Turning Straw Into Gold

Mary Dixon Kies

May 5, 1809: Mary Dixon Kies is the first woman to receive a US patent. Mary’s father was an Irish immigrant and he and his third wife welcomed Mary into the world on March 21, 1752 in Killingly, Connecticut. Mary’s first husband died and she then married John Kies who died at the age of 63. Mary then went to live with her son in Brooklyn, New York and died at the age of 85 in 1837. Mary’s patent was for a method of weaving straw with silk and thread.

Straw weaving was a vital industry in America of the 1800s. Women wore straw hats while out in the fields as protection from a brutal sun. The Patent Act of 1790 opened the office to anyone, male or female. However, in many states, women could not own property and therefore did not file any patents. Mary Kies broke the patent barrier and opened the doors to inventive women. She was not the first woman to improve the method for making the hats.

Betsy Metcalf, another New Englander, invented a method of braiding straw and it became quite popular. Betsy employed many women in the hat making business but did not patent her product. When asked why, she said she didn’t want her name being sent to Congress. Mary didn’t mind. Instead she sought out a patent and her timing was brilliant. The US government had stopping importing goods from Europe secondary to the Napoleonic Wars. President James Madison was looking for American industries to replace the goods no longer being imported from European sources.

Mary’s product was cost effective and work bonnets made with her method were being sold throughout New England. The market had been faltering, but with Mary’s method now available, hats were being mass produced. In 1810 in Massachusetts alone, about $500,000 worth of hats were manufactured. That is over $4.7 million in today’s money. Dolley Madison honored Mary for her work. The original patent was destroyed in the United States Patent Office fire in 1836. While Mary was able to patent the process and while lots of money was made with it, she was not able to secure profits from her invention and she died penniless in 1837.

“A gentleman is any man who wouldn’t hit a woman with his hat on.” – Fred Allen

“A hat should be taken off when you greet a lady and left off for the rest of your life. Nothing looks more stupid than a hat.” – P. J. O’Rourke

“A woman’s place in public is to sit beside her husband, be silent, and be sure her hat is on straight.” – Bess Truman

“And all your future lies beneath your hat.” – John Oldham

Also on this day:
Monkey Trial – In 1925 John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution.
Cinco de Mayo – In 1862, the Battle of Puebla was fought.