James William McGhee (April 28, 1882 – August 6, 1968) was an inventor of the
drapery hook
The drapery hook is a hook designed for hanging drapery. It is often concealed within the drape's header tape The distinctive shape shown in the figure, with a sharp end and a blunt end, was patented by James William McGhee (1882–1968) in th ...
.
He was also a manufacturer, prospector, carpenter, contractor, and interior design specialist.
Early years
He was born in
Eminence, Kentucky
Eminence is a home rule class city in Henry County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 2,498 at the 2010 census, up from 2,231 at the 2000 census. Eminence is the largest city in Henry County. Eminence is home to the loudspeake ...
and by 1918 he was living in Los Angeles working as a piano salesman for the Garr Piano Company. He married Edna Mae Louis, and they had two children:
George Louis McGhee (1925–2000) and
Barbara Ann McGhee (1923– ).
Inventions
On November 27, 1923, he was issued a patent for a drapery hook. He co-founded McGhee and Jinks Manufacturing Co. in Los Angeles where he manufactured the hooks, rings, and other drapery hardware.
[ The drapery hook keeps the draperies attached to the traverse tracks and drapery rods.
]
Infringement
Patent 1475306 was the subject of an infringement lawsuit that McGhee lost and appealed. He lost again on appeal when the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* District ...
found that hook designs were not patentable in 1929:
With the lower court, we fail to find in plaintiffs' device any patentable novelty; certainly there is no invention in the hook member. Hooks of all shapes and materials are among the commonest things of life. In size, strength, and shape they are to be adapted to needs and tastes, and the adaptation of a hook to suit the pole, rod, bar, or rings from which the drapery is to hang is readily made by any person of common intelligence. There is no invention.
Death
His death was due to heart complications. He died August 6, 1968, aged 86, at the county hospital in San Bernardino, California
San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 ce ...
. He was survived by his children George L. McGhee and actress Maria Hart
Maria Hart ( born Barbara Ann McGhee; May 28, 1923 in Los Angeles, California – August 9, 2012 in Canoga Park, California) was an actress under contract to MGM from 1941 to 1948.
Biography
She was born as Barbara Ann McGhee on May 28, 1923 ...
.
References
Patents
* on March 23, 1920
* on January 10, 1922
* on November 27, 1923 for drapery hook
* on December 30, 1924
External links
Dominion of Canada patent number 246361
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGhee, James
1882 births
1968 deaths
20th-century American inventors
