History of the Window Screen

16 Dec.,2024

 

History of the Window Screen

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History of the Window Screen

Window screens are some of the things, like carpet, the light bulb, and other everyday items and materials that go unnoticed by most. Window screens have been assimilated into our everyday life since before we were born and would hardly give them a second thought until we have to bear the nuisance of pests that make their way into our space due to the lack of screens; or, we may give window screens a thought when we are forced to buy replacement window screen frames or window screen material.

It&#;s hard to believe that there was a time when there were not screens and it&#;s also amusing to think of something such as window screen material being invented. But, like all the various everyday conveniences that we take for granted in our first-world lives, window screens had to be invented and they added more than just convenience to our lives.

Beginnings

The invention of window screen material is not clear. The American Farmer speaks of &#;woven wire&#; for window screens in and an advertisement is seen in the edition of Boyd&#;s Blue Book. Though some screens were seen before this, the company Gilbert and Bennett is credited with it&#;s invention. During the Civil War, Gilbert and Bennett was unable to sell their products to the South. To save their company and the woven wire material they had, they began painting the wire so it wouldn&#;t rust. They began selling their painted wire mesh as window screen and window screens grew in popularity

On the Railroad

The company Bayley and McCluckey was the first to file for the patent for window screens on passenger railroad cars. The window screen material keep cinders, sparks, and dust out of the passenger cars, allowing for passengers to have a more pleasant and safe trip.

Window Screens As Art

Artists saw the window screen material as an opportunity for artistic expression. Using the window screen material, artists would paint landscape scenes on the screens and these painted screens not only keep bugs and other annoyances out of homes, but also acted as privacy windows.

Window Screen to the Rescue

Before the widespread use of window screens, most people had to suffer through months and months of mosquitoes, flies, other pests flying in and around their house. With these pests came diseases. The widespread use of window screens helped bring about the eradication of many diseases that plagued early America and are now mostly unheard of. It&#;s interested to think something so simple made such a big difference in modern society and eliminated much of the things that plagued early-Americans.

Modern Window Screen Material

Today, it is very rare that homes, apartments, and other living spaces aren&#;t outfitted with window screens. Thanks to modern technology, there are more options for the window screen material outfitting your windows. You can pick window screen material that fits the needs of your home and your lifestyle. Window screen material is now made out of aluminum, fiberglass, copper, PVC, and more.

Metro Screenworks: Quality Window Screen Material

Are you looking for quality window screen material to replace old torn screens, for your home building project, or to finally screen in your porch? We can guarantee we have just what you need. Not only do we see every kind of window screen material, but we sell window screen material in various roll sizes and lengths as well as custom window screens premade.

Shop all our products online! Have questions about our products our how to measure for your custom screens? Check out our Measuring FAQ page!

And be sure to check out our blog for screen tips, ideas, and topics! 

A Short History Of Insect Screens

If you&#;re feeling inspired to improve your home with our range of blinds, shutters, screens and much more, you can get in touch with our expert design consultants. We&#;ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website window screen manufacturer.

As we write this, it&#;s the height of summer and the weather here in the UK is glorious. We love this time of year at Appeal Home Shading, but there&#;s one aspect that is mildly annoying; the insects. But whilst we&#;ve had more than one uninvited wasp turning up at a barbecue, we have managed to keep them out of our homes and offices thanks to our range of insect screens. 

These humble inventions are massively popular in America and you&#;ll find them in homes all over the country, especially in the warmer states. In the past few years, they&#;ve started to take off here too, and lots of houses in waterfront areas have benefitted from them. We&#;ve got a few amateur historians working for us and one day, they decided to satisfy their curiosity and look into the history of fly screens. Here&#;s what they found.

The Origins Of Insect Screens

Human beings have been using a variety of methods to keep pests out of their homes for centuries, but the first true insect screens appeared in America during the s. Enterprising businessmen came up with the idea of using wire to stop mosquitoes from entering homes, and the earliest known adverts appeared for them in The American Farmer, a farming journal from Baltimore. 

The idea didn&#;t take off and insect screens remained as obscure, niche products for several decades. That changed with the outbreak of the American Civil War. A Connecticut-based sieve company called Gilbert And Bennett suffered as they could no longer sell to the southern states, but were saved when one employee came up with an idea. They took the wire mesh from their surplus sieves, painted it to stop it from rusting and sold it for use as a window screen. These early screens were little more than rolls of wire cloth and homeowners had to nail them to their doors and windows, but they sold remarkably well.

The Idea Develops

Inevitably, more companies capitalised on this idea and fly screens started to develop from their basic origins. In , a firm called Bayley And McCluskey filed a patent for railroad car screens; specialised windows that stopped cinders and ashes from entering passenger trains. They weren&#;t specifically designed to stop insects, but this demonstrated how useful screens could be and further embedded them in the public consciousness. 

Painted window screens and frames soon developed, along with the first fly screens for doors. In October , E.T. Burrowes & Co published an ad claiming that they had installed screens for such notable figures as Thomas Edison, P.T. Barnum and General Philip Sheridan, a famous Civil War veteran. Insect screens were no longer a novelty product sold by travelling salesmen to farming communities, they were an established part of home improvement in the United States. 

Insect screens for windows and doors were a distinctly American feature, but they&#;re now spreading throughout the rest of the world. They&#;ve come a long way since their early days and have even been credited for helping to stop the spread of diseases like typhoid and yellow fever.

And if this little trip through history has got you thinking about installing your own insect screens, you&#;ve come to the right place. You can find out more about our range of mesh fly screens by downloading a free brochure or you can book a design consultation. Get in touch today and let&#;s see if we can&#;t stop mosquitoes from invading your home this summer.