Margaret Eloise Knight was born in Maine in 1838. Young “Mattie,”
as she was called by friends and family, was known for the clever kites and
sleds she made. At twelve, she began working in a cotton mill. She had several jobs
in her teens and twenties, including home repair, photography, ingraving and
upholstery. In 1867, Mattie was hired by the Columbia Paper Bag company. The bags
produced there were weak, narrow, and couldn’t stand on their bases. They
were ill-suited for bulky or heavy items like groceries. Mattie invented a
machine that cut, folded and glued the flat-bottomed grocery sack we use today.
Charles Annan, a machinist who’d visited the shop where her machine was being
built, tried to steal her invention and patent it first. When Mattie filed a
patent interference lawsuit, Charles claimed “no woman could possibly
understand the mechanical complexities of this machine.” Mattie responded with blueprints,
journals, models and witnesses, resulting in victory.
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