🚗 Did You Know? The Origins of Windshield Wipers 🚗

Original Author: www.fisherdiscount.com
Updated: November 21, 2024

Windshield wipers are essential for rainy days 🌧️, but do you know who invented them? Let’s revisit the story of Mary Anderson, who designed the first practical wiper system in 1903.

🛠️ Key Takeaways:
✅ Mary Anderson invented the first manually operated wiper system.
✅ Her patent expired before the invention became widespread.
✅ Cadillac standardized wipers in 1922.

💡 Fun Fact: Anderson’s invention earned her a place in the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2011.



With the Chinese New Year just around the corner, spring is not far behind. While spring is often celebrated as a season of growth, for people in southern China, it can be quite annoying. The damp environment, coupled with constant rain, makes both people and their laundry uncomfortable. Speaking of rain, when driving in rainy weather, windshield wipers are essential to clear the windshield for better visibility. Dear car enthusiasts, how are your windshield wipers holding up? Wait... don’t scroll away—this is not an article recommending wipers but rather one that delves into their history. Do you know who invented the windshield wiper and when?


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The Origin of Windshield Wipers
The windshield wiper, or more formally, the "windshield clearing device," can trace its origins back to 1896 when George J. Capewell filed a patent. However, his invention wasn’t similar to what we use today. By 1903, three more inventors had filed patents for wipers: Mary Anderson, Robert Douglass, and John Apjohn. Among them, Mary Anderson’s invention received widespread recognition, but her story is bittersweet.

Mary Anderson’s Revolutionary Wiper Design
Mary Anderson (1866–1953) was born in Alabama, USA. Though not an engineer, her keen commercial instincts led her to design a manually operated windshield wiper controlled from inside the car. Her invention closely resembles the wiper mechanism used today but was removable and operated manually. She filed her patent on June 18, 1903, and received it on November 10, 1903, with a 17-year validity. Unfortunately, despite the practicality of her invention, she never made any financial gains from it.

In 1905, Anderson attempted to sell her patent to Dinning and Eckenstein, a Canadian company, but they rejected it as “commercially unviable.” At the time, cars were not yet widespread, and some believed that using a manual wiper would distract drivers.

Cadillac’s Adoption of Wipers
As the automobile industry boomed in the 1910s, the importance of windshield wipers became apparent. By 1922, Cadillac became the first automaker to include wipers as standard equipment. Unfortunately, Anderson’s patent had already expired two years earlier, so she couldn’t benefit financially from the industry’s adoption of her invention.

Legacy of Mary Anderson
Despite her financial struggles with the patent, Anderson’s invention greatly influenced automotive history. She was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2011 for her contributions.