Inventions of New England

 -January 1st, 2021

New England Inventions

    Recently, I was reading the webpage which talked about all the inventions that were created in New England. After looking through all the inventions, I began to notice that many of them were related to winter, snow, or even just cold weather. Some of these inventions are earmuffs, snow shovels, and even the snowmobile. Due to my interest in transportation devices, I was very interested in the snowmobile.

    According to the web page, the snowmobile was created in "West Ossipee, New Hampshire." (Yankee Magazine). V.D White thought of an idea to create a vehicle that could travel on snow with ease. In 1913, White added caterpillar treads and ski runners to his ford body. To many people, this was considered one of the first snowmobile's. Although, after doing research, I found that the snowmobile was created many times and with many different appearances.

(Bailey White)

The First Snowmobile

    Its impossible to say when the first snowmobile was really created. After researching about the invention of the snowmobile I found that  "lots of snowmobile precursors existed"(Geoff Southworth). I also noticed that the timeline of the invention of the first snowmobile ranges from the late 1800's to early 1900's.

    Many people consider Joseph-Armand Bombardiers breakthrough of the snowmobile and a rubber track as the first official snowmobile. Although, even Bombardiers snowmobile's didn't look like modern day snowmobiles at all.

(Bombardier Inc)

Polaris

    Polaris made the huge step towards the appearance of the modern day snowmobile. Before known as Polaris, they were called "Hetteen Hoist & Derrick Co." (Geoff Southworth). The modern company Polaris was founded in 1954. In 1957 Polaris had there first commercial use snowmobile. This is when the snowmobile started evolving into what we see today. 

(Brad Dokken)

Modern Snowmobiles

    Clearly, we cannot pin point in exact location of where the snowmobile was invented, but we can see that all the attempts were located near New England. It's interesting how now the snowmobile is used everywhere for many things. Personally I'll occasionally use a snowmobile as an actually transportation vehicle. Although, typically I use it as a Toy, to ride around with friends.

    After researching the modern uses of a snowmobile, I found that the snowmobile is used all over the world. It's used for "hauling cargo and transferring people in areas" (Arcanum).  Also, the snowmobile is used to travel in places un accessible from a car, such as glaciers.

(Kevin Arnold)

New England Contributes

       As you can see with the snowmobile, New England contributes inventions that will be used all around the world for a very long time. They might invent complicated designs, such as the snowmobile, but they also have created simple but super helpful inventions such as earmuffs, or even the snow shovel, both of which are used today all through out the world.  

    What's your favorite New England Invention?

-Quinn W

Works Cited

Arcanum. "Snowmobiles Throughout a Century." Arcanum, 4 Mar. 2017, www.arcanum.is/blog/posts/2017/march/snowmobiles-throughout-a-century/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.

Arnold, Kevin. Modern Snowmobile. Robb Report, Jason H, Harpor, 22 Jan. 2020, robbreport.com/motors/cars/gallery/snowmobiles-to-get-your-adrenaline-fix-2892952/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.

Bombardier Inc. Bombardiers Snowmobile. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 23 Jan. 2008, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/joseph-armand-bombardier. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.

Dokken, Brad. David Johnson sits on Polaris snowmobiles No. 2, built in 1956, in February 2015 inside the Polaris Experience Center in Roseau, Minn. Johnson has died at age 93, in Roseau. 10 Oct. 2016. Twin Cities, www.twincities.com/2016/10/10/polaris-founder-who-built-first-snowmobile-from-parts-in-his-garage-dies/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.

Magazine, Yankee. "Best New England Inventions." New England Today Living, 24 Feb. 2020, newengland.com/today/living/new-england-environment/best-new-england-inventions/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.

Southworth, Geoff. "When Was the Snowmobile Invented?" Outdoor Troop, outdoortroop.com/when-was-the-snowmobile-invented/. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.

White, Bailey. First Polaris Snowmobile. Snoriders, snoriderswest.com/article/old_sled_zone/vintage_antique_snowmobile_1927_ford_model_t_with_track_and_skis. Accessed 6 Jan. 2021.