The Bent Needle

04/05/2026

Happy Easter! Have a beautiful day!

03/17/2026

Enjoy your day! Hope you wore your GREEN!

03/08/2026

😏

01/01/2026

Best wishes for a prosperous and successful New Year!

12/25/2025

Have a very blessed day, and thank you for all your support!

11/27/2025

Thankful for all my wonderful customers!

11/11/2025

07/29/2025

Celebrating my 4th year on Facebook. Thank you for your continuing support. I could never have made it without you. 🙏🤗🎉

06/12/2025

In 1902, Alabama businesswoman Mary Anderson noticed New York streetcar drivers had to open their windows during snowstorms just to clear their windshields. 🌨️ 🚋

Their passengers shivered while snow blew in. Drivers periodically stepped outside to wipe away accumulating snow and ice, causing delays and risking accidents.

Mary Anderson wasn't an engineer or automotive expert. She was a real estate developer who also managed a cattle ranch and vineyard in Alabama.

Yet her practical mind immediately recognized a solution where others saw only an inconvenience. She envisioned a simple mechanical device - a rubber blade attached to a spring-loaded arm that could be operated from inside the vehicle.

On November 10, 1903, Mary was granted U.S. Patent No. 743,801 for her "Window Cleaning Device." Her design featured a lever inside the vehicle that controlled a swinging arm with a rubber blade on the outside of the windshield.

Ironically, when Mary attempted to sell her invention to a Canadian manufacturing firm, they rejected it, claiming it had "no commercial value." They couldn't imagine that such a device would become standard equipment on every motor vehicle.

By the time her patent expired in 1920, the automobile industry was booming, and windshield wipers based on her fundamental design had become standard in most vehicles. Mary never received a penny for her revolutionary invention.

Today, we activate our windshield wipers without a second thought, little knowing we owe this simple safety feature to a woman whose practical solution has saved countless lives on rainy and snowy roads for over a century. 🚗