Wipe Out

Mary did.

Clearly, Mary had no trouble operating in what was typically a man’s world at the time … she was a real estate developer, ran a cattle ranch and pretty well did anything she put her mind to … and all without a father, brother or son to help her along.

One cold miserable day, wiped out from touring around New York City, Mary took a trolley to her next appointment … the sleet and rain were coming down hard … and the riders were frustrated that driver, despite the terrible weather kept the front windows open … it was a miserable trip for everyone … everyone except Mary … who immediately saw an opportunity … now while others might have had thought of the same idea … Mary took action … she went home to Alabama, hired a designer and filed a patent for her idea. Then she approached company after company .. but surprisingly no one was interested … one company even wrote to say they saw no commercial value in it … well despite her best efforts Mary never was able to sell it … but once her patent expired others started to use it … a lot.

Today, over 100 years later, that simple device that Mary Anderson came up with sitting on a trolley car in New York City is now standard equipment on virtually every vehicle worldwide … and while she may not have made much money on it … it got her into the National Inventor Hall of Fame … the Windshield Wiper

The Windshield Wiper is a great idea because clearly you never know what will happen if you just take some action!