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26 economist suntribune wheels thursday july 112002 although other attempts at windshield wipers were made this southern belles invention actually worked by jason stein wheelbase communications poor mary anderson she couldnt have known then what we know now that a 21st century web site devot ed to spoofing legitimate publications would make her one of the worlds 1 00 most irrelevant figures of the 20th century a direct knockoff of time magazines super list of the year 2000 or that one automotive journal would opine she may have invented the windshield wiper but where would she be without rain but where would any of us be without mary anderson she was a pioneer before the first pioneers could see out the windscreen she was radical before women were allowed to vote she was an inventor even if she was ready fo r s u m m e r hqw about your gar maintenance package lube oil and filter 15 point inspection including coolant tires wipers hoses and belts tire rotation brake inspection top up fluids set tire pressure includes an electronic battery test zm v h8bs brake maintenance service apt clean debris corrosion lubricate and adjust i fj brake pads knuckles caliper slider pins and front or rear backing plates i disc brakes a ro test m vvjkkm ask for our suspension inspection to ensure youre getting the best tire traction brakingf erforma ff oodwresich service 27f on time at your gm dealership goodwrenchgmcanadacom 1800omdrive laughed out of southern alabama for an invention everyone eventually couldnt live without even if she never saw it to its final simplistically fantastic creation anderson is an anonymous figure in the landscape of automotive design she is a nameless faceless champion of problem solving at posted speeds rain snow sleet and bugs andersons one of the first to ever consider their impact then go out and provide an answer a woman with moxy and all from a pencil and a sheet of paper she was just a quiet shy girl in her mid20s when the idea for the worlds first windshield wiper first popped into her head it was the early 1 900s henry fords model a was slowly taking shape in detroits first auto factories inventions were popping inventors were dreaming and anderson was on her way north visiting the trolley cars and crowded streets of new york city all the way from her alabama southern belle beginnings it was while visiting manhattan in early 1903 that anderson would begin to really dream big on her first trip into the city anderson noticed that shiv ering streetcar drivers would often have to stop their rigs get out of their seats and wipe the ice and snow off the wind shield just to see the motormen had tried a variety of solu tions to this problem opening the windows covering the windows but nothing had worked she was captivated her mind was on fire frantically sketching anderson dreamt up a manually operated lever with a rubber blade that could be installed on street car a lever that when pulled activated a springloaded swinging arm that mechanically swept off ice or snow when warmer weather came some thought the windshieldclean ing device could be removed andersons would stay although other similar devices had been tried hers actu ally worked it would benefit motormen as well as the common driv er it would work in any environment it changed the way people would see for good it wouldnt change anything about the opinion of the folks back home friends teased the unassuming anderson about the invention saying the wipers would only distract drivers from attention to the road others laughed at her for even trying anything remotely so sophisticated not long after she would have the last laugh a year later anderson received a 1 7year patent for her swinging arm with a rubber blade although she never sold her invention it did catch on by 1916 a little more than a decade after that first sketch wipers were standard equip ment on american cars like fords model t lives were even tually saved storms were easier to navigate anderson would live to age 87 true recognition would die much sooner history has not remembered mary anderson well she is a virtual unknown in the automotive landscape a trivia answer more than a legend even though her creation falls in line with some of the more creative and helpful of our time by the mid1 950s she had died a quiet death much the same way she built her original idea from those first few days in manhattan unassuming but determined in the end her invention would become the first of many others developed in an everchanging period from 1 900 through 1 920 a time when more than 1 50 automotive innovations took shape by 1917 another woman automo tive pioneer charlotte bridgewood turned andersons idea into the first automatic windshield wiper and over the years wipers would gradually improved a century later its tough to think what we would do without them they are computerized the can start auto matically at the first sign of rain they are variable drivers can adjust them to suit individual needs and everyone is forever grateful to the southern belle with a quiet word and a quick idea it all started with a sketch and a dream even if it was irrelevant jason stein is a feature writer and the editor of wheelbase communications raceweek racing page he can be reached at jsteinwheelbasecomcom wheelbase communications supplies automotive news and features to newspapers across north america limited time only plus tax participating gm dealerships may ml individual prices lofirxmes up to 51 if gm premium motor oil mervatri see service advisor or offer conditions and more details or cat 1 80hrlve is a registered trajetr