You may have never heard of Mary Anderson, but you’ve probably used her invention thousands of times in your life!
One frosty day in 1903, Mary Anderson (1866-1953), a native of Birmingham, Alabama, was visiting New York City via a trolley car. She was trying to catch all the sights of the city’s crowded streets, tall buildings, and horseless carriages, but she had a hard time seeing them because of the snowy weather.
Mary noticed that the driver was also having difficulty seeing through the sleet and snow. Every few minutes, the driver would have to reach through his window to wipe the snow and sleet off the windshield by hand. Sometimes he would even have to stick his head out the window while driving in order to see!
Forgetting about the sights around her, Mary started thinking about how the driver could stay warm inside the vehicle without worrying about the snow piling up on his windshield.
As soon as she went back home, she started working out her idea for the first windshield wipers. Mary Anderson envisioned a device that would attach to the outside of the car, with a long spring-loaded arm with a rubber blade. The driver could turn a handle from inside the vehicle to move the arm and wipe the snow off the windshield, without having to stick his hand out in the freezing weather.
Mary filed for a patent for the first windshield wipers in 1903, and tried to sell her device to several companies, who all rejected her invention. At first, people didn’t see the value of her invention and thought it would just distract drivers.
Mary was ahead of her time; in the early 20th century many cars didn’t go fast enough to even need windshields, and outside major cities few people even owned cars. Car safety didn’t really become a priority until the 1950s (when safer brakes and seatbelts were invented).
Mary Anderson’s invention was forgotten, until her patent lapsed and others were able to copy her idea. By the 40s and 50s, when cars were much more common and affordable, windshield wipers were standard on most vehicles, and they’re now usually a legal requirement.
Bonus fact: The first automatic windshield wipers were also invented by a woman, Charlotte Bridgwood, who filed a patent for her invention in 1917. Her invention, like Mary’s, was not a commercial success.
Related: Top 5 Brilliant Patented Inventions by Women
FAQs on Mary Anderson, Inventor
Why did Mary not sell her invention?
Mary Anderson was ahead of her time. No one valued her windshield wipers enough to pay for them, until after her patent expired. They thought they would distract drivers too much.
How old was Mary Anderson when windshield wipers were made?
Windshield wipers became standard in the 1940s, when Mary was in her 70s-80s.
Keri is a blogger and digital marketing professional who founded Amazing Women In History in 2011.
Fascinating! How must she have felt seeing her idea become widespread later in life?
That’s a great thought, I didn’t even think of that! Looking at the dates here, she was 37 on her fateful trip to New York City, and lived to be 87 years old. According to what I’ve read, windshield wipers weren’t very common until the 40s-50s, when Mary was 74-87.
If it were me, I’d be kind of bitter, honestly ;D Can you imagine having invented something so ubiquitous decades before it became popular, and never getting credit? (One of the sources I read said she was “rediscovered” relatively recently through the patent she filed, so she wasn’t known as the inventor of windshield wipers during her life time.)
Thank you for taking the time to deliver this topic. I like your take on this subject.
That was an amazing story. I never knw that about the windshield wiper. I did go to the theatre a few years back to see Greg Kinnear in the movie “a flash of genius”. Bob Kearns (the part Greg played) made the wipers better. Of couse Ford stole the idea from him. But I never once asked myself who actually invented the wiper.
Glad I came across this blog. Thanks
is there any quotes
Unfortunately I’ve never come across any quotes from Mary Anderson. She lived a pretty obscure life and there’s not a whole lot of information available about her outside what’s in the patents she filed.
Where did you find this photo?
I am an author and educator that would love to use this site with elementary students. Is there any possibility of removing the “kick-ass” in your title bar so I can use it with my students? I know to some it is not a big deal, but I have to be sensitive to administrators and parents in what I link. Thanks!
In addition to Arthur’s comment above, these administrators and parents also will not be impressed if you continue to leave a typo in there. It’s “brakes” not “breaks”.
So nice you have the time to check over the site for typos, Gail! I’m not really doing this to impress anyone with my spelling skillz, but I’m happy to fix it. Thanks.
Gracious reply
I wish there was more information in this. You did a good job but my eyes tend to skip over a lot of the information. Due to my whiskey addiction of course, I’ve been Jacking that Daniels for years now… What I’m saying is you need some filler, you know just extra stuff a little more information couldn’t hurt. This is also very hard to read because of my glaucoma, and I’ve seemed to run out of my Medical Leaves! So maybe add more spacing because, I can read but my eyes skip. Yup ol’ Tommy can’t ever keep his eyes straight from whiskey and glouc! I skip lines. Thanks again though!
Thank you for all this information I’m in 5th grade and it really helps a lot !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How amazing. I have never read or heard about this bright woman. Was she an African American? I saw this posted at one of my county’s Black History programs and did research.
this is so interesting