Woman Inventor Eldorado Jones of the Airplane Muffler

Woman Inventor: Eldorado Jones Inventor of the Airplane Muffler

Woman inventor Eldorado Jones was born in 1860-1932 and she never married. In fact, she never had much use for men at all, something that would play are role in her life and business model later. Jones wanted to be a teacher and began her teaching career in Moline, Illinois, but after sometime realized that she probably could make more money selling insurance. Jones loved to tinker with iron and because of it, began inventing, which turned out to be more lucrative than teaching or selling insurance.

Jones most successful inventions marketed to women was a small lightweight iron. It consisted of a traveling ironing board (with a compartment for a flatiron), and a collapsible hat rack. Eldorado only employed women who were over the age of 40. In fact she banned men from any participation in her company and was so adamantly opposed to the opposite gender. Her Company, Eldorado Inventions, Inc was very successful and many businessmen tried to purchase her business, but she refused to sell out to a man.
Her business philosophy was summed up:
The only way to get along is to seek the difficult job, always do it well, and see that you get paid for it properly. Oh yes, and don’t forget to exploit men all you can. Because if you don’t, they will exploit you!
Eldorado thought of men as mean and low and quite despicable, unfortunately, her attitude toward men likely let to her downfall and financial ruin later in life.

After inventing the iron, Eldorado decided to move to New York and begin searching for a financial backer for her latest invention, an airplane muffler. The concept was similar to that of an automobile exhaust muffler, and when she tested the muffler at New York’s Roosevelt Field, the New York Times reported that her device could have an influence on the future of American aeronautics. It shows that she applied for a patent in 1919 and received it in 1923.
This could have been her greatest invention, but because of her harsh dealings with men she never obtained any finacial backing which caused her to depleted all of her funds.

Not long afterwards, it was known that she began to submit for welfare aid. One evening a neighbor call to invite Eldorado to dinner and when she received no answer, the neighor crawled through an open window finding Eldorado dead in her bed. Prior to her loosing all her funds, Eldorado lived at the American Woman’s Association on 57th Street in New York. When she passed away, the Association claimed her body and provided a funeral and had her body cremated and shipped to relatives in Missouri. While in Moline Illinois, Eldorado did not make many friends so her obituary in the Moline newspaper was Captioned.