Figure 



-Cradle and churn propeller patented by Ezra Whitman, 

 March 27, 1835 (restored patent 8726X). 



justing and regulating the "throats of planes" (fig. 4), 

 or for a self-propelled cradle and churn (fig. 5) 

 driven by a "clock work" escapement. Individually 

 and collectively, all machine patents suggest a public 

 attitude that welcomed technical improvement. 

 Surely the penchant for invention strongly reinforces 

 the contention that well before the 1830's there had 

 already developed, in the United States, a vocal and 

 well-defined "industrial consciousness." '' 



Patents and Standard of Living 



But what of more tangible things? How, for 

 example, may living standards be assessed from the 

 patent records? A count of the number of patents 

 granted for improved household furnishings listed by 

 Edmund Burke, Patents for Inventions and Designs, 

 Issued by the United States from 1790 to 1847, re\-eals that 

 there were nearly 600 "machines and implements for 

 domestic purposes," including such items as bedbug 



'2 Samuel Resneck, "The Rise and Early Development of 

 Industrial Consciousness in the United States, 1760-1830," 

 The Journal of Economic and Business History (.August 1932), vol. 4, 

 pp. 784-811. 



repellents and writing desks, and that no less than 228 

 washing machines were awarded letters." This large 

 number of patents for household appliances reflects 

 an increased standard of living in a new nation where 

 comfort and convenience gradually emerged as 

 middle-class prerequisites newly compatible with the 

 older gospel of "Poor Richard." 



The researcher will certainly be struck by the great 

 increase in pianoforte patents between 1830 and 

 1847." Why is it that no less than 49 out of the 60 

 were granted in this 17-year period? Is this merely 

 the old story of one invention triggering a host of 

 variations or is it a positive reaction by inventors to 

 soinething new in the society? Had Jackson's victory 

 at the polls put a piano in every parlor? Had scores 

 of inusic-loving German immigrants aroused a new 

 interest in music? Is this but another sign of increased 

 leisure in a society where young women now found 

 time to supplement artistic dabbling with recitals at 

 the piano instead of an e.xtra hour at the loom or 

 wheel? Or is it purely a response to a technical 



" Edmund Burke, Patents for Inventions and Designs, Issued by the 

 United States Jrom 1790 to 1847, pp. 307-318. 

 " Ibid., pp. 325-326. 



PAPER 48: UNITED ST.\TES PATENTS NEW USES FOR OLD IDEAS 



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