Skips – How They Got Their Name and Who Invented It?

Skips were traditionally used in the mining industry for the transport and storage of raw materials however at the time they were referred to as ‘skeps’. During the Industrial Revolution, specially designed carts constructed from wood and steel ran on a track system from the depths of a mine carrying a variety of cargo to the surface. However, the first recorded use of a skip being used for the purpose of rubbish removal was in 1922. As the population of the UK grew it became increasingly more difficult to collect their household waste and a lorry manufacturer in Southport designed a large horse-drawn container that could be transferred to a vehicle when full and subsequently taken to the nearest landfill. By 1926 companies in London were using sideways mounted skips and lorries often transported several at a time.

Large-scale construction projects and the popularity of DIY have ensured that skips are a familiar sight on roads and construction sites all over the world but despite their popularity no-one is sure of how the skip got its name. The most popular, yet surprising suggestion, is that the word is closely linked to the art of beekeeping. Before the invention of the modern beehive a portable product known as a ‘skep’ was used. The word can be traced back to the Old Norse word ‘skeppa’ that was used to describe an item resembling a basket and it’s generally believed that as time went on the word gradually morphed into the word skip.

The skips seen today originated in Germany during the 1960’s but their design can be traced back to the 1930’s when an American named George Dempster invented a piece of equipment that could be mounted on a truck and used to lift and transport containers that were similar to modern day skips. His invention was so successful that local authorities began purchasing skip trucks and containers to revolutionise the way they processed their waste. Several years later two brothers in Knoxville developed a skip truck known as the Load Lugger. By 1940 the Brooks brothers had invented a brand new system that consisted of two hydraulic arms that could lift a skip from the ground onto the back of a vehicle. Modern skip lorries still use a very similar system and it’s widely regarded that the Brooks brothers inspired the development of skips and the vehicles that carry them.