Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design consists "[i]n an ant-trap, the combination, with a trough formed with a top [that is] flanged . . . of a box connected thereto by a tube terminating in a disk . . . [and] of the connecting-tubes, box, and fence" (lines 62-68).
Date: November 24, 1885
Creator: Thompson, William Henderson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Artificial Fruit, Foliage, and Flowers. (open access)

Artificial Fruit, Foliage, and Flowers.

Patent for a new and improved method of making artificial fruit. This design "consists in cutting out a piece of lace or netting of the desired shape, forming the lace or netting into a bag, stuffing the bag with cotton or wool . . . picking the cotton or wool up through the meshes of the lace or netting, cutting narrow strips of tissue-paper, and applying them in layers until a covering similar to pasteboard is formed, drying the article, painting the article, sinking the article in a bath of wax heated to a point beneath boiling . . . letting it drain off, and finally applying a paint finish" (lines 34-47).
Date: May 24, 1887
Creator: Eve, Emma H.
System: The Portal to Texas History