Working Model
The models were sold off by the patent office in 1925 and were purchased by Sir Henry Wellcome, the founder of the Burroughs-Wellcome Company (now part of GlaxoSmithKline). Although he intended to establish a patent model museum, the stock market crash of 1929 damaged his fortune; the models were left in storage. After his death, the collection went through a number of ownership changes; a large portion of the collection—along with $1,000,000—was donated to the nonprofit United States Patent Model Foundation by Cliff Peterson. Rather than being put into a museum, these models were slowly sold off by the foundation. A saga of legal wrangling, purchasing, and re-selling ensued. A comparatively small number of models (4,000) are currently the property of the Rothschild Patent Museum.
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Famous quotes containing the words working and/or model:
“When I hear that there are 5,000,000 working women in this country, I always take occasion to say that there are 18,000,000 but only 5,000,000 receive their wages.”
—Anna Howard Shaw (1847–1919)
“When you model yourself on people, you should try to resemble their good sides.”
—Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622–1673)