Giving thanks to our inventors

In 1868, Martha Jones of Amelia County, Virginia, received a patent for a corn husker that was capable of "husking, shelling, cutting up the basics, and separating them from the grain in one operation." One of the first known African American women to receive a U.S. patent, her machine made preparing one of the most commonly used vegetables more convenient.

Three decades later, Alfred Cralle invented the one-handed ice cream scoop while working as a porter in a Pittsburgh hotel. Cralle noticed that servers had difficulty scooping ice cream; it required two hands and at least two serving utensils. Cralle's solution, a mechanical scoop with a built-in scraper, made it possible to do the job one-handed. If you like your pie a la mode, thank Alfred Cralle!

Inventors even made meal clean-up and storage easier. In 1886, Josephine Cochrane received a patent for the first commercially viable dishwashing machine. After growing frustrated with her fancy dinnerware getting chipped during hand-washing, she determined, "If nobody else is going to invent a dishwashing machine, I'll do it myself."

Whether you're making a quick lunch or an elaborate holiday spread, Jones, Cralle, Cochrane, and thousands of other inventors have improved our experiences in the kitchen. We hope that introducing invention education to kids early on will spark the next great culinary discovery.

These free educational videos, including a list of ingredients and instructions, will be posted on the USPTO's YouTube channel every Wednesday throughout November. Check out the playlist and subscribe.

Thank you to all of our inventors, past, present, and future. We wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.