National Earmuff Day

South Florida Reporter ^ | March 13, 2019 | Anon

[ProtectOurFreedom]

If you live in a cold climate like 15-year-old Chester Greenwood did, and had large, protruding ears, like Chester did, you might be thankful for his invention. National Earmuff Day honors the man who found a better way to keep our ears warm all winter long.

• After a day of ice skating, 15-year-old Chester came up with an idea to keep his big ears warm. Partnering with his grandmother who sewed tufts of fur between loops of wire, Chester soon had a working model.
• Farmington, Maine is now the “Earmuff Capital of the World”
• On March 13, 1877, he was awarded a patent. It was one of many. He was a prolific inventor, but the invention he is most known for is the earmuff.
• For almost 60 years, Greenwood manufactured these ear protectors, which provided jobs for the people in the Farmington, Maine area.
• Greenwood made improvements with a steel band and adjustable hinges and sold hundreds of thousands of “Champion Ear Protectors.”
• It later became known as “ear mufflers” and was eventually shortened to “earmuffs”.
• While Greenwood is forever linked to his signature invention, he also created other things. By some accounts, he came up with more than 100 contraptions, but he received patents for only five. In addition to his ear protectors, he patented a rake, an advertising matchbox, a tea kettle and a device designed to drill holes in the ends of wooden spools.
• The legacy of the dapper-dressed inventor faded over the years. It was revived when the Maine Legislature declared Chester Greenwood Day on the first day of winter in 1977.
• When sounds are too loud, acoustic earmuffs are used to protect the ears, and they should be used when sounds breach 85 decibels.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

The day is almost over and we forgot to celebrate! Here's to earmuffs.

[Clutch Martin]

I prefer either the watch cap, the headband, or the mad bomber.

Earmuffs are for hairdo conscious fashion-nazis.

[ConservaTeen]

I don’t need them, but I guess his invention did help create the headphones...