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Found 229 Stories
Patent tag for Paper box by Charles E. Bolchini, 1879.
Invention Stories

Boxed Up

Attributed to a factory mistake, the folding carton came on the scene in 1879 courtesy of the Robert Gair Company of Brooklyn, New York. Read more about the history of the folded carton, an item we encounter almost everyday.

Places of Invention

Seeing the Future at the New York World’s Fair

Edward J. Orth began collecting World's Fair memorabilia at age 12. Take a little peek into his motivation and collection.

Invention Stories

King of the Roads

The Good Roads Movement advocated for better roads and would have an enduring impact on the mobility of citizens. Inventor David Ward King contributed a simple, cheap device to make good roads possible.

Invention Stories

Broadcasting the Story of Invention

In 1950 a young immigrant inventor and entrepreneur is celebrated on a new radio program. Find out why Joe Gerber was called the “young man in a hurry!”

Brannock foot measuring device
Invention Stories

From the Collections: Charles Brannock

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 Syracuse, New York, in 1906. The business was remarkably successful.

Sketch of Sol Adler's workshop
Places of Invention

Sol's Place

Examining the life and work of Solomon “Sol” Adler (1901-1989), an American-born inventor of sewing machines, provides a glimpse of one invention space.

Elmer Gates's daughter Phoebe demonstrating sorting box.
Places of Invention

Sorting It Out

The story of psychologist and inventor Elmer Gates, who was known at the turn of the 20th century for his original ideas about experimental psychology and educating children.

Series of pencil sketches illustrating the bending of a flexible drinking straw
Invention Stories

The Straight Truth About the Flexible Drinking Straw

Joseph Friedman didn't invent the straw, he just made it better.

Brannock foot measuring device
Invention Stories

A Fitting Place for the Brannock Device Company Records

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. Charles F.

A stylized drawing of a compact fluorescent light bulb surrounded by a solid orange circle with a green border
Invention Stories

SmartLevel: The Soul of a New Hand Tool

Hand levels are one of the standard tools in the kits of house builders, plumbers, and many other tradespeople. Until 1990, all levels were bubble-type spirit levels.

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Burton-Humphreys Oil Production Collection, ca. 1912-1920

Inventor Name Burton, William and Humphreys, Robert

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Coal and Gas Trust Investigation Collection, 1858-1929

Inventor Name Unknown

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Solomon Adler Papers, 1916-1980 (bulk 1950-1966)

Inventor Name Adler, Solomon Repository Archives CenterNational Museum of American HistorySmithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.202-633-3270http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Bobcat Company Records, 1940s-2009

Inventor Name Keller, Louis and Cyril

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Reuben Moffat Correspondence, 1852

Inventor Name Moffat, Reuben Repository Archives CenterNational Museum of American HistorySmithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.202-633-3270http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Shriners Hospital Patient Isolation Unit Records, 1956-1981 (bulk 1969-1972)

Inventor Name Maley, Matthew Repository Archives CenterNational Museum of American HistorySmithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.202-633-3270https://americanhistory.si.edu/archives

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Sherman Poppen Papers, 1966-2008

Inventor Name Poppen, Sherman Repository Archives CenterNational Museum of American HistorySmithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.202-633-3270http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Richard Steele Papers, 1948-1963

Inventor Name Steele, Richard

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Holton Duncan Robinson Papers, 1889-1938

Inventor Name Robinson, Holton Duncan

Logo for the Modern Inventors Documentation database, showing a stylized head with words like creativity and innovation written on different parts of the brain
Archives

Robert Ledley Papers, 1971-1984

Inventor Name Ledley, Robert

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