Cotton Sack Holder. (open access)

Cotton Sack Holder.

Patent for a new and improved sack holder. This design "is to provide a simple, inexpensive device for holding sacks or receptacles upon pickers of cotton or other plants or fruits, which will distribute the weight of the sack and contents over the body of the picker and enable him [or her] to work more easily and quickly" (lines 7-13).
Date: October 21, 1884
Creator: Robinson, John Bell
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mixture For Fish-Baits. (open access)

Mixture For Fish-Baits.

Patent for a coating for fish-bait of any kind which includes ingredients and instructions. The ingredients are water, asafeotida {(foul smelling gum resin from the root of several species of Ferula, a perennial herb) see: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3459456/}, oil of anise, and honey.
Date: October 21, 1884
Creator: Bates, Carol F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire Escape. (open access)

Fire Escape.

Patent for a new and improved fire escape. This design "relates to that class of fire escapes designed to save life from burning houses or ships; and its object is to provide means whereby a boat or car may be lowered from the side of a vessel, or a car may be raised or lowered to and from the windows of a house" (lines 8-13).
Date: October 21, 1884
Creator: McKinzie, Thomas Duncan
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Packer. (open access)

Cotton Packer.

Patent for a new and improved cotton-packer. This design "relates to an improved machine having for its object to convey the lint or cotton from the gin-house to the press, and to subject it to a preliminary compressing or packing process, the object being to dispense with the manual labor usually called into requisition for this purpose" (lines 24-30).
Date: October 21, 1884
Creator: Steele, Asa Maxey
System: The Portal to Texas History