Samuel R. Scottron was the Black man who invented the curtain rod and more

Source: Jason Finn / EyeEm / Getty

Samuel Raymond Scottron changed the landscape of reality TV more than century before reality TV was a thing. Allow us to explain. Scottron was born in the northeast (either Pennsylvania or New England) some time between 1841-1843. According to BlackPast, Scottron was a bright young man who graduated from grammar school at the age of 14. He then began working for his father’s business selling goods to Black soldiers in the Civil War.

Scottron would subsequently move to Springfield, Massachusetts to work as a barber. It was there that he created his first invention when he noticed that customers couldn’t see the back of their heads. To remedy that problem, Scottron created a dual mirror on a pole that people could use to see what was happening back there. But that isn’t why we’re gathered today.

Shortly after 1868, Scottron moved back to the northeast, New York to be specific, and began working free Black folks from oppression by becoming a player in the local politics. After graduating from Cooper Union with a degree in Superior Ability in Algebra and Engineering in 1875, Scottron began work as a traveling salesman for a company called Kroder that would eventually manufacture his products. During this time at Kroder, Scottron obtained patents for a cornice, pole tip, and curtain rod in 1883, 1886, and 1892 respectively. THIS is why we’re gathered today. This patent established the blueprint that all future curtains would benefit from, including, wait for it….SHOWER CURTAINS!

Without Samuel Raymond Scottron, what the hell would Mimi Faust been hanging from in her adult film with that goofball Nikko?!?

Happy Black History Month!