An invention a day till the covid’s away, illuminated by Matthew Martin and explicated by David Dale. Today: The Retractable Dog Leash.
On May 12, 1908, Mary Delaney of New York received a patent for a device involving a drum and spring that would allow a chain to be paid out or pulled back in stages. She described it thus:
“It is usually desirable that the dog should have a certain freedom in running about, but it is difficult to prevent the animal from running on the wrong side of lamp posts or pedestrians, thus causing much annoyance to the owner, who is constantly required to adjust the length of the leash in her hand and frequently the leash is dropped and the dog permitted to run away. … The objects of the present invention are to obviate and overcome all these difficulties and annoyances due to the usual form of leash, and prevent the leash from becoming tangled as the dog runs about.”
Delaney received four more patents between 1908 and 1940. That’s all we know about her.
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