Hagley Museum and Library
Hagley's collection of one-of-a-kind patent models reflects the changes in nineteenth-century technology in spectacular fashion. Patent models are working miniatures of each proposed patent and were required with the application to the United States Patent Office beginning in 1790 and lasting until the 1880s.
Representing some of the most creative and imaginative ideas of the time, this exhibit will feature more than 120 patent models that illustrate various categories of invention placed in a social history context. Categories include: leisure, food manufacturing, household, laundry, urban living, transportation, medical, explosives, clothing manufacturing, and machinery and tools. Local patents from Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey will also be featured.
Hands-on interactives and a school program are being developed in conjunction with the exhibit.
The collection consists of more than 850 patent models covering the years from 1809 to 1899 and patentees from almost every state and a limited number from other countries. Included are successful inventors such as George Westinghouse, Jr., John Mason, George Corliss, Linus Yale, Jr., William Westlake and Thomas S. Disston. Twenty-two women inventors are also represented in the collection.