Mary Phelps Jacob, Inventor of the First Bra Design.

 

It is important to note that Jacobs did not invent the first bra ever. Her design was simply the first one to be widely used. It appears that a woman named Marie Tucek patented the first brassiere in 1893. Her device included separate pockets for the breasts, straps that went over the shoulder which were fastened by hook-and-eye closures. Jacobs' patent was for a device that was lightweight and flattened the breasts, but her bra did not have cups to support the breasts. Many innovations were made to the brassiere throughout the years, including the use of elastic and standard cup sizes, for example. In 1928, a Russian immigrant named Ida Rosenthal founded Maidenform. Rosenthal was responsible for grouping women into bust size categories (cup sizes). It has been said that the bra, as it came to be called in the 1930s, took off the way it did all because of World War I. The War shook up gender roles, putting many women to work in factories and uniforms for the first time. Then, in 1917, the U.S. War Industries Board asked women to stop buying corsets to free up metal. They did stop buying corsets, which freed up some 28,000 tons of metal -- enough to build two battleships. Jacob died in 1970, but she lived long enough to see the bra go through a number of transformations and become immensely popular all over the world.

 She was also politically active and founded the organization Women Against War.

Photo: The Bali ad/repro of Jacob's design.

• In 1875, manufacturers George Frost and George Phelps patented the "Union Under-Flannel" a no bones, no eyelets, no laces or pulleys underoutfit.

   

• In 1893, a woman named Marie Tucek patented the "breast supporter", the device included separate pockets for the breasts and straps that went over the shoulder which were fastened by hook-and-eye closures.

   

• In 1889, corset maker Herminie Cadolle invented the "Well-Being" or "Bien-être", a bra-like device sold as a health aid, the corset's support for the breasts had been squeezed up from below, Cadolle changed support to the shoulders down.

   

• World War I dealt the corset a fatal blow when the U.S. War Industries Board called on women to stop buying corsets in 1917. It freed up some 28,000 tons of metal!

   

• In 1928, a Russian immigrant named Ida Rosenthal founded Maidenform. Ida was responsible for grouping women into bust size categories (cup sizes). Information Source: American Heritage of Invention & Technology, Spring 1997, Volume 12/Number 4

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