Life Rafts - Thank a Woman

You’ve got your boarding pass, your suntan lotion, your dresses and suits for the formal dinner nights, but no matter what else is on board the ship, it won’t be able to leave port without a specified number of these. History tells us the Titanic would not have been such a tragedy if there’d been more of them on board. They’re life rafts, and they were invented by Maria Beasely in the late 1800’s.

Maria was one of the rare women who made fortunes from her inventions. Between the years of 1878 and 1898, she received at least fifteen patents. The first patent she received, which made her fortune, was for a barrel making machine. In those days wooden barrels were in high demand, used for food preservation and wine making. Her barrel making machine earned her almost twenty thousand dollars a year, in a time when the few women who did work earned an average of three dollars a day.

Among Maria’s other inventions she subsequently received patents for were a foot warmer, a steam generator and an anti-derailment device for trains.

But of all of her inventions, it’s the life raft that stands out as her great contribution to the safety of sea-faring folks.

So, the next time you’re sitting out on your balcony looking down on the calm sea, remember if anything happens there are life rafts on board that will keep you afloat until rescue. You can thank a woman for that. Thank Maria Beasley.