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stay_fr0sty t1_je8byq0 wrote

Flat bottom bags you make grocery world go round.

365

AnthillOmbudsman t1_je8hwar wrote

Hey, I run all day and night
I was built by Margaret Knight

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Crosstitch_Witch t1_je8mmyg wrote

My design was very revolutionary~

Then some jerk named Charles Annan

A real pathetic charlatan

Tried to steal it, but couldn't beat her testimony~

Aww, won't you take me home tonight

Aww, set me down, i stand upright

Aww, i swear nothing will ever fall out

Flat bottomed bags you make the grocery world go round~

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wizzlestyx t1_je8n6hr wrote

I've got in-ven-tions to show

No more stiffness in your bones

Bag your groceries in on quick trip form heya

-I'll tell ya!

Oh but I still got my patents

Even though some tried to match it

Big big groceries! You darn better be bagged for meeee

-Now get this!

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249ba36000029bbe9749 t1_je9a3q1 wrote

First thought: "hey, you know what would be funny..."

Second thought: "nah, that song isn't popular enough..."

...opens thread, top fucking comment, right there.

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StoneSigma t1_je8gkha wrote

Idk how or why, but I immediately started reading your comment in the tune of that song!

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stay_fr0sty t1_je8th48 wrote

I assume it’s because you are smart and musically gifted.

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WonderWmn212 OP t1_je8bxsc wrote

From Smithsonian Magazine:

"Not only did Knight file for a patent, she rigorously defended her ownership of the bag machine idea in a legal battle with a fraud who had copied her. Having gotten a glimpse of Knight’s machine in its development phase, a man named Charles Annan decided he would try to pull the rug out from under her and claim the creation as his own.

This turned out to be extremely ill-advised, as Knight, who spent a large chunk of her hard-earned money on quality legal counsel, handed Annan a humiliating courtroom drubbing. In response to his bigoted argument that no woman could be capable of designing such a machine, Knight presented her copious, meticulously detailed hand-drawn blueprints.

Annan, who had no such evidence to offer himself, was quickly found to be a moneygrubbing charlatan. After the dispute was resolved, Knight received her rightful patent, in 1871."

From National Inventors Hall of Fame (inducted in 2006):

"Margaret Knight invented a machine that could automatically cut, fold, and glue flat-bottomed paper bags. Knight's invention revolutionized the paper bag industry by replacing the work of thirty people with one machine.

Born in York, Maine, Knight went to work in a New Hampshire textile mill following her father's death when she was still a child. After witnessing a serious accident caused by a malfunctioning loom, Knight was inspired to create her first invention, a safety device that became a standard fixture on looms. That device was the first of many technical innovations that would touch a wide range of industries.

Before Knight invented her paper-bag machine, flat-bottomed bags could only be made manually and at great expense. With her innovation, flat-bottomed bags could be mass manufactured, replacing less useful v-shaped bags. Her invention was used worldwide. An updated variation of her machine was still in use at the end of the twentieth century.

Knight founded the Eastern Paper Bag Company in Hartford, Connecticut. Between 1870 and 1915, the inventor was granted patents for at least twenty-six inventions, ranging from a window frame, to a sole-cutting machine for shoemaking, to a compound rotary engine."

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kathryn13 t1_je97lgh wrote

She is celebrated at the Millyard Museum in Manchester, New Hampshire. There is a display of her first patent, safety device for the loom.

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Evernight2021 t1_je8nhub wrote

It's crazy how some people can hold 87 patents while I'm over here struggling with basic shit

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Tokenvoice t1_je93q1l wrote

Ofcourse you dont have any patents, they designed all of the good stuff and now we’re left holding the flat bottom bags of scraping the bottom of the barrel.

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gonesnake t1_jeahhh6 wrote

Damn. I was just about to patent the barrel-bottom scraper.

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oversized_hoodie t1_jeb1fiq wrote

Sometimes it really does feel like that. A lot of modern patents are just utter junk and should have been thrown out for not being novel.

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Tavarin t1_jebzrgq wrote

According to Wikipedia she had 27 patents. Still an amazing amount, but not the claimed 87.

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YdexKtesi t1_je8hnri wrote

I thought that said, "she had 87 parents," and I was like damn.. what.?!

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coach111111 t1_je8n15i wrote

I thought it said she started working in a factory at the age of 12.

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YdexKtesi t1_je93cp9 wrote

I literally thought that's what it said, up until the time I read your comment, went back and re-read the post, and even then I was like, "it does say that"

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rebillihp t1_je8kud8 wrote

Wait, does this mean there exists paper bags without flat bottoms? Like just two piece put together to make like a pocket I guess?

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cassieator t1_je9ql6n wrote

Yes, like the ones they put birthday cards into when you buy them at the store. I've night things that came in bigger ones every once in awhile - back when we used to go to stores

1

rebillihp t1_je9spty wrote

That's an envelope, not a bag. Not everything something can go into is a bag

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LurkerPower t1_jeb12m0 wrote

They're describing the bag that the clerk puts your greeting card and its envelope into.

1

the_hell_you_say t1_je8m91f wrote

Please Please tell me she started the Knight Foundation, and had a grandson named Michael

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arealuser100notfake t1_je8fj3s wrote

Can you earn money today by patenting ideas?

5

privateTortoise t1_je8itv6 wrote

If they work, are financially viable and legal then yep.

Problem is its expensive to sort out patents and there isn't a buy one for the world so depending on markets it can get very pricey.

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aswhole t1_je8k6ip wrote

Republicans might use this story to push their pro child labor laws

2

Ozymandias0007 t1_je8l535 wrote

Damn! Her first invention was when she was 12 years old and began working in a factory. I would say that was a different time, but several places still have children working. It even seems like some places in America are trying to "Make Child Workers A Thing Again."

2

kathryn13 t1_je9818x wrote

Fun fact: the same mill complex where she became an inventor at age 12, now houses the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) organization. FIRST runs FIRST LEGO League and Robotics competitions, run by prolific inventor Dean Kamen, to encourage kids to build robots, become inventors and try to solve the world's problems. It's a cool program.

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sharrrper t1_jeb28v5 wrote

For a second I thought she had 87 parents and was wondering how that worked.

1

necisizer t1_jebi33x wrote

The fact it's not an even number is what really really threw me.

1

Tavarin t1_jebzuj4 wrote

Margaret Knight was amazing, but she only had 27 patents according to Wikipedia. Where did you find she had 87?

1

WonderWmn212 OP t1_jec7qae wrote

Here's the explanation: "At her death, she held patents for 22 inventions and had assigned patents for an estimated 60 more to her employers or financial backers."

https://americacomesalive.com/margaret-knight-1838-1914-successful-inventor/

These posts reference a total of 87 patents attributed to Knight:

https://framinghamhistory.org/the-mystery-of-margaret-knight/#:~:text=In%201912%2C%20at%20the%20age,death%20was%20valued%20at%20%24300.

https://m.facebook.com/lottiedolls/photos/margaret-e-knight-is-one-of-the-most-productive-american-inventors-who-became-kn/5043119422397154/

https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/4-female-inventors-who-revolutionized-industry-and-technology/

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Tavarin t1_jeczcsr wrote

Interesting Smithsonian just says she was granted 20+ patents.

Looks like nobody knows how many she actually had.

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This_Freggin_Guy t1_je9yo5t wrote

+1 for child labor. I can see why it's coming back now.

−1

RDMvb6 t1_je9kuc6 wrote

Not saying this is the case here, but having many patents is not evidence of high intelligence. Oftentimes that just means someone hired a really good lawyer.

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