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<\/a>Photograph of the Peterson Paper Co. from the Richardson-Sloane Special Collection Center Collections.<\/p><\/div>\n
Fires were common in the 19th century, so much that the Peterson Paper Company was constructed to be \u201cfire-proof.\u201d The following Davenport inventors were attempting to improve the safety of fire escapes for their fellow citizens.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Heuermann, John. \u201cFire Escape.\u201d US 96,698, United States Patent and Trademark Office, 9 Nov. 1869. Google Patents.<\/p><\/div>\n
John Heuermann\u2019s 1869 patent for a fire escape that could be wheeled to the aid of those needing rescue. Wheeled fire escapes existed at the time, but Heuermann claimed his to be more stable so that the escape would \u201cstand plumb.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>Wahle, Lorenz. \u201cFire Escape.\u201d US 105.280, United States Patent and Trademark Office, 12 July 1870. Google Patents.<\/p><\/div>\n
Lorenz Wahle\u2019s similar design (1870), this time employing a \u201cscrew power for operating the…jointed frame and ladder.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>Schroeder, Nicolaus. \u201cFire-Escape.\u201d US 200,878, United States Patent and Trademark Office, 5 Mar. 1878. Google Patents.<\/p><\/div>\n
In 1878, a patent was granted to Nicholaus Schroeder for improvements on this type fire escape, which allowed people to attach to an object in the room by way of a rope and lower themselves to safety on this seat. In the patents, Schroeder claims that the novelty of his invention lies in the stability of its construction.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Werner, Minnie. \u201cAdjustable Cooking Pan.\u201d US 1,202,629, United States Patent and Trademark Office, 24 Oct. 1916. Google Patents.<\/p><\/div>\n
Other inventions improved the design of everyday objects. Minnie Werner, a housewife, patented this adjustable cooking pan in 1916. It was made to prevent the dressing from getting soggy and could be placed in the oven directly in the juices from the meat. You could also adjust it to create a cake of many sizes. For cleaning, it could be easily disassembled and flattened for convenient storage.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Rohwedder, Otto F. \u201cMachine for Slicing an Entire Loaf of Bread at a Single Operation.\u201d US 1,867,377, United States Patent and Trademark Office. 12 Jul. 1932. Google Patents.<\/p><\/div>\n
The Quad Cities is famous for the invention of sliced bread. You may know that Davenport\u2019s Otto Rohwedder invented the bread slicer, but his idea sparked a succession of improvements and alternate versions by local inventors, including Harry J. Criner (1933), Arthur A. Kottman (1934), William E. Bettendorf (1934), Taylor Creech (1936), and Charles H. Petskeyes (1947).<\/p>\n
<\/a>Criner, Harry J. \u201cBread Slicing Machine.\u201d US 1,925,481, United States Patent and Trademark Office. 5 Jan. 1933. Google Patents.<\/p><\/div>\n
While Rohwedder\u2019s invention featured slicing bands, Criner\u2019s introduced blades to improve the uniformness of the slices.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Kottman, Arthur A. \u201cControl for Bread Slicing Machines.\u201d US 1,964,824, United States Patent And Trademark Office. 3 Jul. 1934. Google Patents.<\/p><\/div>\n
Getting the conveyor belt and the blades to act in concert with each other was a challenge for inventors. Kottman\u2019s control for these machines only allowed the conveyor to run if the blades were working at their intended speed.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Bettendorf, William E. \u201cBlade Frame Assembly for Slicing Machines.\u201d US 1,968,020, United States Patent and Trademark Office. Google Patents.<\/p><\/div>\n
William Bettendorf\u2019s blade frame assembly fixed the problem of differing blade tension, which often resulted in a wavy slice,by incorporating nuts and bolts that allowed operators to adjust the tension by small degrees.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Petskeyes, Charles H. \u201cBread Transferring Means for Bread Slicing Machine.\u201d US 2,417,782, United States Patent and Trademark Office. 18 Mar. 1947. Google Patents.<\/p><\/div>\n
Petskeyes\u2019 bread transferring means employed \u201cfollower bars\u201d on a chute to hold loaves of bread steady as they traveled through the conveyor.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Creech, Taylor. \u201cBread Slicing Machine.\u201d US 2,056,134, United States Patent and Trademark Office. 29 Sept. 1936. Google Patents.<\/p><\/div>\n
Since timing and position was everything when it came to bread slicers, Creech invented a machine that improved these in some of these ways: by arranging the conveyor and feed table to \u201ccushion\u201d the bread while it travels through the blades, ensuring uniform slices; by feeding the bread to the blades at an angle to \u201cprevent crushing\u201d; and by the use of a mechanism that held the slices together before they were wrapped to ensure that the loaf would not be crushed or fall apart.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>The Davenport Democrat and Leader, 25 Jul. 1933, p. 6.<\/p><\/div>\n
You may recognize the Clapp surname from this blog<\/a> about Lottie Clapp, the first female funeral director in the tri-state area. Her son, Alan, only owned the funeral home for a short while after his mother\u2019s death; however, he did contribute to inventions in the funeral industry.<\/p>\n Clapp, Alan. \u201cEmbalming Implement.\u201d US 1,825,993, United States Patent and Trademark Office. 6 Oct. 1931. Google Patents.<\/p><\/div>\n His patent for a multi-directional embalming tool would \u201cdo away with the necessity of removing the instrument from an artery and then turning it end for end.\u201d<\/p>\n The Daily Times, 17 Mar. 1951, p. 5<\/p><\/div>\n Much later, in the 1950s, Edward J. Lager invented a burial vault that claimed to prevent decay. This is just one of the examples of funeral industry scams that were brought to light with the 1963 publication of Jessica Mitford\u2019s The American Way of Death<\/i>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Evins, Dossa D. \u201cDiagnostic Instrument.\u201d US 1,648, 939, United States Patent and Trademark Office. 15 Nov. 1927. Google Patents.<\/p><\/div>\n Some inventions, however, were extremely useful to their industries. Although his most famous invention was the neurocalometer, a device for detecting changes in temperature along the spine, Dossa Dixon Evins invented several chiropractic implements during his life, including an adjusting table and a method of creating x-rays.<\/p>\n There are many, many more local inventions where these came from. If you\u2019re interested, visit the Iowa Inventor\u2019s Database<\/a>.<\/p>\n (posted by Nikki)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many of us don\u2019t often think about how everyday objects came to be: washing machines, zippers, fire escapes, even the board games we play. But behind them all is a person with an idea. Davenport citizens have been responsible for … Continue reading <\/a><\/a><\/a>