As only three people made up the early patent office, the first applications were not closely examined. An inventor simply submitted a written description, a working model, and a $30 fee (equivalent to about $1,000 today).
For over 25 years, the patents were stored in a building known as Blodgett’s Hotel, also the site of the General Post Office. A bizarre series of incidents at the hotel would irreparably damage a part of American history.
That December was a particularly cold one in Washington D. C., so Patent Office employees had a large pile of wood stored in the basement to warm the building. Unfortunately, they also had a habit of storing ashes in the cellar hallway despite being warned against that dangerous practice…