| The long-term uses for a product do not always materialize during the inventor's lifetime. Such was the case with Mark Twain — the celebrated writer born Samuel Clemens — who filed a patent for a clothing accessory when he was 35 years old. Twain found wearing suspenders uncomfortable, so he came up with a device he called an "Improvement in Adjustable and Detachable Straps for Garments." What he envisioned was a versatile two-piece strap — preferably elastic — that fastened with hooks. The hooks were inserted into a series of rows of small holes, chosen depending on how snug (or loose) the wearer wanted their garment. Twain thought this simple, gender-neutral tool could customize the fit of a wearer's vests, shirts, pantaloons, or stays, a corset-like object that women wore under dresses. When Twain submitted his patent in September 1871, Henry C. Lockwood was attempting to patent a similar invention he described as an "elastic waist-strap." Utilizing a process known as "interference," the U.S. Patent Office had both men compose statements in order to determine which design originated first. Twain responded by writing a characteristic short story, explaining how he had given the idea thought for four or five years before making his prototype that August. The office accepted his claim to being first, and patent No. 121,992 was granted to Twain on December 19, 1871. However, thanks to changing fashions — waistcoats with adjustable buckles, dropped waistlines that accommodated belts — his garment straps were not produced for several decades. In 1914, four years after Twain's death and long after his hard-won patent expired, Mary Phelps Jacob patented the first bra from handkerchiefs and ribbon. When she sold her patent to the Warner Brothers Corset Company, they added Twain's straps to the back to keep the garment in place. | 
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