Finding Great in the Everyday

By. O. Astor

We all talk about the many great inventions, discoveries, and ideas women have brought into the world. From Marie Curie and her discoveries of the elements radium and polonium to Amelia Earhart who was the first person to fly non – stop across the United States - we’ve all heard of them. So, for this month, I wanted to take time to talk about some lesser-known women who have all made important contributions and invented simple, everyday things we take for granted. I hope this article will be as surprising and interesting as I have found writing it.
First up, the hairbrush! Lyda Newman was a black American inventor and hairdresser. She was frustrated with the design of the hairbrush available in the 1890s. They were all made with animal hair, leading to poor hygiene, low durability, and cleaning difficulties. Furthermore, they were too soft and fine to treat the thicker texture of African hair. Newman proposed using synthetic fibers and an openable compartment in which you could easily discard all the gathered dust and hair after each use. This meant hairbrushes were cheaper to produce, and easier to manufacture. While this may not seem so important, her design is used as the basis of all hairbrushes today and changed the hair care industry to be more inclusive of different ethnical hair textures.
Next up, windshield wipers. Now that’s something I know we all take for granted. In 1903, Mary Anderson was stuck in traffic in New York City. It was snowing, and her taxi driver had to keep getting out to clean the window. And so her idea was born. She proposed a lever inside the vehicle which controlled the spring-loaded arm connected to a rubber blade. This would remove rain or snow, and, as cars became more common, her invention was adapted to fit different models. She made driving safer, easier, and more practical.
And lastly, the chocolate chip cookies we all know and love! Ruth Wakefield was a nutritionist and an enthusiastic baker. She and her husband ran a small inn called Toll House Inn. Wakefield managed the cooking and menu of the inn, and, overtime, Toll House Inn became known for its simple yet uniquely creative dishes and especially, their desserts. The inn started with seven tables but were soon serving more than sixty.
Wakefield and her cooking assistant were experimenting with different variations of pecan drop cookie dough, however, Wakefield felt there could more interesting variations. She planned to add plain no sweetened chocolate drops to the mixture to serve when welcoming new guests. However, when she started to bake them, she discovered she was out of plain bakers’ chocolate, and so resorted to using her only option: Semi – Sweet Nestle bars. She chopped them into small bits and sprinkled them around the dough. At first she believed they would melt too much and spill out into the dough mixture, but instead she found they kept their shape and became the warm, melty, and gooey treat we love. Soon after, she and Nestle made a deal in which her recipe could be printed on the back of Nestle chocolate bars, in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate.
I hope this serves as a reminder that you don’t need to be a scientific genius to make a huge difference in the world. Whether it be a simple cookie recipe that makes someone smile on a bad day, or a hairbrush that makes your morning routine just that little bit easier – small things make a huge difference. Women consistently throughout history have demonstrated this through creativity and perseverance, and so, maybe all of us can try to be a bit more like them.