SPRINGFIELD –– Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White announced that a collection of antique Illinois inventions, including a print of a design by Abraham Lincoln, will be on display at the Illinois State Library, 300 South 2nd Street in Springfield, this month.
White said the display of rare Illinois inventions, which will be exhibited from August 1 through 31, on the Library's second floor bridge and in the first floor Illinois Authors Reading Room, commemorates National Inventors Month.
Abraham Lincoln is the only United States President who has been issued a patent. In 1849, Lincoln applied for and was issued a patent for a device that buoyed vessels over shoals. A print of Lincoln's design for the device and a copy of Lincoln's patent will be on display, along with a series of panels discussing the project.
Some of the other antique Illinois inventions that will be on display include:
- A pencil sharpener from 1906 that was manufactured in Rockford
- A corn sheller from 1881 made by S.C. Schofield of Freeport
- An antique washboard manufactured by P.A. Wetzel of Springfield
- A popcorn popper from 1892 that was made by Quincy Hardware
- A 1919 eggbeater made in Chicago
- Hog tongs made in 1873 by the H.W. Hill Company of Decatur
- A washing machine from 1867 manufactured by John Warden of Normal
- Corn huskers made in Chicago and Kewanee by Boss Manufacturing in the late 1800's/early 1900's
- A dead duck decoy holder made in Monmouth in 1880;
- A device used to de-horn cattle that was manufactured in Modesto by J.M. Mills in 1892.
Patrons are invited to view the unique items during regular Library hours of operation, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Illinois State Library is one of 88 patent and trademark depository libraries in the United States. Prospective inventors utilize the Library's specialized collection to determine whether or not an invention has already been patented.
