Background
Bissell was born in Hartwick, New York, and grew up in Berlin, Wisconsin.
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Melville Bissell
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Career
The Bissell corporation is named after him. As a young adult, he opened a grocery store in 1862 with his father, Alpheus, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, selling it in 1869 and opening a crockery and glassware store in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1870. He made money manufacturing crockery and investing in real estate.
Following the Panic of 1873, Bissell began working on a carpet sweeper.
In 1876 Bissell patented a sweeper with a central brush, rubber wheels, and other improvements on vacuum technology. A fire in 1884 destroyed his first factory, but he was able to overcome the loss and expand his business.
