• 100 Years Ago Mary Phelps-Jacob Offered Support to a Nation

This year, the modern bra celebrates its 100th anniversary. In 1910, Mary Phelps-Jacob of New York City bought an evening gown to wear to an upcoming party. Not content with the traditionally worn corset due to it being visible underneath her dress, the 19-year-old Phelps-Jacob and her maid sewed two silk handkerchiefs and some pink ribbon together to provide less visible support. Soon thereafter she was asked to produce similar garments for friends and family, and was offered money to produce them for others. Mary filed for a patent for the first modern day bra which was granted in 1914. A page from that patent is reproduced below. Mary then set up a business, using the name Caresse Crosby instead of her own. Later she sold the brassiere ("Brassiere" is French for upper arm) patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut for $1,500. The Warner Brothers Corset Company made $15 million dollars from the bra over the next 30 years. Today, bras are about a $15 billion industry in the United States.

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