September 23, 2021
Clear view? Thank Ettore Steccone
Few people know or have heard the name Ettore Steccone. And that’s a shame, as millions of people each day see clearly because of his work. At gas stations all over the world, motorists use his prized invention without even giving thought to Steccone.
You see, Ettore Steccone, an Italian immigrant who moved to the U.S. shortly after the end of World War I, is the inventor of the modern T-type window squeegee. And the same design he fashioned about 85 years ago is still being used today.
Steccone earned his living in America by washing windows. It’s said that he loved the work, but wasn’t happy with the implements he had available to do his job. The window washing tools of the day – called Chicago Squeegees – were bulky, heavy and unwieldly. They were made of heavyweight steel and featured two, stiff rubber blades that made a tough job even more difficult.
Sometime around 1936, Steccone began tinkering in his garage on his idea for a new squeegee design. His solution: a single, flexible blade of rubber attached to a lightweight, T-shaped brass tool. He quickly found that the new tool not only worked better than the Chicago Squeegee, but its lightweight design and center-mounted handle made using it easy.
Eventually, Steccone started a manufacturing company in his new home of Oakland, CA, where “Ettore” squeegees are still produced today.
Motorists have come to rely on pump-mounted buckets and squeegees to clean their windshields and other auto glass. And if that squeegee is used at a gas station, there’s a good chance that it was manufactured by Commercial Zone, the leader in pump windshield service centers.
The most popular unit is the Commercial Zone Vue-T-Ful® Windshield Service Center, which combines the squeegee, bucket and towel dispenser into a convenient unit that can be mounted at eye level to a pole or column. View-T-Full units feature an easy-to-use and intuitive design and are equipped with a clear-view window for easy inspection of folded paper towel inventory.
Commercial Zone also offers free-standing combination waste containers and windshield centers, which add the convenience of bucket and squeegee to durable and functional trashcans. These rugged, poly containers and windshield service centers are built to stand up to daily use and to withstand the elements.
With the winter months approaching, now is the time to consider adding, replacing, or upgrading pump-side windshield service centers. Contact Commercial Zone today at 800-782-7273 or visit commercialzone.com to learn about the available options and how easy it is to get started.
