Today, I’m thankful for those immigrants whose ingenuity helped change the course of history.
Yesterday, I touched on the Federalist Papers, a set of 85 essays authored by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton with the intent of convincing the young nation of the United States that a new Constitution was desperately needed. As is the case with most inventions, the United States did not get it right the first time with the first central government outlined in the Articles of Confederation. Trial and error mandated that the forefathers reconsider what they originally proposed and adapt accordingly. Of the 85 Federalist Papers written by the trio, John Jay would pen only 5 of them, as he would fall ill in the winter of 1787 due to a severe bout of rheumatism. The eventual author of the Bill of Rights and fourth President of the United States, James Madison, would craft 29 of the essays. This left the bulk of the work to a young, scrappy immigrant from the Caribbean to pick up the load. Although Benjamin Franklin is often regarded as the great colonial inventor – especially for his discoveries of the lightening rod, bifocal glasses, and the Franklin stove – it’s hard to point to anyone other than Alexander Hamilton as the one influential person who helped to establish the foundation of the federal government.
As a kid from the island of Nevis, Alexander Hamilton immigrated to New England colonies in 1772 and helped mold the United States, including its first government and our national mindset, into what it is today. Not only did he fight valiantly inthe Revolutionary War by serving as the General Washington’s secretary and ultimately leading his own battalion of troops into the Battle of Yorktown, he also served as the First Secretary of Treasury. Unlike many of his countrymen, Hamilton realized that an agrarian nation would never be sustainable and a “nation of states” would need a strong financial foundation to succeed. His vision for a strong currency led to his establishment of the first US National Bank. In fact, he summarized the importance of the National Bank in a report he submitted to the House of Representatives on this day (Dec 13) back in 1790. In support of this measure, he also would envision the creation of the US Federal Reserve that would assume the debts of each of the 13 original states; this courageous approach aided the country in setting a course towards eventual financial and industrial success – so successful was his plan that almost every other major nation in the world would follow suit. Along the way, Hamilton also established the US Coast Guard, outlined the plan for the first US National Mint, and even played a critical role in launching The New York Post.
But, he’s not alone when it comes to critical immigrant ‘inventors.’ We can thank the greatest invention in fashion to an immigrant from Bavaria. Born to an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Germany in 1829, Levi Strauss immigrated to the United States at the age of 18 to join his brothers, who had begun a wholesale dry foods business in New York City (NYC). He continued in the family business for some time, with a stop along the way in Louisville, Kentucky, before heading out to San Francisco to open a West Coast business during the height of the California Gold Rush. While in California, he formed a family store, The Levis Strauss & Co., which imported fine dry goods from his family in NYC, including clothing and various types of household and hygiene items. But, what he is most famous for are the rugged jeans we all wear. With the help of one of his customers, Jacob Davis, Levi came up with the idea of developing hardy riveted denim pants that would serve as clothing for laborers to wear while performing demanding work. The famous copper rivets were added to help reinforce points of stress, such as the corner of pockets. The prototype had two pockets in the front and one on the back, with the fly in front for men and on the side for women. His initial success allowed him to take his Company public. In fact, during this week in December 1890, the Levi Strauss & Co. would become officially incorporated in the state of California, opening up for stockholders to purchase partial ownership of this commercial entity. And, for the next 130 years, the brand name of Levi’s hasn’t faded, even if the actual jeans have.
And the list of immigrant inventors goes on and on. In the US, one can easily recount the tales of so many other immigrants whose inventiveness changed the world. Like Enrico Fermi and Albert Einstein, who advanced the field of atomic energy. Like Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the iPhone 11 precursor. And, of course, like Italo Marchiony. Wait, who?
Circa 1900, Italo was an Italian immigrant selling flavored ices in small glass dishes out of a single pushcart in NYC's Wall Street district. These flavored treats, often known as ‘toots’, were routinely mixed in with small bits of fruit or nut, thereby earning the lovable term ‘tutti-frutti.’ The bankers, brokers, and other financiers who worked in the lower district of Manhattan could not get enough of these treasured desserts. So, as a native of Hoboken, Italo would make the trip over each day to New York City, with his cadre of glasses, to serve ‘tutti-frutti’. The problem is that he quickly realized that he needed an endless supply of glasses. You see, the dishes often broke during use, and many were never returned by the busy entrepreneurs on the New York Stock Exchange. So, in 1896, Italo envisioned the idea of an edible cup. After some experimentation, he discovered that if you fold a waffle, while still warm, you could make a perfect carrying vessel. He even created a special, hinged iron wherein the batter could be poured, into conical crevices, closed to bake, and then reopened after immediate cooling to remove the crispy ‘cones.’ His invention received a patent on this day (Dec 13) in 1903. A year later, his invention was all the rage at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri, but this time, the ice had been supplanted by ice cream. After returning to New Jersey, he built a cone-making factory in his hometown of Hoboken, which supplied these delicious cones to hundreds of vendors in the Big Apple. In due time, he would use his tasty invention to sell ice cream in Manhattan from 45 of his own pushcarts. He would continue to invent; he helped create an ‘ice cream sandwich’ wherein the dairy treat was covered with two small cookies produced in his factory.
So, today, I scream (you scream & we all scream) for Mr. Marchiony. I think I’ll celebrate by throwing on a pair of my trusty jeans and sauntering out to buy an ice cream cone. When it comes time for the financial transaction, I’ll just hand over a crisp $10 bill – you know, the one plastered with the face of the preeminent author of the Federalist Papers.
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