Roto-Rooter is a United States company which originally specialized in clearing tree roots and other obstructions from sewer lines. Today it offers a broad array of plumbing repair, sewer and drain cleaning services utilizing its patented, proprietary Roto-Rooter machine.
In the late 1920s, Samuel Oscar Blanc (1883–1964) was motivated by a stubborn clogged drain in his son's (Milton L. Blanc) Des Moines, Iowa apartment to seek a better solution....
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Roto-Rooter is a United States company which originally specialized in clearing tree roots and other obstructions from sewer lines. Today it offers a broad array of plumbing repair, sewer and drain cleaning services utilizing its patented, proprietary Roto-Rooter machine.
In the late 1920s, Samuel Oscar Blanc (1883–1964) was motivated by a stubborn clogged drain in his son's (Milton L. Blanc) Des Moines, Iowa apartment to seek a better solution.
By 1933, Milton & Samuel Blanc had fashioned a sewer-cleaning machine from a washing machine motor, roller skate wheels and a 3/8" steel cable. The cable rotated sharp blades to cut tree roots out of sewer lines, eliminating the tedious and expensive need to dig. Blanc's wife, Lettie (née Lettie Jensen), called his invention, a heavy-duty plumber's snake, the "Roto-Rooter."
By the mid-1930s, Blanc was selling "Roto-Rooter" machines for $250. Many who were eager for work in the midst of the Great Depression started their own Roto-Rooter...
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