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Margaret Knight




(Boston Sunday Post, March 31, 1912. Courtesy:  Newspaper Archives.)

Margaret Knight (1838-1914) began her journey with invention at the age of 12 while working at a cotton mill.

Illustration of Knight’s patent for the Paper Bag Machine.
Illustration of Knight’s patent for the Paper Bag Machine.

She created a device to prevent workers from experiencing accidents due to dangerous conditions.  At the time, she was unknowledgeable about the patent process, and her first invention spread to other mills without credit or compensation.

Her penchant for inventing continued, and while holding a job at a paper bag factory, she developed her next and most notable invention — a paper-folding machine. This machine folded and pasted paper bags together in a method that allowed for the flat-bottomed paper bag we use regularly today. 

Knight was granted a patent in 1879. She later cofounded the Eastern Paper Bag Company and continued to engineer further devices throughout her life. She amassed over 25 patents and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her inspiring achievements.