The Spark Alive

The Vermont Historical Society chose a perfect theme for its annual Vermont Historical Expo that took over the Tunbridge Fairgrounds last weekend.

The theme was "Industry and Innovation: Vermont Ingenuity" and it provided a fascinating close-up look of the fertile brains and hands of 200 years of Vermonters, as they responded to the various stages of the industrial revolution with inventions and innovations of their own. Their work resulted in little pockets of economic prosperity in dozens of towns, large and small, some of which lasted just a few years; some of which are still with us.

An example of the former was the incredible, complicated, sock-making machine in the Northfield Historical Society booth. The contraption, which was partly functioning at the Expo, employed dozens of tiny hooks in a circle, rising and falling in graceful minuet, to knit a sock in minutes instead of hours. It could be adjusted for heels and toes and, most remarkably, could integrate several colors of yarn which automatically created an Argyle pattern in the sock. The machines produced socks of such quality that even in the 1940s they could be sold for $13 in New York City, and they spawned a boomlet that lasted about 10 years. After that, somebody else invented a better, more automated machine, and the boom moved elsewhere.

An example of a more lasting innovation could be seen at the Lyndonville booth, which featured the business dealings and technical improvements of one George Cody, who was dubbed the Maple King of Vermont.

It is a little shocking to discover that Cody’s greatest discovery was to pair one of America’s sweetest products—Vermont maple syrup—with its most disreputable product—tobacco—but that’s just what he did. Cody sold maple sugar to tobacco manufacturers, who used it as a substitute for Caribbean sugar to flavor the product and to make the leaves adhere in a "plug."

Cody eventually owned 4000 acres on which he operated an amazing 136 sugarhouses, basing his marketing operation in St. Johnsbury. Cody made millions and eventually lost them all; but his industry and salesmanship established St. Johnsbury as the marketing center of Vermont maple products, which it still remains, thanks to the Maple Grove company.

White River Valley inventers were included in the Expo, as well. One of the hobby horses made by Fritzel Toy Company in Randolph was on view, and the Rochester booth featured a sap bucket washer invented locally, as well as a set of wood-working planes.

Perhaps the most successful inventor in the region was Hugh Batcheller of Bethel, who held dozens of patents, mostly for a wide variety of switches that made electricity perform in never-before-seen ways. His son Kent presided in the Bethel booth with samples of much of the work, and with the drawings submitted for patents.

Gazing with awe at the work of Batcheller and others, it was reassuring to know that The Herald is still carrying news of White River Valley innovators. Last week’s story about Chris Scheindel and his inventions in the arcane field of aerosol containers proves that the spark is still alive.