science · 13 March 1877 · 147 years ago
In 1877, the first U.S. patent for earmuffs was issued to teen-aged Chester Greenwood of Farmington, Maine (No. 188,292). While trying out a new pair of ice-skates one winter, he experienced stinging ears, and solved his problem with beaver fur pads on a wire frame. By his mid-twenties, he had a factory and 11 workers producing in his hometown of Farmington producing 50,000 earmuffs yearly. His distribution grew to 400,000 pairs in 1936, the year he died. He patented many other inventions. In 1977, Maine's legislature declared 21 Dec, the first day of winter, as the annual Chester Greenwood Day. His hometown celebrates with a parade in early December, although the Greenwood Ear Protector factory is now a laundry.
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