A 19th century invention for the lazy man. It was customary for a man to tip his hat when bowing to a lady or while making a new acquaintance. For the man who could not be bothered to tip his hat, this saluting device was designed with him in mind. This 1896 patent is for a mechanical self-tipping hat. A weight at the front would pull the hat up off the wearer’s head as he took a bow. A spring would then pull the hat back down onto his head as he straightened back up. The height at which the hat would be raised when bowing could be adjusted. This invention was never manufactured.
This 1840 patent is for an anti-drowning hat. The hat was to contain a floatation bag inside (letter B in the diagram). According to the inventor, a string would be attached to clothing while wearing the hat. In the case of finding oneself in a situation where they may drown, it was assumed the hat will fall off the wearer’s head while thrashing in the water. When this happens, tension on the string attached to clothing will be pulled, resulting in the floatation bag being deployed, acting as a life preserver to hold onto until help arrives. This invention was never manufactured.
This 1904 patent for a “Base Ball Catcher” was designed to take the place of a catcher’s mitt in order to protect a catcher’s hands at a time when baseball mitts weren’t very protective. It was a wire cage worn on the body with an extension to cover the face. Thick padding lined the back of the cage, in which the catcher would let pitches directly hit his body. The cage itself would be open as the pitch was delivered. Once the ball hit the body padding, the cage would automatically close to trap the ball inside, where it would drop through the chute to be returned to the pitcher. This invention was never manufactured.
On March 27, 1884, the first long-distance telephone call was made from Boston to New York. It was made by the Bell Telephone Company (founded by credited phone inventor Alexander Graham Bell). The copper wires between the cities were strung up over 10,000 telephone poles at a cost of around $70,000. When this long-distance line was available for public use, the rate for calls between the two cities was $2 during days and $1 during evenings.
On March 23, 1857, the first passenger elevator, designed by Elisha Otis, was installed in a five-story department store in New York City. The elevator moved at a rate of 40 feet per minute.
Elisha Otis first demonstrated the safety of his elevator design at the 1854 New York World’s Fair, though he had been designing elevators prior to this event with very little success in selling any due to safety concerns posed by potential customers. He used the World’s Fair to show that the elevator, should the lifting cable be severed, would not freefall. With Otis standing on a platform (representing an elevator) in front of a large crowd, an assistant cut a rope holding the elevator, which dropped a few inches before the locking mechanism kicked in, locking the elevator in place and sparing Otis serious injury, if not death.
Following his demonstration, Otis began receiving numerous orders for his elevators. Today, Otis is the world’s largest manufacturer of elevators and escalators.
This 1837 patent for a wearable lifeboat was intended “for the conveyance of troops, baggage and other articles across rivers” and of course for life-preserving itself. The lifeboat was to be made of canvas coated in rubber with attached boots. Air chambers would keep a person afloat, while “oars or paddles may be used to give a direction to such vessels.” The wearable lifeboat never took off. It is unknown if a prototype was ever manufactured.
Patented in 1876, the mustache guard was meant to prevent a man from dirtying his mustache during a meal. Another mustache guard patented in 1896, known as a mustache cup, prevented the mustache from getting wet while drinking.
This “Animal Trap”, patented in 1882, was operated by having food bait placed on a spring-loaded lever. When a rodent triggered the lever by eating the food, it would be shot by a loaded pistol. This invention was never manufactured.
The first roller coaster was designed in 1881 and opened to the public on June 13, 1884 at New York’s Coney Island. It was designed by American inventor LaMarcus Adna Thompson (known as “Father of the American Roller Coaster”), and was originally named the Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway, eventually shortened to just Switchback Railway.
Made entirely of wood and rising 50 feet off the ground, the ride consisted of two tracks running side by side with a tower at each end. A ride operator was stationed at each tower. One operator would push a bench-like car down the 600 foot long track. When the car got to the end of the track, the operator at the other tower would then pull the car around (or switch it back, hence the name Switchback Railway) and push it back in the opposite direction. Once pushed, the ride operated entirely on gravity.
Ride admission was 5 cents. The maximum speed obtained was just 6 mph.
4. A rider’s point of view. This photo was taken of a Switchback Railway built in California in the 1880s. The ride design, however, was identical to the one at Coney Island. Switchback Railways were built throughout the country following the success of the original one at Coney Island.
The YouTube link below contains footage of a Switchback Railway from 1898, which is a later model with seating now facing forward instead of to the side as depicted in the photos. You can see the ride operator on the left pull the car around to the other side of the track, or switch it back, hence the ride’s name.
An artist’s sketch of the Switchback Railway on its opening day at Coney Island.
Photo of the ride at Coney Island, circa mid 1880s
The Switchback Railway was essentially a bench on wheels. There were no safety belts or harnesses.
A rider’s point of view. This photo was taken of a Switchback Railway built in California in the 1880s. The ride design, however, was identical to the one at Coney Island. Switchback Railways were built throughout the country following the success of the original one at Coney Island.
Footage of a Switchback Railway from 1898, which is a later model with seating now facing forward instead of to the side as depicted in the previous photos. You can see the ride operator on the left pull the car around to the other side of the track, or switch it back, hence the ride’s name.
An 1847 patent for a rocking chair with built-in fan. It was never manufactured.
The Ferris Wheel, invented by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., made its debut at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (Chicago World’s Fair). One couple attending the fair in July of that year wrote to family about riding on the “Big Wheel”, seen in the letter below.
The Ferris Wheel was built to be the centerpiece of the 1893 World’s Fair and was intended to rival the Eiffel Tower, which was the centerpiece of the 1889 World’s Fair (Paris Exposition). There were 36 cars on the Ferris Wheel, each being able to hold 60 people for a total capacity of 2,160 riders at any given time. Though the 1893 World’s Fair began May 1, the Ferris Wheel didn’t open to the public until June 21, at which time around 38,000 people rode the attraction daily until the close of the fair on October 30.
The Ferris Wheel was the recipient of numerous rumors. One such rumor was that a dog jumped out of one of the car windows, falling to its death. This was untrue. Other rumors involved the ride malfunctioning, causing cars to get stuck and people in them to panic. This was also untrue, though there is a report of a man who had become so panicked during a ride and was making such a disturbing scene, having been afraid of heights, that a woman lifted up her skirt and draped it over his head so that he couldn’t see out the windows.
The Ferris Wheel was such a special attraction that one couple sent out wedding invitations, claiming they would be married on the Ferris Wheel, the wheel to be brought to a stop with their car at the highest point of the ride (264 feet high) for the ceremony to occur. This was not spoken about beforehand with fair officials, and the Ferris Wheel wedding was not allowed. The couple was instead married in an office on the fairgrounds.
The Oxydonor, a quack home medical device released to the public in 1896, was said to cure every disease. Just place the polarizer in cold water and strap the plate around the wrist or ankle; the warmth of the body brings the thermal action of the device to life. The Oxydonor was said to increase blood circulation, stimulate nerves and tissue, and as breathing deepened during relaxation, helped the body absorb more oxygen, which was said to be the main cure of diseases.
Eventually, complaints were made that the Oxydonor didn’t produce the results promised. A number of these complaints were made by those who either had or knew someone who had tuberculosis. The inventor tried to defend himself by saying he never claimed his product specifically cured tuberculosis (though an ad, fourth image below, clearly states “Every disease yields to its masterful power”). In 1915, the inventor was sentenced to 18 months in jail for his device’s false claims of remedy.
On February 19, 1878, Thomas Edison received patent number 200,521 for the phonograph. This wasn’t for the physical phonograph sold to the public but rather for the technology in which sound was recorded. It was a system that transferred vibrations created by sound onto an impressionable medium which could then be played back. In this case, the impressionable medium was tin foil-covered cylinders. This system of recording was called “embossing”.
Completed in 1877, Edison visited businesses involved in the field of science and technology with his phonograph to present his invention while waiting for his patent. One of these businesses was Scientific American.
In the December 22, 1877 issue of Scientific American, it was reported “Mr. Thomas A. Edison recently came into this office, placed a little machine on our desk, turned a crank, and the machine inquired as to our health, asked how we liked the phonograph, informed us that it was very well, and bid us a cordial good night.”
Below are images of the patent Edison received in 1878, and Edison posing with his phonograph shortly after its completion in 1877.
On February 21, 1878, what is considered the first telephone book was published by the New Haven District Telephone Company in New Haven, Connecticut. It consisted of a single piece of cardboard containing 50 contacts within that city which could be reached via an operator.
Later that year, the company published a second directory, this one an actual book, consisting of 20 pages and listing 391 contacts. This second directory also contained rules of telephone usage as well as proper telephone etiquette. Here are some of the rules put into effect by the New Haven District Telephone Company in 1878.
When receiving a call, a person should answer the phone with a firm and cheery “Hulloa!” “Hulloa” was eventually shortened to “Hello”.
Alexander Graham Bell, credited with inventing the telephone, insisted that a cheery “Ahoy!” should be said instead but “Hulloa/Hello” won out as the proper way to answer the phone.
Customers were limited to three minutes per call. No more than two calls per hour were to be made without permission from the central office.
One rule in this telephone book states, “When you are not speaking, you should be listening”. This proved a bit tricky for some whose model of telephone consisted of the speaker built into the receiver. In the case of a lively conversation, this required rapidly transferring the receiver between the mouth and ear.
“Because anybody could be on the line at any time, customers should not pick up the telephone unless they want to make a call, and they should be careful about what others might hear.”
Calls were not private. Anyone picking up their phone’s receiver could hear any conversation at any given time.
“When the conversation is over, one person should say, ‘That is all.’ The other person should respond, ‘Okay'”.
“Any person using profane or otherwise improper language should be reported at this office immediately.”
Imagine how many reports would be made today!
A major news story in the late 19th century, which has since been forgotten, was the discovery of dinosaur skeletons and fossils, resulting in a race between two hard-headed paleontologists who stopped at nothing to best each other and ruin each other’s credibility. It was known as both the “Bone Wars” and “Great Dinosaur Rush”.
Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, paleontologists associated with different museums, used their wealth and influence to finance their own expeditions throughout the United States from the 1870s through 1890s in search of dinosaur remains. The two started out as friends, even naming species of dinosaurs they discovered after each other (the names of those species have since been changed). However, things changed in 1892 when the two men began receiving recognition for their findings. Discovering dinosaur remains was still a fairly new field in science, and both paleontologists wanted the recognition solely for themself. Both had been making impressive bone and fossil discoveries by this time.
Cope found two bones of what would be the first Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton discovered. However, the excavation wasn’t completed, at least not until the year 2000, when the rest of the bones were excavated from that site. As a result, it was not known these were bones of a T-Rex at the time they were first found in the 1890s. Another T-Rex discovery was made in 1902, this one completely excavated by paleontologist Barnum Brown, therefore making 1902 the official year a T-Rex was first discovered.
Both Cope and Marsh went so far as to submit false articles against each other in newspapers and scientific magazines, hoping the articles would bring a negative impact upon the other. Bone and fossil discoveries seemed to take a back seat as the main focus of the two paleontologists appeared to be ruining the other. The amount of time, energy and money the two put into their feud left them both financially ruined by the late 1890s. Even so, their feud continued.
Cope passed away from syphilis in 1897. Before he passed, however, he issued a challenge to Marsh. Cope believed he was smarter than his adversary, so he requested to have his own brain donated to science and measured, requesting Marsh do the same upon his own passing. It was a common belief at the time that the size of one’s brain determined their intelligence. Cope believed his brain was larger than Marsh’s. Marsh rejected this challenge and passed away from pneumonia in 1899.
On April 11, 1882, a patent was issued to Samuel Applegate, of Camden, New Jersey, for the invention of an alarm clock meant to cause physical pain.
At a specified time, a spindle inside the clock released a hook. Attached to the hook was a metal frame containing 60 dangling wooden blocks. When the hook released, the metal frame with blocks would drop down onto a sleeper’s face. How much weight was dropped is unknown, but in Applegate’s own description in the patent file, he mentioned, in his opinion, that physical pain was more effective at waking someone than by the standard chiming pendulum clocks popularly used at the time, which may not be effective with heavy sleepers.
The 15-second video below contains an animation demonstrating how this alarm clock worked.
On May 19, 1910, panic took over the world with the passing of Halley’s Comet.
Halley’s Comet first became visible to the naked eye around April 20 that year. In fact, 1910 was the first year a comet was ever photographed (three of those photos are seen below). As April turned to May, scientists realized the earth was going to pass through the comet’s tail. The New York Times ran a story, that according to a French astronomer, the gas of the tail “would impregnate the atmosphere and possibly snuff out all life on the planet.” The story was covered worldwide.
The end-of-the-world panic led to Americans buying gas masks in large quantities. Drug manufacturers used the scare to rake in money, manufacturing “anti-comet pills” (made of sugar and quinine), which when taken, would supposedly protect that individual from the comet’s gases. The pills sold for one dollar apiece. “Comet protecting umbrellas” were sold as well to deflect deadly gases.
Some farmers in Wisconsin removed lightning rods from their barns, fearing the rods would attract the comet. An unspecified organization, with chapters throughout the United States, printed and sent out flyers reading, “Warning to the Inhabitants of the City: Close your windows and keep indoors, for the Earth will soon pass through the tail of the terrible Comet and its poisonous gases will fill the heavens!”
People barricaded their homes and filled cracks in walls with anything they could find to prevent the deadly gases from seeping in. Children in Chicago were given permission to stay home from school so they wouldn’t have to step outside.
Despite the mass panic, a number of companies used the comet to their advantage, creating advertising angles for products including jewelry, sheet music, soap, etc.
May 19 came and went; the earth passed through the comet’s tail. The result? Nothing happened. Nobody was killed. There was no worldwide devastation. Life simply went on as before. The panic was only the result from fear of the unknown.
(There are two interesting sidenotes. First, a false rumor within the United States was born from news of the comet, which was mistakenly covered by major newspapers as fact. Papers claimed that an Oklahoma religious group, named the Sacred Followers, had attempted to sacrifice a virgin to ward off impending disaster but were stopped by police before the sacrifice could occur. Second, Mark Twain was born April 30, 1835, two weeks after the last appearance of Halley’s comet. In his 1909 autobiography, Twain wrote, “I came in with Halley’s comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don’t go out with Halley’s comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: ‘Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.’ ”
Twain passed away April 21, 1910, during Halley Comet’s appearance, just as he had written.)
On June 8, 1869, the first modern vacuum cleaner, invented by Ives McGaffey, of Chicago, was patented. Other carpet cleaners had been invented earlier but were low to the ground, involving the user having to often bend, as well as using a system of pulleys and cranks to operate brushes which would only sweep away surface dirt, leaving much debris embedded in carpets. McGaffey’s model, named Whirlwind, was the first upright cleaning apparatus to actually suck up dirt from carpets and rugs, depositing it into an attached bag. This was accomplished by the user having to continuously turn a hand crank on the handle which spun a fan at the base of the vacuum, thus producing suction power. The design was not necessarily popular as most people found it difficult to push the vacuum and turn the hand crank simultaneously, resulting in choppy movements of the vacuum. However, it was the only vacuum of its kind at the time and viewed as a step in the right direction in carpet and rug cleaning.
McGaffey sold the Whirlwind in Chicago and Boston. It is believed most of the Whirlwind vacuums were lost in a warehouse during the Chicago fire of 1871, and therefore did not have a chance to make its way into other parts of the country. As of today, only two 1869 Whirlwind vacuums are known to exist.
Different manual vacuums were soon patented by other inventors, eliminating the hand crank for easier use. It wasn’t until 1890 that the first electric vacuum cleaner was patented.
Accidents happen. Though one would hope someone would look at a bottle’s label prior to assuming what they put in their mouth is medicine, this is not always the case. In order to prevent accidental intake of poisonous and other dangerous substances not meant to be ingested, Joseph Harrison, of Philadelphia, obtained the patent below on January 3, 1871 for his design of a “precautionary attachment for bottles containing poison”. It was an elastic band containing spikes which could be stretched to fit around any sized bottle. Harrison stated in the patent notes that the spiked band can be placed either around the bottle or the cap, but that it is a good suggestion to place a band around both for an added measure of protection. Whoever would grab a bottle of poisonous medicine without looking at the label would certainly feel the pain once being stuck by the spikes. The invention was essentially replacing one danger with another, and the spiked bands were never manufactured.
