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Smithsonian sunburst Smithsonian National Postal Museum
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  • Patent model of an envelope-folding machine
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Patent model of an envelope-folding machine

Object Details

Description
Russell L. Hawes invented the first commercially successful envelope producing machine in the United States. He was granted patent number 9812 on June 21, 1853. Working from previous designs, Hawes added a self-feeding device to pick-up blanks automatically, reducing the number of required attendants and pioneering the principles that would later be used in self-gumming plunger machines. Hawes’s envelope-making machines turned out 10,000 to 12,500 envelopes per day.
Hawes, a Massachusetts physician, had a knack for invention. He left his practice to work for a paper machinery manufacturer, Goddard, Rice & Company. His innovations reduced the need for attendants and speeded the process. He designed machines to interact efficiently with the human body decades ahead of both scientific management approaches of the early twentieth century and the contemporary study of ergonomics.
Data Source
National Postal Museum
Date
June 21, 1853
Object number
0.261620.1
Patentee
Russell L. Hawes
Type
Commercial Products
Medium
metal
Dimensions
Height x Width x Depth: 24 3/4 x 13 1/4 x 18 1/2 in. (62.87 x 33.66 x 46.99 cm)
Place
Massachusetts
See more items in
National Postal Museum Collection
Topic
American Expansion (1800-1860)
Customers & Commerce
Record ID
npm_0.261620.1
Usage
CC0
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm87d517420-0c7f-468c-8682-1e3fb643f530
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
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HomeSmithsonian National Postal Museum

Visit »

Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Admission is always free!

2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
Washington, DC 20002

The museum's main entrance is located on the corner of First Street and Massachusetts Avenue NE. Other entrances have variable hours.

street map of Postal museum

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