#archivesinventions

[uwmarchives]

“A Bubbler of Unmatched Beauty...”

The advertisement shown is for Rundle-Spence Manufacturing Co., which is still a flourishing business here in Wisconsin. Rundle-Spence was founded in 1871 and on their website they claim to have patented a bubbler in the late 19th century.

A Bubbler is what we Wisconsinites call a water fountain or drinking fountain. There are different reasons why according to the website WhooNew and their article “Maybe we were wrong -  A closer look at why we call it a bubbler in Wisconsin.” Regardless of where the term came from, we love this localism, and we agree that the Bubbler shown above is a beaut!

This is an ad found in a promotional publication of the E. Brielmaier & Sons Co. This firm of architects started in Milwaukee in 1865. They mainly worked on churches and related facilities such as schools. There is no publisher or date of publication mentioned, but it is likely from the 1930s.

The work of E. Brielmaier & Sons Co., architects, Milwaukee: 1865-1930.  (ARC) NA737 .B7x A3

[steamship-historical-society]

It's #archivesinventions this month and we wanted to highlight the SS Bessemer, also called the Bessemer Saloon. It was an experimental Victorian cross-Channel passenger paddle steamer with a swinging cabin to combat seasickness. The Saloon, suspended on gimbals and mechanically kept horizontal mechanically, should have isolated the occupants from the ship's motion: an idea engineer and inventor Sir Henry Bessemer patented in December 1869. The poor performance lost the confidence of investors, leading to the winding-up of the Saloon Ship Company in 1876. The ship remained in dock at Dover until being sold for scrap in 1879. Image from "Weird and Wonderful Ships," by Graeme Cook, SSHSA library. #archiveshashtagparty (at The Steamship Historical Society of America) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2empFfgoer/?igshid=1llgm5o8cdal

[hagleyvault]

Nora C. Edwards, inventor of the Edwards Skirt Supporter, was one of several children of C.A. and William Edwards and attended school in Wisconsin. The earliest extant correspondence with a patent attorney regarding her invention dates from 1900. Edwards's skirt supporter was first patented in the United States and Canada in 1903. The purpose of the skirt supporter was to fasten a dress skirt and a shirt waist together so that the shirt waist would not slip up the back, and that the dress skirt would not drop below the waistline. It appears that the Edwards Skirt Supporter Company was established around 1903 in Spooner, Wisconsin, where her family resided.                                                  

Edwards was the manager and inventor for the company, while her brothers Charles H. Edwards, and then later David W. Edwards held the position of secretary/treasurer. During 1903, her sister-in-law Carrie Edwards (living in Spooner) made the supporters from materials the company purchased from suppliers. During the years 1903 through early 1905, Edwards traveled throughout the southern and midwestern United States, making contacts and hiring women agents to sell the skirt supporters.

By September 1905, Nora Edwards permanently relocated to Buffalo, New York, where she maintained the company's headquarters. She also had an office in Toronto, Canada which was managed by Florence Harvey. As early as 1907, Edwards applied for a reissue patent application for improvements on the skirt supporter, but was bitterly disappointed to discover that many of her claims were disallowed. She also faced competition from other skirt supporter manufacturers that used construction techniques similar to hers. Edwards also received patents for improvements on a garment fastener and skirt gages and planned on applying for a patent for a bunion protector. By 1917, Edwards sold out part of her business. 

The papers of Nora E. Edwards are both personal and business and consist of (often quite contentious!) letters she received from family members, agents, friends, and patent attorneys. The letters often combine personal and business matters. Letters from her agents describe conditions faced while attempting to sell the skirt supporters, ordering additional supporters, and trying to interest customers in purchasing them. There are also letters from patent attorneys regarding patent applications, challenges to Edwards's patent, and reissue of the patent. The letters from family members include her parents, siblings, and sister-in-law. These letters mention her business as well as family matters and give descriptive accounts of life in rural Wisconsin.    

You can view selections from the Hagley Library’s Nora C. Edwards papers (Accession 2036) online by clicking here to view its page in our Digital Archive.                                            

[riversidearchives]

#ArchivesInventions

Exhibit B: Cover Popsicle Corporation of America trade publication used in a patent infringement case (Equity Case Files, United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division (Los Angeles).   See also “The Frozen Sucker War: Good Humor v. Popsicle.”  

[bmaatuga]

UGA Patents

For this month’s #ArchivesHashtagParty on #ArchivesInventions, we turn to our holdings of “University Almanac,” #UGA’s 15-minute radio show from the past that highlighted notable events, people, and projects on campus.  Here’s one of the audiotape boxes in that collection:

On the show that aired the week of July 25 – August 6, 1977, the stories were:

“1. A study of the causes of child abuse, with Dr. Rand Conger, assistant professor of sociology.  2. A report on the development of the electrostatic spray nozzle. This device invented by S. Edward Law of the university's Agricultural Engineering Department may help decrease consumption of pesticides, while helping farmers to produce more crops for less cost.  3. The Taft Institute of Government helped state teachers of social science by giving them a first-hand look at politics and government in action. State and national leaders of both political parties comment on the current political scene. 4. The 175,000 member Sierra Club is profiled by its national president, Prof Bill Futrell, of the University of Georgia's School of Law. Prof. Futrell, talks about the group's aim and goals; its relations with the Carter Administration,  about the Alaska Pipeline and conservation; and warns the energy crunch is the 1st of several crises Americans will have to face.”

“University Almanac”  profiled another of his inventions in February of the following year:

1. Campus events and activities for Black History Month are profiled by Elaine Mitchell, Department of Student Activities adviser to the University Union Committee for Black Programs.  2. How the UGA Police Dept. protects the 21,000 plus students on campus, and on-going programs designed to prevent crime.  An overview from UGA Police Chief David Saye.  [Index card number two:] 1. Former Sec. of State Henry Kissinger, on campus for the 1978 Alumni Society Seminar on Russia, talks about the Soviet arms buildup in Ethiopia, assesses the Carter administration foreign policy, and talks about nuclear weapons.  2. The 3rd annual World Fair for Technology Exchange, TECHEX '78, held in Atlanta, showcased 9 UGA inventions.  Dr. S.E. Law discusses his device: an electronic movement monitor used to help regulate growth in beef cattle.  3. Biochemist Dr. Marion Bradford talks about his protein analysis process, also features at TECHEX '78.

As you know, agriculture is a huge part of Georgia’s economy, so Dr. Law’s work is very important to the state.

Dr. Law is an emeritus professor at UGA, so we’ll give a shoutout to him through @UGA_Engineering. Here is a list of his honors: http://www.engineering.uga.edu/awards/nae/law

And here’s that nozzle, duly patented--

For a LOT more information about the patent, see:

https://patents.google.com/patent/US4004733A/en

and https://patents.justia.com/patent/4004733

[riversidearchives]

#ArchivesInventions

Exhibit-B [illustrates the elevation of the box supporting table as it compresses the cover upon the box, ready for nailing, lidding and strapping]. Estate of George D. Parker v. Golden Orange Groves, et al. One of the Parker citrus cases, the image is an exhibit in the initial complaint.

[riversidearchives]

#ArchivesInventions

Photograph of the X-1, the first manned aircraft to go faster than the speed of sound, nicknamed a "bullet with wings." 

[riversidearchives]

#ArchivesInventions

Patent for George D. Parker's fruit grader, 1910. Mr. Parker, a resident of Riverside, CA, invented this fruit grader, the purpose of which was to “take the product of many groves, sort the fruit according to size, and separate it into lots of equal weight.” Providing “an automatic machine capable of securing these results (was) the general object of this invention.”