On this day in 1903 the patent of the Baby Comforter was granted. U.S. Patent No. 745,920.
The Baby Comforter, known today as pacifier, was invented by Harvey Spencer on December 1, 1903 as U.S. Patent No. 745,920.
Mr. Spencer’s invention was created to comfort and quiet young babies, an object being to provide a device for this purpose that shall be simple in construction and that when placed in a child’s mouth will not only serve to solace the child, but will afford slight nourishment.
The body portion of the comforter consists of a shank 1, on one end of which is a bulbous or ball-like head 2, and on the other end is a flattened disk-shaped head 3. The body portion is solid or imperforate and may be made of any suitable material – such, for instance, as hard rubber, porcelain, or the like. A soft rubber-like nipple 4 is designed to be engaged over either one of the heads 2 3.
Throughout time the Baby Comforter has been improved upon but in some cases accidentally made dangerous. Back in the early 1900s when the Baby Comforter was first coming around some Baby Comforters contained lead, others were made of coral, and some were even made of small vegetable gourds. Thank god for the sap from rubber trees.
We have often heard parents refer to their child’s Baby Comforter as a Binky, but here’s an interesting fact not many know about; Platex owns the registered trademark for that name. They registered the name in 1935 and have sold multiple items under the name Binky and it has now become synonymous with pacifier.
Although pacifiers have made a significant comeback, back in the 1900s people were trying to have Baby Comforters banned, but we’ve come a long way since then. Now almost all babies use them, and it’s not such a bad thing. As a mother I can personally say pacifiers were a godsend and know they saved me from many sleepless nights!
