New Technology World

Mary Anderson was ahead of her time. In the early 1900s, when most men were breadwinners and few women working outside the home, Anderson, in her mid-30s, unmarried, thought like a businessman. She also dreamed of being an entrepreneur. And she, she solves problems like an inventor.

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In 1902, she saw an economic opportunity in snow-covered windshields. She was on a streetcar while she was visiting New York City. problem? The sleet and snow prevented the driver from seeing the road. Visibility was poor. It was so poor that the driver had to stick his head out the window to see ahead. Occasionally I would stop and go outside to brush the snow off the windshield.

Anderson (1866-1953) thought there had to be a better way. Like any inventor or entrepreneur, she started thinking big. and out of the box. The wheels of her heart began to turn.

“That idea sparked an invention that will benefit all drivers around the world,” he said. auto zone (AZO) is an auto parts retailer.

Pondering a Better Way Like Mary Anderson

When Anderson returned to Birmingham, Alabama that winter, she came up with a solution. She drew a sketch of her blades for the windshield wipers that the driver can operate from inside the vehicle. She wrote up an explanation of how it works. And when she applied for her patent on June 18, 1903, she accepted all.

According to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, which inducted Anderson in 2011, nearly 60 years after her death in 1953 at the age of 87, “Her idea consisted of a lever in the car and a spring with a rubber blade. It was controlling the arm of the contraption.”

“A lever with a counterweight that keeps the wiper in contact with the window can move the blade across the windshield and remove rain or snow.” Granted patent number 743,801 for her “window cleaning device”.

But Anderson’s victory was short-lived. Her timing was off. Cars were still the future and not widespread. It wasn’t until 1908, five years later, that Henry Ford’s Model T hit roads across the country. It was in 1922 that Cadillac began selling cars with wipers as standard equipment.

Don’t give in to rejection

So when Anderson tried to sell her invention to a manufacturing company to profit from her ideas, she was repeatedly rejected. Sarah Scott Wingo, Anderson’s great niece, said she heard stories about inventors and entrepreneurs from her father.

Wingo recalls one letter of refusal dated June 20, 1905 from the Canadian-based manufacturer Dinning & Eckenstein. His patent expired in 1920.

Not much is known about Anderson, but we have much to learn from her ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit. Despite her impossible potential, her efforts to monetize her ideas only highlight the blueprints to her work and success.

According to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, “Anderson wasn’t properly recognized for her innovation during her lifetime.” Entrepreneurs were able to profit from her original ideas.”

Wingo’s theory is that the reason her great-aunt’s windshield wiper idea never materialized was because she was a woman, a fact many of the men who run most businesses couldn’t overlook. did.

“It wasn’t a time when a woman could go out into the world and do something like that,” Wingo said. If I had written that, the story might have been different.”

Still, the keys to Anderson’s success are timeless. she was an inventor. But she’s also an entrepreneur. She made her money in real estate, building and managing apartments in Birmingham and operating a cattle ranch and vineyard in Fresno, California.

put ideas into action

Coming up with an idea is one thing; executing it is another. Ideas often die from lack of initiative.

But Anderson turned the idea into action, taking the first steps towards becoming more than just a dreamer, but an entrepreneur.

“She wasn’t just interested in the concept, nor was she playing with fanciful dreams,” said AutoZone. “She was so serious that she applied for a patent.”

Anderson’s methodical progression from idea to sketch to patent application speaks to her belief in herself and her inventions. Rini Paiva, executive vice president of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, said: “You can’t underestimate the follow through. She didn’t just have an idea, she did something about it.”

Paiva says Anderson possessed key traits that made him more likely to succeed in business and life.

“She was persistent, visionary, and willing to follow up on ideas,” Paiva said. Paiva adds that Anderson was a problem solver who lived by the mantra. I know how to do it better. “She was happy to think of different ways to solve the problem,” Paiva said.

pay attention to details

History books lack detailed accounts of Anderson’s life and business endeavors. However, we can learn a lot about her from the detailed sketches of her window cleaning device filed in her patent application.

The sketch’s attention to detail provides a window into her thinking, ambitions, and commitment.

“It shows that she thought a lot about engineering and we know it went through a lot of iterations,” Paiva said. “It looks like a windshield wiper. You can recognize all the little details she described in the patent. How the arm swings. The fact that it’s spring-loaded.”

Follow your dreams like Anderson

Anderson could have erased his inventor’s dream and said, “Why should we do that?” Because she simply knew that she was a woman and that she was unlikely to succeed. But her efforts to achieve her goals outweighed the major obstacles of being a woman in the male-dominated business world of the early 20th century.

“Put it in the context of the times,” Paiva said. “A single woman applies for a patent and gets it.

Paiva says her drive defined her. During her lifetime she moved to the other side of the country to run a ranch. She also built and managed apartments in Birmingham.

“She was driven by Endgame,” Paiva said. Her mindset was business, finding ways to make money, be successful, and support herself. “What if we built this apartment complex? What if we patented this windshield wiper? To me, she would stand out in the world today. From what we know about her, she It’s a great example of what it should be. It’s a success.”

Anderson’s focus on tomorrow is another lesson all budding entrepreneurs should keep in mind. “She’s a good reminder for all of us to think about the possibilities of the future and how things could develop,” Paiva said.

Mary Anderson’s Key

• Inventor and patent holder of windshield wipers.
• Overcome: Obstacles faced by female inventors and entrepreneurs in a male-dominated world.
• Lesson: “Think about future possibilities and how things will develop,” says Rini Paiva, executive vice president of the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

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