iron between 1953 and 1962. The iron has an electric heating element inside the metal base of the iron, with a thermostat control on the top to adjust temperature for various fabric types. De-mineralised, or distilled water, added through the hole in the top casing, entered a small tank above the sole-plate. When the iron was horizontal in use, the water was allowed to drip, a drop at a time, into a channel within the sole plate which, being hot, immediately turned the water to steam, which then came out under its own pressure from a shaped aperture (a scale catcher was under this shaped plate and was removable for cleaning) in the sole plate to moisten the material being ironed. When the iron was placed back on its rest, with the sole plate vertical, the water stopped dripping from its outlet and the steam stopped until the iron was again tipped horizontal once again. Is there a home in the developed world that does not have a steam iron? Probably not. Property of Robert Pool