John and Tom

Does this help? *LINK*

;-)


Patent office saved

Sure Does Answer Monday

John gets the gold star for the British. I�ll give another to Tom for the patent information.

Dr. William Thornton was born in the West Indies but when five years old sent to England and raised by relatives. He was a absent owner who later in life (age 26) found out his wealth stemmed from a sugar plantation with 70 slaves, but he disapproved of slavery. A renaissance man he was a designer, architect, doctor, and for today�s question, the Superintendent of Patents. When the British were setting fire to Washington DC, August 24-25, 1814, Dr. Thornton at no small risk, went to the British Officer who was about to burn the Patent Office, a Major Waters, and appealed to him not to destroy his private property, a violin he was making, housed in his office. At that time, the British were instructed not to burn private property but only U.S. buildings (like the Capitol, White House, Treasury�the Library of Congress was an �error�). When the Major gave him permission to get the instrument, Dr. Thornton then informed the Major that all the items (in those days models were required) in the Patent Office were private property. The Major wavered and referred the matter to a superior, another Major, named Timothy Jones. Major Jones accepted Dr. Thornton�s argument �to burn what would be useful to all mankind would be as barbarous as to burn the Alexandria Library, for which the Turks have been condemned by all enlightened nations.� (reference American Heritage, August 1972, p. 59) and the patents, models, and building were saved.

Much of it was for naught because on August 25, Washington D.C. got one of the most severe storms anyone could remember up to that time. The wind and the rain actually knocked people from their horses and from that storm that essentially put out the British set fires in Washington, DC, it ironically also blew the roof off of the patent building and many items were destroyed or damaged anyway.

Here is a amended timeline since.

1842

New and original designs became patentable. The first design patent was granted to George Bruce of New York City for a typeface.

1870

Congress abolished the legal requirement for models,however, the US Patent Office kept its requirement for models until 1880. Some models were still being submitted at the turn of the century.

1876

The public was barred from seeing the models because of lack of space.

1877

A second fire in the Patent Office on September 24, 1877 destroyed 76,000 models. Congress appropriated $45,000 for their restoration.

1880

The model requirement was deemed impractical and the law was changed to permit models only when required by the Commissioner. 246,094 patents had been issued by 1880 and perhaps 200,000 were represented by models.

1893

The models were moved out of the Patent Office and placed in storage.

1908

Congress decided to sell all the models. An auction of some 3,000 models that had failed to receive patents sold at that time for $62.18. The remaining estimated 150,000 models were stored, finally ending up in an abandoned livery stable. It is estimated that from 1884 to 1925, $200,000 had been spent in moving and storing the models.

1910

The one millionth patent was issued. The models were stored in barns and basements for almost 20 years until a sale was finally organized during Calvin Coolidge's presidency.

1925

On February 13, 1925, not wanting to continue to pay the cost of storage, Congress appropriated $10,000 to do away with the models one way or another. The Smithsonian Institution received an additional 2,500 models. On December 3, 1925, the models were sold at an auction to philanthropist Sir Henry Wellcome. It is believed that he intended to establish a Patent Model Museum. His plans dissolved with the stock market crash of 1929. He died in 1936 at the age of 82 without realizing his ambition.

1936

The trustees of Wellcome's estate sold the models for $50,000 to Broadway producer, Crosby Gaige. He in turn sold out to a group of businessmen for $75,000. This group formed American Patent Models, Inc.

1940

American Patent Models, Inc. declared bankruptcy. In1941 the models were acquired by O. Rundle Gilbert, an auctioneer, in a bankruptcy auction at Foley Square in New York City for $5,000 and moved to his home at Garrison-on-the-Hudson, New York. Gilbert held many auctions and thousands of the models were sold. On a number of occasions, Gilbert entered into various deals to sell the entire collection, but it wasn't until 1979 that a deal was actually completed.

1979

Cliff Petersen, a designer and inventor within the aerospace industry, (check him out too on any browser) purchased from Gilbert his remaining 800 crates - some of which had not been opened since the original packing in 1926 - for $500,000. Petersen began collecting patent models from Gilbert in 1973.

1990

Petersen donated 30,000 models and one million dollars to the United States Patent Model Foundation. He kept approximately 5,000 models that were in his personal collection.

1996

In January and November, two auctions of patent models from Petersen's personal collection were held at Christie's in New York City.

1998

Alan Rothschild created the Rothschild Petersen Patent Model Museum. A significant segment of the patent models represented in the Museum were purchased from the private collection of Cliff Petersen. In addition, Mr. Rothschild purchased all 82 models comprising the Patent Model Museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and added them to the Rothschild Petersen collection.

2001

In July 2001, The Rothschild Petersen Patent Model Museum(RPPMM) received museum status in New York State and official designation as a 501-C-3 corporation. The Rothschild Petersen Patent Model Museum is currently located at 4796 West Lake Road in Cazenovia, New York.