Patent Models: Graphic Arts - Introduction Of the 10,000 patent
models held in this Museum, some 400 models are housed in and
relate to the Graphic Arts Collection. These include models
prepared for the printing, type, paper, and bookbinding trades.
The following Introduction is copied directly from Elizabeth M.
Harris, Patent Models in the Graphic Arts Collection
(Washington, D.C.: The National Museum of American History,
Smithsonian Institution, 1997). This publication is illustrated
with line drawings. Black and white photographs of many of the
400 plus patent models in the Graphic Arts Collection were taken
in the 1960s. We hope the publication of these photographs will
also assist the public in better understanding the Collection.
“Until 1880, the U.S. Patent Office required most inventors to
submit a model with their application for patent protection. The
Patent Office thus became the keeper of a huge collection, one
that suffered several catastrophes over the years. In 1836 a
fire at Blodgett's Hotel,