Teabags are definitely commonplace today. In this story, you’ll learn about the man who invented the tea bag, why he did it, how he did it, and how it was received.

Thomas Sullivan was a tea merchant who was based in New York. When he was shipping his product to customers, he sent it along in silk pouches.

Thomas Sullivan and the Teabag

New Age Tea Bags

These new bags were:

– Less expensive to make – Less expensive to buy – Sometimes compostable

The Technology Already Existed

Thomas Sullivan may have literally put the tea in the bags, but he may not have actually invented the idea.

Roberta Lawson and Mary McLaren

The first patent for a tea infusing apparatus was filed by two women from Milwaukee named Mary McLaren and Roberta Lawson.

There have been many different patents for various iterations of the teabag. Ironically, none of them were filed by Thomas Sullivan.

How Many Other Patents Were There?

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