Margaret Knight

By Mark Steer

In the days when paper bags were more like large envelopes, it took a woman of extreme ingenuity not only to realise that flat-bottomed, rectangular bags would be so much less hassle but also to set about making the machine that could produce her bags. That woman was Margaret Knight.

Whilst an employee at a paper bag factory, Knight (1838-1914) hit on the idea that square-bottomed bags would be far more useful for carrying groceries around than the bags she was currently making. So she invented a new machine, made out of wood, which would automatically fold and glue paper bags in her new design.

To patent her new invention, however, she needed to produce a version of the machine made out of iron. Whilst this second version was being produced, a man named Charles Annan stole her design and patented it himself. But he soon found out that Hell hath no fury like a woman de-patented. Knight took Charles Annan to court, paying almost $2000 in expenses during the process. Annan claimed that a woman could not possibly understand the complexities of the machine. Fortunately Knight could show the court her meticulous notes, samples and diary entries – they ruled in her favour.

Knight subsequently founded the Eastern Paper Bag Company and started producing the kinds of bags which are a common sight in American shops to this day.

This, however, was not the end of Knight’s inventing days. She eventually acquired 26 patents for a variety of innovations including a design for a window frame and sash, a numbering machine, an automatic boring tool and a spinning or sewing machine.

Ada Lovelace < Previous | See All | Next > Lillian Gilbreth