Harmon’s Histories: Thank Mary Anderson for windshield wipers!
By Jim Harmon
I see there’s a chance of rain in the forecast, so that calls for a big shout-out to Mary Anderson!
Say what? Mary who? Mary was the inventor of the windshield wiper, patented on November 10, 1903. Well, sort of.
According to 6thgearautomotive.com, “the earliest known inventor of the windshield wiper is George J. Capewell, living in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1896 he filed for patent for a window cleaner for cars, locomotives, and such land-vehicles”. The patent was granted in 1898.
Mary’s invention was designed to help streetcar drivers. They’d have to get out of the driver’s seat to clean the windshield of snow, only to have to stop again, a short distance down the lane, and repeat.
Her invention allowed drivers to clear snow from their windshields without having to stop the streetcars. What luxury!
According to the National Inventors Hall of Fame® (NIHF), Mary Anderson “was riding in a streetcar in New York City and observed how frustrated the vehicle’s driver was becoming as he struggled to remove the snow from the windshield. Often, the man had to stick his head outside the window and even stop the vehicle entirely to clean the snow off himself.”
Here’s NIHF’s description of Mary’s invention: “...a simple mechanism is provided for removing snow, rain, and sleet from the glass in front of the motorman, and it is simply necessary for him to take hold of the handle and turn it in one direction or the other to clean the pane.”
“The spring action upon the cleaners operate to hold the rubbers in yielding contact against the glass with sufficient pressure to clean the latter and at the same time with sufficient yielding action so as not to be rendered inoperative by striking an obstruction.”
But the auto industry was unimpressed. Among the many rejection letters, one read, “We regret to state we do not consider it to be of such commercial value as would warrant our understanding its sale.”
In fact, many auto manufacturers “believed that the movement from the wiper would distract the driver.”
Anderson finally just gave up. Her patent for a “Window Cleaning Device,” expired in 1920, right when as the auto industry (thanks to Henry Ford) began producing vehicles at affordable prices for the working man. She was just ahead of her time.
Other players then entered the field. There were William and Fred Foberth, “two inventive brothers living in the City of Cleveland, Ohio. In 1919, they applied for a patent for an automatically operated windshield cleaner”. Their patent was approved in 1921.
Next was Raymond Anderson of Cleveland. In 1923, he applied for a patent for a “motor operated windshield cleaner,” which included a couple of important additions: “the intermittent wiper operated by the driver, and an electric motor powered by the car’s battery.”
Then there was a lull. Decades then went by before further upgrades were invented by Robert W. Kearns. His system “automatically regulated the wiper intervals by itself, and could also turn itself off.”
Cadillac was the first to sell cars with built-in windshield wipers. The rest of the auto manufacturers soon jumped on board.
It’s too bad that Mary Anderson never received the credit she deserved. But it’s not too late.
As the raindrops hit your windshield this week, feel free to give a big shout out to Mary Anderson who allowed us see our way without having to stick our heads out the window!