Our Patent Office Past, Necessity's Mother

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
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No, not a war time invention, sorry, it was just so fall-down funny I could not resist. Post war, it occurred to me inventors had way too much time on their hands. And too many left over guns.

If necessity if the mother of invention, ' War ' must be female- awful thought. You can't find a lot of these now, no idea why. LoC had them years ago. They're online as tiny jay pegs but you have to go to DC for viewing larger. Well, you own them, you know.

Clara became impatient, fielding these. We did indeed need some, some seem a little opportunist? Some, famous.
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Like this- our Sibley, patented and in swift production, although our Native Americans did not receive a share is beyond me.

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BUT not this wonderful invention! Tent slash knapsack slash coat slash bedroll! Or did it? If anyone knows that it was used, please feel free to say so!

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I think this was another multi-purpose item? Cloak/coat/bed? Soldiers may have had something to about wearing mud- they saw far too much of it, anyway.

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This is post war, sorry, just really, really love it- and not much, post war! Thought I'd throw it in, like the rat trap.

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Floating battery, finally in patent too late for the past war- 1867, but there was an earlier version.

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1862, good Heavens.

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And then we had to put our men back together.

More, hang on.
 
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Everyone had a knapsack slash bed slash tent invention!

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And I'm not sure I'd want to be the profiteer who invented, and sold these.

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Another not-war, and again a favorite " In Doubtful Cases of Actual Death ", it just has to be shared. HAS to be, title, pulley and patent.

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You weapons experts will know if this ' flew '? No idea.

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This did.

Still looking for mothers, hold on-

 
I like the last one too. I guess it was better than nothing, but I don’t think it would have worked for long, especially after the first wave washed over the tub, filling it with water!! But, again, better than nothing - might work in calm waters!
 
Sorry, just cannot be finished! One of the funniest is probably awfully boring, first glance- and the point is, it is. For a kid.

In case anyone was wondering what to buy for that child or grandchild, this Christmas? An ' A. Lincoln ', toy monument. There's a best seller.

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What does one do with it? When I was a kid, ' toy ' meant play- balls, hoops, anything you could climb, throw, pull, push and otherwise enjoy- like a kid. Toy monument to a horribly murdered man? Did it come with the toy, canvas sack they sewed Booth into, before losing his watery grave? This is funnier the longer you look at it, I'm sorry.
 
One good reason to post some of these is, they can't be found now online. 5 years ago, you could. First to vanish was the flying machine. No copyright problems, someone must have decided they'd be a good draw, to get us to DC, where you can see them. Well, if one cannot get there, seems a shame to miss this piece of our history.

I think this is from 1808? Tough to read. How did anyone patent a still?

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I like the last one too. I guess it was better than nothing, but I don’t think it would have worked for long, especially after the first wave washed over the tub, filling it with water!! But, again, better than nothing - might work in calm waters!


It's been awhile, since bumping into these so I've managed to lose some in this mess called ' files ', on the laptop. Must dig up the floatation device which is your hat. It converted into a life saving device, in emergencies. Wonderful! Our inventors seem fixated on hats.

" Saluting device ". I don't the military purchased it?

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I had an uncle in KY (mom's bil) who used to make and sell "moonshine" from his own still. When my family and I used to visit, I remember asking my mother, "Why does Uncle Harrison grow so many potatoes?" She shushed me and said the family used them for food. HA! He was caught when he was in his 60's and put in jail a couple of years. There were many stills in that part of the country.
 
What does one do with it? When I was a kid, ' toy ' meant play- balls, hoops, anything you could climb, throw, pull, push and otherwise enjoy- like a kid. Toy monument to a horribly murdered man? Did it come with the toy, canvas sack they sewed Booth into, before losing his watery grave? This is funnier the longer you look at it, I'm sorry.

Judging by the drawings the monument appears to be a stackable set of puzzle/building blocks. They are stacked on a base with a dowel in the center. Each block having a hole drilled in the center to keep it on the base. Some, shown in figures 3 , 4 and 5 , are cut to be taken apart like puzzles. And they have letters painted on them like the square alphabet blocks we Baby Boomers use to play with as children. So, it was designed to be played with but if you never had drafting in college it can be hard to tell from the drawings.
 
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These pictures are so amazing. I would spend all day on this forum. I may have missed the information. Quick question. Does anyone know the address of the Patent office during the ACW and did it become a hospital? ...I know...It's an obsession! Was there only one Patent office or was it by region/state?
 
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