Charles Frances Ritchel (December 22, 1844 – January 21, 1911) was an American inventor of a successful

dirigible An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

design, the fun house mirror, a

mechanical toy Mechanical toys are toys powered by mechanical energy. Depending on the mechanism used they can perform a range of motions, from simple to very complex. Types The types of mechanical energy used to power mechanical toys include rubber bands, sp ...

bank, and the holder of more than 150 other patented inventions.

Biography

Charles Frances Ritchel was born on December 22, 1844 in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

. He died in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...

on January 21, 1911.

Dirigible

Ritchel designed and built a small, one-man dirigible powered by a hand crank. He patented his "Improved Flying Machine" on 12 March 1878 (Patent No. 201200). The aircraft consisted of a brass frame put together at Folansbee Machine Shop in

. The frame was hung beneath a cylindrical, rubber gas bag manufactured by the

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and based in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, S ...

Naugatuck Naugatuck is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town spans both sides of the Naugatuck River just south of Waterbury and includes the communities of Union City on the east side of the river, which ...

. A small propeller drove the craft and could be moved left and right for turning. The craft could reach a height of . At the 1876

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Ritchel flew the craft within one of the large exhibition halls. Two years later, on June 12, 1878, the craft set off from a baseball field behind the

Colt Armory The Colt Armory is a historic factory complex for the manufacture of firearms, created by Samuel Colt. It is located in Hartford, Connecticut along the Connecticut River, and as of 2008 is part of the Coltsville Historic District, named a National ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

. Before a large group of spectators, Mark W. Quindlen flew the machine over the armory building and the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...

before returning to the starting point and landing. "This was the first flight of a man-carrying dirigible in America," according to Harvey Lippincott, founder of the Connecticut Aeronautical Historical Association. On the following day, Quindlen again ascended, but the wind proved to be too strong and he was blown off course, landing in nearby

Newington, Connecticut Newington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. Located south of downtown Hartford, Newington is an older, mainly residential suburb located in Greater Hartford. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,536. The Connecticu ...

. More flights took place in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and elsewhere, and eventually five of the aircraft were constructed and sold. Ritchel imagined a transcontinental airline with larger dirigibles cranked by 11 men.

Other inventions

Today the most well-known of Ritchel's inventions is the funhouse mirror, originally dubbed by the inventor as "Ritchel's Laugh-O-Graphs." The curved and specially shaped mirrors reflect amusing, distorted images of anyone standing in front of them. Some credit Ritchel with inventing

rollerskates Roller skates, are shoes or bindings that fit onto shoes that are worn to enable the wearer to roll along on wheels. The first roller skate was an inline skate design, effectively an ice skate with wheels replacing the blade. Later the "quad ska ...

. He did invent a toy bank in the shape of a monkey (patented November 7, 1882, Design Patent No. 13,400)."C.F. Richtel, Inventor"
Web page at the Bridgeport Central High School Web site, accessed August 14, 2006 A coin is put on a tray held in the monkey's upturned palms. A lever in the back is pressed. The arms rise, tilting the coin toward a slot in the monkey's belly. Ives Manufacturing in Bridgeport may have produced the bank.

Life

In a patent application for his dirigible, Ritchel said he was a resident of

Corry, Pennsylvania Corry is a city in northwestern Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 6,217 at the 2020 United States Census, it is the second largest city in Erie County. Corry is a part of the Erie, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city became ...

. Despite his many inventions, Ritchel died destitute in his hometown of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritchel, Charles F. 1844 births 1911 deaths People from Bridgeport, Connecticut People from Corry, Pennsylvania 19th-century American inventors American balloonists Deaths from pneumonia in Connecticut