Juliette Low was an extremely creative person. She wrote poetry, she painted and sculpted. She could spin, knit, and sew–a little. Of course the biggest thing she ever created was the Girl Scouts of the United States of America. But did you know that she was also an inventor?
In 1912, Juliette Low took out a patent for a kind of a trash can for liquids. She called it “The Pluto Bag.” She did not name it after the planet, for that was not discovered until after her death. Presumably, she named it after the Roman god of the underworld.
The Pluto Bag seems never to have been manufactured or sold. I can only speculate as to what prompted her to dream this up and seek a patent. Does this have camping applications?
Here’s the fine print:
You can read about it yourself (there are two more pages, one text, one drawings) on the U.S. Government patent page, or to find it more simply, click here.
Juliette Low also designed and patented the first U.S. Girl Guide Tenderfoot badge, which will look familiar to some of you:
When the patent for the badge expired in 1921, she signed it over the the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.
Her attorneys stated that she owned the “trade-mark for the letters “G.S.” for clothing, hats, caps, etc., which trade-mark was #123992.” I cannot locate that one, however. If you can, let me know!
- With thanks to Lynn Daw, librarian extraordinaire at Monmouth College, Monmouth, Illinois.
- For the use of the term “Pluto bag,” see Ernest Wilkinson to Juliette Low, 14 February 1921. For the re-assigning of the badge patent, see Jane Deeter Rippin to Juliette Low, 1 February 1921, both from National Historic Preservation Center, Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. National Headquarters, Folder JGL Correspondence, 1921.
All right Stacey, you win! this is totally new on me!what fun. Do you have larger copies? i might be able to figure out use, if I can read it!
katherine
Katherine, if while looking at the photos, you hold ctrl & "+" it will enlarge the picture so that you can read the print. Very cool to read about.
Wow! I stumped the expert! Awesome! :-)
The larger files are available from the U.S Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov/) but I think it's easier to search with the Google Patent search engine (http://www.google.com/patents). If you click the link under the long explanation in the blog above, it should take you there.
As for the trefoil, the full extent of the information is what I've cut in above–just the photo and that small description. If you search using the patent number you can see the original scan on either the USPTO or the Google Patent search.
Let us know what you think! Thanks for your comment.
My girl is going to love this! She is doing a project on Juliette Gordon Low, so she's been a busy research beaver. However, I don't think she's come across this stuff at all. Thanks!
We have a trefoil original here in our collection. The portable bag is too cool!
Hi Stacy! I am looking forward to seeing your book in print! The celebrations in 2012 should be a lot of fun.
Margaret McGuire Seiler, great-niece of JGL
(My grandfather was Daisy's younger brother Arthur)
I truly appreciate everyone's comments!
Manon–I'm thrilled that your daughter can enrich her research project with information here. And it's tremendously useful to learn at a young age both how to conduct research and how to cite one's sources. I'm a college professor, and when students come in knowing how to research and cite properly it is a great help to them.
Katherine–For those of you who don't know, that's Katherine Keena at the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace in Savannah, where there are many unique and extraordinary items from Juliette Low's life–all of them worth going to see.
Margaret–How kind of you to write! I, too, am looking forward to seeing my book in print, and to 2012! I certainly hope our paths will cross.
After recognizing the basic shape of the do-it-yourself paper cup that many of us learned to fold as children in the days before plastic water bottles, I had to read Daisy's specifications for this larger version which she proposed to be used as a disposable garbage can liner. I am now sitting here with my little folded sample and delighted to have this new bit of information about Juliette Low!
As to whether or not this design had camping applications, in the second page of her description she stated that the design "furnishes an especially desirable bucket for camp use, which may be used in camp for carrying water, or for other purposes."
The Pluto Bag may never have been commercially manufactured or sold, but I expect early Girl Scout campers were well prepared for lining their garbage cans or carrying water when no metal bucket was available! This is a wonderful tidbit of information that we in our local Girl Scout council's history committee can use when we teach girls about Daisy and the early days of Girl Scout camping.
Stacy, thanks so much for sharing all of this. I am really enjoying your blog and looking forward to the biography!
Dear Anne–Thank you so much for these thoughtful and cheering comments! I sincerely appreciate your writing.
As to the camping applications, I was unclear: I know she thought the Pluto Bag could be used for camping…I wonder whether it ever *was.* Alas, I don't have any evidence that she, for example, used it or taught her Girl Scouts how to use it while camping. I love your suggestion about the preparedness of Girl Scouts and their use for the bag. Thanks so much again!