Happy Drinking Straw Day! Marvin Chester, the inventor of this innovation many of us use every single day, obtained a patent for his invention, the paper drinking straw, on January 3, 1888. Drinking straws had been used for thousands of years before this, and after Mr. Chester began commercially producing his straws, others improved upon his design and filed their own patents.
Although Marvin Chester didn’t live in Wyoming, thousands of patents have been filed in our very own state over the past, and the Wyoming State Library’s Wyoming Inventors Database includes records for these inventions dating back all the way to 1867.
The Wyoming State Library (WSL) is also a United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) designated Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC). Our library staff can assist with general questions and provide assistance and instruction in the use of patent and trademark resources.
If you have a thirst for knowledge about Wyoming inventors and inventions, or if you have a great idea you would like to patent, visit Wyoming Inventors on the WSL’s Digital Collection Suite today!