🌊 SURF 'N TURF 🏝️
-THE BORACAY ISLAND LIFE-
In the 1800s, women weren’t supposed to invent.
They weren’t supposed to sketch blueprints, argue in courtrooms, or file patents.
But Margaret E. Knight never cared about “supposed to.”
Born in 1838 in York, Maine, Margaret was just 12 when she witnessed a horrific accident at a textile mill. Most would have cried. She invented a safety device to stop it from ever happening again.
But her greatest battle came years later… and it had nothing to do with machines — and everything to do with justice.
While working at a paper bag factory in Massachusetts, Margaret saw a problem: The bags were weak. Flimsy. Useless for real-world needs.
So she designed a machine that would forever change how we shop, store, and carry:
A device that cut, folded, and glued flat-bottom paper bags — the kind we still use today.
But when she sent her prototype to be cast in metal, a man named Charles Annan tried to steal her invention and patent it as his own.
Why?
Because “a woman couldn’t possibly design such a machine.”
He underestimated the wrong woman.
👩🔧Margaret took him to court.
With blueprints, sketches, notes, and witnesses, she proved the invention was hers.
In 1871, she won. And the U.S. granted her Patent No. 109,224 — one of over 20 patents she would earn in her lifetime.
They called her “The Lady Edison.”
But maybe we should just call her what she truly was:
A fighter. A visionary. A forgotten hero.
So next time you pick up a paper bag…
Know it wasn’t just made of paper.
It was made of grit. Genius. And one woman’s refusal to be erased.
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Author ✍️/ Photographer📸
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