African-American inventionIn 1882, black American inventor, W.B. Purvis was issued a patent for a "Bag Fastener" (No. 256,856). It was designed to permit packages, especially those wrapped in paper, to be "instantly sealed or bound up without the use of cord or its equivalent." The invention was a light metallic pronged fastening device, one end of which was to be secured by a paper strip held by gum or paste to the open end of a bag. The opposite end had small barbs designed to pierce and fasten to the opposite side of the seam being closed. In later years, he also patented a hand stamp, a fountain pen, an electric railway, a magnetic car balancing device, an electric railway switch and ten paper bag machines. |
