Charlotte Bridgwood

Charlotte Bridgwood (née Dunn, 18 August 1861 – 20 August 1929)[1] was a Canadian vaudeville performer and inventor. She is the mother to Florence Lawrence, regarded as the “first movie star”[2] and inventor of the turn signal, traffic light, and brake light.

Charlotte Bridgwood
Born
Charlotte Dunn

18 August 1861
Hamilton, Canada West
Died20 August 1929
Hollywood, Los Angeles County, USA
Known forInventor
ChildrenFlorence Lawrence

Career

Theatre

Charlotte Bridgwood, known by the stage name “Lotta Lawrence,” was the lead actress for the Lawrence Dramatic Company, which she also managed. She went on to act in many movies with her daughter, including Daniel Boone/Pioneer Days in America and The Shaughraun. While her daughter continued acting in film, Charlotte returned to stage productions.[3]

Automotive Advancements

Charlotte Bridgwood was president of the Bridgwood Manufacturing Company.[4][5] She was an automobile enthusiast. She decided to improve Mary Anderson's manual windshield wipers, in which people had to use levers to operate the windshield wipers. Through her manufacturing company, she invented automatic windshield wipers that she called "Electric Storm Windshield Cleaner". She patented the first electrically powered windshield wiper in 1917, improving previous manually-operated wipers such as the one patented by Mary Anderson in 1905. However, her wiper used rollers rather than blades and did not catch on.

Original patent design for Charlotte Bridgwood's "Electric Storm Windshield Cleaner"

Patents

In October 1917, Charlotte received a patent for the first automatic windshield cleaner.[6] However, she never brought her design into full production, so the patent expired in 1920.[7] Since US patent law no longer protected her product’s propriety, it was only a matter of time until large car manufacturers picked up her design. Cadillac was the first company to adopt the design two years later. Charlotte Bridgwood’s invention was left without much recognition.[8]

References
  1. Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001), "Bridgwood, Charlotte", Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory, McFarland, p. 116, ISBN 9780786450190
  2. Goldman, W (1984). Adventures in the Screen Trade. Warner Books.
  3. "Biography: Florence Lawrence". Biography: Florence Lawrence. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  4. Barnett, Cynthia (2015). Rain: a natural and cultural history (1. ed.). New York, NY: Crown Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8041-3711-9.
  5. Mall, Scott (2022-03-18). "FreightWaves Classics/Pioneers: Next time it's raining, thank two women for your windshield wipers". FreightWaves. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  6. "US Patent US1274983A". Google Patent Search. October 1917. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  7. "Macaulay, Janet Stewart Alison, (20 Dec. 1909–10 Dec. 2000), Headmistress of St Leonards and St Katharines Schools, St Andrews, 1956–70", Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 2007-12-01, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u180129, retrieved 2023-08-12
  8. "Women and Cars (Part One) - Women on Wheels". Women on Wheels: #1 Female-driven motoring content & cars. 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2023-08-12.


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