Thanksgiving and Patents
Thanksgiving, barbed wires, and the history of patents.
On this day in history, November 24th, Joseph Glidden was granted the first commercially successful patent for double stranded barbed wire in 1874. What does this have to do with Thanksgiving, you are thinking? Let me explain…
Thanksgiving was proclaimed as a day in October of the same year as a day to remind us of “the changing seasons that it is time to pause in our daily avocations” to be celebrated on Thursday the 26th of that year. That is two days after Glidden’s patent was granted, which was not the first patent given for barbed wires in recent years. The first patent was given to Michael Kelly. He is the one thought of the thorny makeup on the wire that we know today. His patent was for a single wire with the thorns and eventfully produced it as a double stand. Glidden saw this double stand and made “tweaks” and patented this double as his own invention. His became more commercially viable because of the ease in which he figured out how to mass produce it. However, this is all after he was granted the patent. Should he have been granted it in the first place? Did the patent office simply want to go home to celebrate the first Thanksgiving and didn’t pay attention? In this day and age, would a double strand of wire truly be something new and innovative to be granted a separate patent, given the fact that it was already in production and on the marker?
As a former trusts and estates attorney, one thing that fascinates me about all of this is the legacy. Glidden eventually teamed up with an investor who then sold the company to what is now US Steel. Glidden earned 1 million dollars in royalties. Glidden turned that profit into the Frying Pan Ranch in Texas which the family owns and resides on until this day. One thing I would like to mention is that Glidden’s son-in-law and namesake to the family line and Frying Pan Ranch is William Henry Bush, which according to the internet has no relation to the more famous Bush family, even though the father of William Henry and the patriarch of the Bush family are both named James, born around the same place, around the same year, and have similarities in background. Perhaps it is just a coincidence? But like the similarities between the two patents and I find this family’s history and legacy one that could be up for a debate, especially after a few bottles of wine. Note: Michael Kelly has no legacy and no Wikipedia page.
Below are links to the two patents. If you should find the time to email me back your thoughts, I would love to hear them. Calls are welcomed too but not today 😊
https://patents.google.com/patent/US283614A/en (Michael Kelly)
https://patents.google.com/patent/US157124 (Joseph Glidden).