Invention Stories

On July 31, 1790, the inventor Samuel Hopkins was awarded the first US patent for a new method of making potash and pearl ash. Potash, later termed...

I have a teenaged daughter who lives and breathes ballet, and as she improves I am constantly amazed not only by her growing artistry but her...

In the early 1940s, Henry Booth, a textile jobber and President of Amalgamated Textile Limited, realized that retailers of ready-made suits had to...

John McMullen (1791-1870) and Joseph Hollen, Jr. (1798-1874), both of central Pennsylvania, patented a machine for knitting stockings in 1831. This...

In March I enjoyed traveling to a small Texas town southeast of San Antonio to visit my adopted uncle Raymond, a lifelong family friend and mentor. He...

In The Lost Art of Dress: The Women Who Once Made America Stylish, I was introduced to the idea that dressing used to be—and still can be!—a creative...

Charles Brannock (1903-1992) was born into the shoe business—his father Otis Brannock and Ernest Park had founded the Park-Brannock Shoe Store in...

In 1925, Charles F. Brannock invented the Brannock Device to measure feet and determine shoe size. He got the idea while working in his father’s shoe...

Editors Note: This is a follow-up to “It’s in the Details,” Anna’s recent blog about fiber artist Timothy Westbrook and his use of repurposed...

I’m a runner. I started running in late 2000, and in June the next year I ran the Mayor’s Marathon in Anchorage, AK—my very first race ever. Since...

We think a lot about sequins here—about their care and conservation—the history of their invention and evolution—and they ways their sparkle conveys...

OK, let’s get the confession out of the way. One of my favorite movies of all time is The Wizard of Oz. I know, I know. I should pick something more...

In 1982, Sally Fox was working for a cotton breeder in California when she came across a bag of brown cotton seeds. The breeder was considering...

If you’ve ever been fitted for a pair of shoes, you’ve been in close contact with a Brannock Device, though you may not recognize it by its name...

Late one night in 1946, a very tired mother was faced with a wet, crying baby yet again. Changing her second daughter's soaked cloth diaper, clothing...

Color shapes our view of the world. It enriches our lives and surprises us with its endless variety. Color mirrors our moods and probably has more...