Women Inventors

By Linda Farmer Harris

I love gadgets. However, they must be totally useful and appropriate for the task, not just a cute novelty. Yes, I gravitate to the "As Seen on TV" shelves at Walmart and Tractor Supply. I can recommend the Hurricane 360 Spin Mop, the Spicy Shelf, and the Vidalia Chop Wizard.

Those "inventions" made me think of other posts about inventions by HH&H Bloggers such as Anne Greene's two posts about household essentials:
1 - http://www.hhhistory.com/2014/05/why-could-housewives-of-1920s-begin-to.html and 
2 - http://www.hhhistory.com/2014/08/household-essentials-of-roaring-twenties.html.

Put "Inventor" in HH&H's search field to read more posts about inventors and inventions such as the Phantoscope, Stereoscopes, and Barbed Wire, plus eighteen more.

Anne's posts made me wonder about women inventors. How many and what type of essentials do we enjoy today that were invented or refined by women?

Mary Kies was the first American woman to earn a patent in her own name. In 1809, she developed a way of weaving straw into hats.

The phrase "own name" appeared with many reports and struck me as curious so I dug deeper and discovered that at the end of the 20th century only 10 percent of all patents were awarded to women inventors. The laws in the colonies and in England stipulated that women couldn't own property, including intellectual property. Therefore, inventions and patents were owned by the woman's father or husband.

In addition to prejudice and ridicule, women didn't receive the technical education that would aid them in turning ideas into products.

You might expect women's contributions to be focused entirely on the home and family. Many are. I like inventor Sally Fox's philosophy — "I never really planned to be an inventor, but my attitude toward life has always been inventive." She's responsible for Foxfibre naturally colored cotton.

You can thank Margaret Knight that your paper grocery bags have a square bottom instead of resembling an envelope. 

Margaret Knight

In 1868, as a worker in a Massachusetts paper bag plant, Margaret invented a machine to make the bottoms flat and square. 

 Until then, bags were envelope shaped

Idea theft was a reality then as now and Charles Annan tried to patent her idea. She filed a lawsuit in 1871 and won it and secured her patent. Her picture courtesy of http://youarethefuture.co.uk/

This was not her first invention. Witnessing an accident at the textile mill when she was 12, she developed a device that would automatically stop a machine if something was caught in it. Her device was being used in area mills by the time she was a teenager. This was one of twenty patents and almost 100 different conceived inventions, including a dress and skirt shield, a rotary engine, and a shoe-cutting machine. In her obituary, Margaret was described as a "woman Edison."

Aren't you glad that Mary Anderson received a patent in 1903 for her device for cleaning car windows? We call them windshield wipers today and by 1916 they were standard on most vehicles. Her initial design was a swinging arm device with a rubber blade operated by the driver from inside the vehicle using a lever.

Mary Anderson

In 1917, Charlotte Bridgwood patented the automatic windshield wiper she called a "Storm Windshield Cleaner."

Barbara Askins, NASA chemist - invented a new film developing method to improve astronomical and geological photos.

Patricia Billings, sculptor - invented Geobond(R), non-toxic, indestructible and fire-proof - the world's first workable replacement for asbestos, and all she wanted to do was create a cement additive to prevent her sculptures from shattering. The exact recipe for the registered Geobrand(R) is still a secret.

Patsy Sherman, research chemist - invented Scotchgard(TM) stain repellent. Her advice to aspiring inventors: "Keep your eyes and mind open, and don't ignore something that doesn't come out the way you expect it to. Just keep looking at the world with inventor's eyes!"

Stephanie Kwolek, one of the first women research chemists - inventor of Kevlar (R) resistant to wear, flames, and corrosion.  Kevlar(R) is the main ingredient in the production of bulletproof vests. It's also used in suspension bridge cables, skis, hiking and camping gear, and safety helmets.

Where would we be without Mary Phelps Jacobs, a New York socialite, who invented the modern brassiere!

Dr. Temple Grandin is especially dear to our Colorado P Bar R Ranch West. She pioneered animal handling methods that keep the animals calm and prevents injuries.

Temple Grandin

 Her center-track restraint system uses animal behavioral principles rather than excess force to control animals. Her inventions and academic achievements, a Ph.D. in animal science, are accomplished while living with autism. Ms. Grandin's picture is courtesy of Discover Magazine.

For you crafty wood working gals, Tabitha Babbitt invented the circular saw in 1812.

Older writers applaud Bessie Nesmith and her invention in 1951 of Liquid Paper(R).

For more information about women inventors, visit:
•  http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0906931.html
•  http://www.women-inventors.com/Women-Inventors.asp
•  http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/women.shtml

I can't close without a shout out to Elizabeth Magie Phillips who invented my favorite board game Monopoly. Originally called The Landlord's Game, it was invented as a teaching device designed to demonstrate the economic ill effects of land monopolism and the use land value tax as a remedy for them. On January 5, 1904, she was granted U.S. Patent #748,626. 

Besides McDonald's game, how many variations or versions of Monopoly can you name? 

In 1978, Neiman Marcus sold an all-chocolate edition. The entire set was edible and cost $600. 

In 2000, FAO Schwarz-New York City sold a version called One-Of-A-Kind for $100,000. The locking Napolino attache case was lined in suede and featured 18-carat gold tokens, houses, and hotels; rosewood board; street names written in gold leaf; emeralds around the Chance icon; Sapphires around the Community Chest; Rubies in the brake lights of the car on the Free Parking Space; and the money was real, negotiable U.S. currency.

In 1985, the Guinness Book of World Records reported that a set designed by artist Sidney Mobell to honor the games 50th anniversary was worth $2,000.000 and made of 23-carat gold, with rubies and sapphires atop the chimneys of hotels and houses.

I wonder what Mrs. Phillips would think about her board game now?
 
Are you an inventor at heart? Do you have an original idea or a tweak on a current idea or product?

Do you wonder how to apply for a patent or do a patent search about your idea? Read Kathleen Y'Barbo's HH&H post - http://www.hhhistory.com/2013/05/inventions-and-their-patentsand-giveaway.html – for more insight.

Blessings,

Lin and her husband live on a hay and cattle ranch in Chimney Rock, Colorado. She writes historical fiction for adults and children. Her enjoyment of genealogy and family history adds unique elements to her stories.

She was caught looking at the Curl-A-Dog, spiral hot dog slicer. Jerry hurried her away from the aisle.

Papa Noel and the Christmas Eve Bonfires: Celebrating Christmas on the Louisiana Bayou

by Kathleen Y'Barbo

In many respects, Christmas on the Louisiana bayou is like Christmas anywhere else. Families gather, carols are sung, and children are put to bed with the anticipation of gifts and celebration on Christmas morning. However, there are a few things that make a Cajun holiday special.

Papa Noel instead of Santa Claus
The jolly man most of us recognize as Santa Claus is not who the Acadians of South Louisiana look to as the deliverer of gifts on Christmas Eve. Papa Noel, the Cajun version of Saint Nick, makes his rounds in a pirogue--a shallow Louisiana boat--pulled by eight alligators. In some versions of the story, Papa Noel--or Pere Noel as the Cajuns say--is dressed in muskrat hides instead of his traditional red garb as he pilots his boat. Always his sack of toys holds special gifts for good boys and girls, and sometimes he offers up lumps of coal for those who were not so nice.

Bonfires on the levees on Christmas Eve
How does Papa Noel find his way to the homes of those children who live in the deepest recesses of the bayou? Long ago, the natives of this part of the country began building bonfires on the levees, teepee-shaped log structures that, when lit, could guide the way for anyone seeking to deposit gifts under Christmas trees. Although legend has it that these bonfires may have been used to light the parishioners' way to Christmas Eve services, the idea of a nautical landing strip for the fabled Papa Noel brings a smile to children's faces.

Christmas eve bonfires are not a new idea. Many Europeans, including those of German and French descent, have traditions that include these fiery towers. That Louisiana is a melting pot of these cultures--and more--makes it likely that settlers from these areas brought this aspect of the celebration with them.

The Mississippi River town of Lutcher, Louisiana holds a Christmas bonfire celebration every Christmas eve. At 7pm sharp on December 24, over one hundred 30-foot tall bonfires are lit along the river to guide Papa Noel into the town. In the rare event of rain, the lighting of the bonfires is moved to New Years Eve. In St. James parish, the Festival of the Bonfires offers another opportunity to see this Louisiana tradition in action. All down the river road, plantations such as Oak Alley and Madewood hold similar celebrations.

Wherever you go in South Louisiana, you will find a Cajun Christmas is very much like yours and mine. And very different at the same time!

Joyeaux Noel, Y'all!

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KATHLEEN Y'BARBO is the bestselling author of over 50 books with more than one million copies of her books in print in the United States and abroad. A Romantic Times magazine Top Pick, Reviewer's Choice nominee, and Career Achievement nominee, Kathleen has been a finalist in American Christian Fiction Writer's Carol Awards and Romance Writers of America's RITA competition.

She and her hero in combat boots husband make their home north of the Red River. To find out more about Kathleen's books or to connect with her on Facebook or Twitter, check out her website at www.kathleenybarbo.comwww.kathleenybarbo.com.

Scotland Yard: A Brief History

by Kathleen Y'Barbo

As a writer of historical novels, I find myself drifting recently toward heroes who are lawmen. From Old West sheriffs to turn-of-the-century Pinkerton agents, my guys put men behind bars and protect their women with skillful shooting and the adept mind of a crime fighter.

Then came my novel Sadie's Secret, which releases in February 2014. When faced with an 1890s lady Pinkerton who needed a suitable match from the other side of the Atlantic, I decided a proper Englishman with Scotland Yard credentials would fit the bill. Thus began a search for the identity of a certain London detective, and with it came the most fascinating peek into the history of Scotland Yard.

4 Whitehall Place

Scotland Yard is a more recent name for an institution that was created by Sir Robert Peel, Home Secretary in 1829. An interesting aside is that not only did Sir Robert give rise to this new London police force, but he also gave them the nickname that endures to this day: bobbies. The first plainclothes detectives were utilized in the 1840s, reportedly making the public uncomfortable that there were now police"spies" in their midst.

Sir Robert Peel

Commonly known as The Met, the Metropolitan Police force grew so large that by the 1880s the organization's offices expanded beyond its location at 4 Whitehall Place, a private residence with a courtyard that opened onto a courtyard called The Great Scotland Yard. Beginning in 1887, new headquarters were built at Victoria Embankment overlooking the Thames. During the construction of the new building, workers unearthed the dismembered torso of a woman. Known as the Whitehall mystery, the case was never solved.

Over the years, Scotland Yard detectives have investigated many high profile cases, including the murders of the elusive Jack the Ripper, a case that was finally closed unsolved in 1892. The force endures today, its ranks having swelled to an impressive 30,000 officers. Its history lives on in fictional tales such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series, and in film and television. However, behind the fiction is a group of dedicated men and women who will no doubt create their own legends someday.

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Bestselling author Kathleen Y’Barbo is a multiple Carol Award and RITA nominee of fifty novels with almost two million copies of her books in print in the US and abroad. A tenth-generation Texan and family law paralegal, she is nominated for a Career Achievement Award as well a Reader’s Choice Award by Romantic Times magazine. Her newest release, Millie’s Treasure, was awarded 4 ½ stars and is an August 2013 Romantic Times Top Pick. Find out more about Kathleen and her books or follow her on social media at www.kathleenybarbo.com.

Barataria and the Louisiana Bayou

by Kathleen Y'Barbo

"Never approach, harass, or feed alligators. Remember they are wild animals and can move very quickly." This warning begins the Important Facts section of the National Historic Park and Preserve website for Louisiana's Barataria Preserve. Two hundred years ago, the same could be said for another group of residents of this southernmost stretch of Louisiana marshland and waterways, Jean Lafitte and his band of cohorts.

Were they pirates, these men who made their homes in the narrow channels and marshes where the Mississippi River emptied into the Gulf of Mexico? History says yes, although Lafitte often argued he and the others known as the Baratarians were merely sailing men with Letters of Marque from the Venezuelan government entitling them to call themselves privateers.

This license to hunt vessels from certain countries at odds with Venezuela meant nothing in the bayou, and yet it did provide at least some measure of excuse for these men to ply the brown waters of the Gulf. In league with such men as the Bowie brothers, one of whom--James--would die a hero at the Alamo, the Baratarians found success in providing citizens of New Orleans and points north with goods that otherwise might not be available. Where these goods originated, and whether their import was legal, were questions that were neither asked nor answered.

Any questions on how these Baratarians managed their exploits is easily answered with one view of the land where they carried on their activities. Where exactly is this place that hid pirates and Englishmen alike during the days leading up to the Battle of new Orleans in 1814?

Follow the Mississippi River past Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and the muddy water widens and rolls southward. Just before it empties into the Gulf of Mexico, it wraps around land that disappears with the tide only to reappear again when the water drains away. Before the advent of helicopters and speedboats, the only access many of the dwellers of the outer reaches of Barataria had was through ships sailing into the deeper channels and, failing that, the flat-bottomed boats called pirogues that could ply the narrowest and shallowest of streams. Even today, two hundred years after the Baratarians fled, or managed to hide deeper in the marshes as some legends go, there are places in these southernmost parishes that rarely see an outside visitor.


The Barataria Preserve offers a glimpse into these untouched places where alligators outnumber residents and pirates once roamed. Or were they merely businessmen in the employ of a foreign government? That depends on who you ask. What is true, however, is that a trip to the Barataria Region of Louisiana will leave the visitor with a greater appreciation of what life must have been like for these hardy settles two hundred years ago. If you believe the rumors, you may even stumble across some of Jean Lafitte's bounty. After all, stories abound of treasure left behind by the Baratarians in their haste to flee. Stories including my new novel Millie's Treasure, that is.

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Bestselling author Kathleen Y’Barbo is a Carol Award and RITA nominee of forty-nine novels with over one million copies of her books in print in the US and abroad and nominations including a Career Achievement Award, Reader’s Choice Awards, Romantic Times Book of the Year, and several Romantic Times Top Picks. A proud military wife and tenth-generation Texan, she now cheers on her beloved Aggies from north of the Red River. Find out more at www.kathleenybarbo.com.