This cookie is set by OptinMonster. function getCookieValue(a) { var hp_ts = 0; Pinterest. Bette also established an onsite child care center for working parents, meant to help LPC employees but open to any working parent who wanted to enroll their child. It might be defined as one of the simplest discoveries on earth, but it carried a huge investment as time passed. She built the company with no cash, and just supported us with her secretary job for years. Inventor. Yes, Id like to receive additional marketing emails on hot business opportunities from Trends, by the Hustle. Bette Nesmith Graham was an American typist, commercial artist, businesswoman, and inventor of liquid paper, a correction fluid. She used this to surreptitiously correct her typing mistakes, which her boss never noticed. Read more on Wikipedia. She also liked spending some time with her son. In 1979, she sold her company to the Gillette Corporation for $47.5 million. captchaApiScriptEl.src = 'https://www.recaptcha.net/recaptcha/api.js?onload=onloadCallback&render=explicit'; Bette Nesmith Graham (March 23, 1924 - May 12, 1980) was an American typist, commercial artist, and the inventor of white-out. She was the mother of musician and producer Michael Nesmith of The Monkees.[1]. } else { By 1951, she had worked her way up to the position of executive secretary for W.W. Overton, the Chairman of the Board of the Texas Bank and Trust. Raised a Baptist, Graham converted to Christian Science in 1942, and this faith inspired the development of her corporate "Statement of Policy". LPC established an employee-owned credit union and a retirement program that contributed 15% into the fund, where the employee could contribute up to an additional 15% of their pre-tax earnings. That was intentional. Shortly before her death, Graham sat down for an oral history interview at the University of North Texas and ruminated on her success. Used by Recording filters to identify new user sessions. var captchaEl = document.createElement('div'); She continued to refine her recipe in her kitchen laboratory, which was based on a formula for tempura paint she found at the local library, with assistance from a paint company employee and a chemistry teacher at a local school. Clarity doesn't use ANID and so this is always set to 0. They would have one son in December 1942, Robert Michael Nesmith. When Nesmith went off to fight in World War II, Bette was pregnant with a boy. Bette was passionate about painting and sculpting, if not particularly skilled. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Persists the Hotjar User ID which is unique to that site. Before Fame captchaVersion.class = 'g-recaptcha hidden-input'; It is a tool, she said. } It's also employed as a functional fluid in arts and crafts from blacksmithing to jewelry tomodeling kits. This cookie is set by Snapchat. Her son performed with Davy Jones. She moved forward anyway, poring over books in the public library to study formulas for tempera paint, and working with a chemistry teacher to improve the consistency of her product. if(typeof hp_interval == 'undefined') { Fun facts: Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is not moss, nor fungus, nor lichen, nor from Spain. With no background in chemical engineering, but guided by her side hustle of painting and graphic design, Bette Graham created the first correctional paint to fix document typos. We also link to other websites, but are not responsible for their content. Bette Nesmith Graham. That year she applied for a patent and changed the name to the Liquid Paper Company. Stephen Stills and Paul Williams were among those who did not make the cut, as were Danny Hutton (of Three Dog Night) and Harry Nilsson. All of this growth happened without any outside investment. Share. document.head.appendChild(captchaApiScriptEl); This cookie is set by Twitter to identify and track the website visitor. When her husband returned home from World War II, the couple got divorced and Graham was left to single-handedly raise her child. Good Times! Soon, business was booming. Despite her best efforts to keep the concoction a secret, word soon got out and fellow secretaries wanted in on the action. Hailing as a hardworking secretary and a single mother, who raised a son all by herself, there is no doubt that she tried anything to make ends meet. Bette Claire McMurray was born on March 23, 1924 in Dallas, Texas, the daughter of Christine Duval and Jesse McMurray. Over the next twenty five years, Bette and others grew the small start-up through traditional sales to distributors and promotion within the office product industry. Tired of having to retype entire pages because of one small error, Graham determined to find a more efficient alternative. Bette Nesmith left her typing job at the bank in 1958 when Mistake Out finally began to succeed: her product was featured in office supply magazines, she had a meeting with IBM, and General Electric placed an order for 500 bottles. The Today in missed opportunities, Snapchat announced a GPT-powered personalized avatar named My AI (and not SnapChatGPT). error_message = prev_email + " is not valid. Money does not solve problems. University of North Texas Libraries Special Collection, These remarkable employee benefits were further memorialized in the 1980. , about three secretaries that took over their company. She was . This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. As a. Bette would go on to perfect her product and build a fortune around it, eventually creating foundations that did help empower working women. The plant, as Graham would put it, is still going strong. Bette Nesmith Graham was the inventor of Liquid. She moved her operation from her kitchen to a trailer, then to a four-room house, and finally to shiny new headquarters in downtown Dallas. They are passionate about turning your everyday moments into memories and bringing you inspiring ideas to have fun with your family. I remember talking to her accountant, and he looked at me and said, You know, this company should never have existed. But in 1954, Graham was a divorced single mother supporting herself and her son from paycheck to paycheck, earning $300 a month (about $2,800 in todays money) as a secretary for a Texas bank. Bette Nesmith Graham was born on 23 March 1924 in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA. This included positions in management and sales, not just operations. Please note: prices are correct and items are available at the time the article was published. She poured herself into the business and her effort soon took a toll. In 1979, she sold her company for $47 million to the Gillette Corporation.Her son Michael Nesmith is a popular musician and producer. className, Grahams product began to catch on. In 1976, they divorced and he tried to cut Graham out of the company by changing the formula and booting her off the board. Unfortunately, they divorced in 1946 after Warren Nesmith came back home.Bette remarried Robert Graham in 1962. Are you a human? Ensures subsequent requests in the session window are attributed to the same session. This cookie is set by Microsoft Advertising. But for decades, being part of a secretarial pool was an important employment option for millions of women. This structure was a part of LPCs culture of high ethical standards, which Bette developed in 1968. var error = wrappingDiv.getElementsByClassName('funnel-error')[0]; But as Graham soon learned, the invention had several downsides: Graham had to find a way to fix her numerous typos. Graham, Bette Clair McMurray (1924-1980). Subscribe for virtual tools, STEM-inspired play, That year, she sold one million bottles. By 1970, the increase in sales stabilized at 34%, annually. Graham was also an artist who observed that painters covered up mistakes not by erasing their work, but by painting over them. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. The impetus for Graham's breakthrough came as she observed painters decorating the bank windows for the holidays. Her biography is available in 19 . and received a large order from General Electric. Her two foundations supported several ways to help women find new ways to earn a living, especially unwed mothers. I think she might have gotten a $600 loan from a family member at some point. [2], Her only son, musician Michael Nesmith (best known as a member of The Monkees), inherited half of his mother's estate of over $50 million.

Your submission failed. Bette has always aspired to be an artist since she was a child. Today's Texas Birthdays. While that contemporary role might involve managing calendars and virtual meetings instead of fetching coffee, one thing remains timeless: the profession is almost entirely occupied by women. Born on March 23, 1924 Died on May 12, 1980 Born in Corpus Christi, Texas Worked as a secretary at a bank. At 17, she dropped out of high school, married a soldier named Warren Nesmith, and had a baby boy. captchaVersion.type = 'hidden'; Graham was one of the few who got devastated when spending too much time in editing than typing. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Persists the Clarity User ID and preferences, unique to that site, on the browser. surrounding Happy Days than the potential casting of Arthur Fonzarelli. } What we suggest is selected independently by the Kidadl team. hp_ts += 1; By 1967, the company had its own corporate headquarters and automated production plant, and sales were in excess of one million units per year. As the product spread in popularity, Graham relocated the operation from her garage to a trailer to an office building. Bette was 56 years old when she died in 1980 in Richardson, Texas. She was a typist, and artist, a secretary, a mother, and inventor of liquid paper. In 1956, Bette Nesmith started the Mistake Out Company: her son Michael and his friends filled bottles for her customers. error.style = ''; Her correction fluid would be a godsend for typists. Business and tech news in 5 minutes or less. Graham spent heavily on advertising, showcasing her product during prime-time TV programs like The Tonight Show and in Glamour and Fortune magazine spreads. That secretary was Elizabeth Clair McMurray Nesmith Graham, the inventor of Liquid Paper and founder and CEO of the Liquid Paper Corporation. Bette Nesmith Graham (March 23, 1924 May 12, 1980) was an American typist, commercial artist, and the inventor of the correction fluid Liquid Paper. We have to not relent., Overlooked No More: Bette Nesmith Graham, Who Invented Liquid Paper, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/obituaries/bette-nesmith-graham-overlooked.html. Sales grew in tandem with exposure. This allows the website to find the best variation/edition of the site. Her mother operated a knitting store, and his father worked as a manager in an automotive supply firm. She opted to sell the company to Gillette Corporation for over $47.5 million in 1979. Linkedin sets this cookie. } Bette married Warren Nesmith, her longtime sweetheart, in 1942, just before when he left to serve in the Second World War. At first, Nesmith didnt want to venture into a secretarial job; she loved arts including painting and drawing. Browser Identifier cookie to uniquely identify devices accessing LinkedIn to detect abuse on the platform. To make ends meet, she found work as a secretary at Texas Bank and Trust, where she earned $300/month (~$36k/year in todays money). She was a difficult student in school as her stubborn personality led her to clash often with her teachers. Over the next few years, she sought help from a number of industry professionals, including a polymer chemist named Bill Mallow, and further refined her product for a mass market. To learn more about the different cookies we're using, check out our. if (false) { That same year, she divorced Robert Graham. On 23rd, March 1924 Bette Nesmith Graham was first seen in the world in Dallas, Texas. Mistake Out became Liquid Paper. var wrappingDiv = document.getElementById('email-submission'); Don't worry, the other two had good excuses.