American Inventor combines the history of American invention and the interaction of technology with social, economic, and cultural change throughout the course of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

This was an energetic era of inventions and entrepreneurial spirit. Building upon the boom of America’s Industrial Revolution, and answering the increasing call from Americans for efficiency and comfort, America found itself in the grip of invention fever, with more people working on their ideas than ever before. Facing an increasingly complex everyday life, the public sought means for coping. Inventions often provided the answers, even as the inventors themselves remained largely unaware of the lifechanging nature of their ideas.

This publication was one of the most prominent of the late 19th century illustrated mechanical journals. Under publisher and proprietor, J.S. Zerbe and published in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1878 to 1887,  American Inventor grew to a large nationwide circulation. Its advertising claimed that the magazine “contains in a year reading matter equal to 800 book pages and 300 illustrations of everything new in the field of mechanical thought.” In 1882, the publication included 400 more illustrations than any other mechanical periodical published.

American Inventor provided an outlet for those seeking to promote their new inventions and improving old ones.

• Read by the general public, inventors, patent officers, and attorneys, and mechanics of all types

• Included an editorial section, book reviews, commentary on the patent system and reforms, and brief biographies of inventors

• Presented articles and analyses on inventions from the iron foot plow to power woodworking tools to the telephone to portable power sources

• Covered inventions in agriculture, building and mechanical industries, households, infrastructure, particularly transportation, electricity, and communications

• Highlighted the growing consumer culture spreading across America

• Covered inventions from all parts of the globe

The file is currently available as a one-time purchase of perpetual rights or through annual subscription on the Accessible Archives platform. Early in 2024, it will be moved to the History Commons platform. The collection can also be purchased in affordable parts:

• American Inventor, Part I: 1878-1882

• American Inventor, Part II: 1883-1887