Editing George Washington Carver (section)

==Reputed inventions==
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Carver has been given credit in popular folklore for many inventions that did not come out of his lab. Three [[patents]] (one for cosmetics; {{cite patent |country=US |number= 1522176 |gdate=January 6, 1925}}, and two for paints and stains; {{cite patent |country=US |number= 1541478 |gdate=June 9, 1925}}, and {{cite patent |country=US |number= 1632365 |gdate=June 14, 1927}}) were issued to Carver in 1925 to 1927; however, they were not commercially successful.<ref>[http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventors/a/GWC.htm "George Washington Carver"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311031443/https://www.thoughtco.com/george-washington-carver-biography-1991496 |date=March 11, 2022}}. Inventors.about.com. Retrieved July 12, 2013.</ref>

Aside from these patents and some recipes for food, Carver left no records of formulae or procedures for making his products. He did not keep a laboratory notebook.
Mackintosh notes that, "Carver did not explicitly claim that he had personally discovered all the peanut attributes and uses he cited, but he said nothing to prevent his audiences from drawing the inference."<ref name="ozsmni">Mackintosh, Barry. 1977. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070219221800/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1977/5/1977_5_66.shtml "George Washington Carver and the Peanut"], ''[[American Heritage (magazine)|American Heritage]]''. 28(5): 66–73.</ref>

Carver's research was intended to produce replacements from common crops for commercial products, which were generally beyond the budget of the small one-horse farmer. A misconception grew that his research on products for subsistence farmers were developed by others commercially to change Southern agriculture.<ref>McMurry, L. O. 1981. ''George Washington Carver: Scientist and Symbol''. New York, Oxford University Press.</ref><ref>Smith, Andrew F. 2002. ''Peanuts: The Illustrious History of the Goober Pea''. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.</ref> Carver's work to provide small farmers with resources for more independence from the cash economy foreshadowed the "[[appropriate technology]]" work of [[E. F. Schumacher]].

===Peanut products===
[[Dennis Keeney]], director of the [[Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture]] at [[Iowa State University]], wrote in the ''Leopold Letter'' (newsletter):

<blockquote>Carver worked on improving soils, growing crops with low inputs, and using species that fixed nitrogen (hence, the work on the cowpea and the peanut). Carver wrote in 'The Need of Scientific Agriculture in the South': "The virgin fertility of our soils and the vast amount of unskilled labor have been more of a curse than a blessing to agriculture. This exhaustive system for cultivation, the destruction of forest, the rapid and almost constant decomposition of organic matter, have made our agricultural problem one requiring more brains than of the North, East or West.<ref>Fishbein, Toby. [http://digitalcollections.lib.iastate.edu/george-washington-carver/biography "The Legacy of George Washington Carver"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205021632/http://digitalcollections.lib.iastate.edu/george-washington-carver/biography |date=2018-02-05}}, Iowa State University Library.</ref></blockquote>

Carver worked for years to create a company to market his products. The most important was the Carver Penol Company, which sold a mixture of [[creosote]] and peanuts as a [[patent medicine]] for respiratory diseases such as [[tuberculosis]]. Sales were lackluster and the product was ineffective according to the [[Food and Drug Administration]].<ref>{{cite book|author=McMurry|title=George Washington Carver|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hlMkIgwg9KEC&pg=PA195|date=1982|pages=195–96|publisher=Oup USA |isbn=9780195032055|access-date=March 4, 2016|archive-date=August 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801221328/https://books.google.com/books?id=hlMkIgwg9KEC&pg=PA195|url-status=live}}</ref> Other ventures were The Carver Products Company and the Carvoline Company. Carvoline Antiseptic Hair Dressing was a mix of peanut oil and [[lanolin]]. Carvoline Rubbing Oil was a [[peanut oil]] for massages.

Carver is often mistakenly credited with the invention of [[peanut butter]].<ref name="NPB">{{Citation |author=National Peanut Board |author-link=National Peanut Board |title=Who Invented Peanut Butter? |url=http://nationalpeanutboard.org/peanut-info/who-invented-peanut-butter.htm |access-date=November 24, 2016 |postscript=. |archive-date=November 25, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161125044806/http://nationalpeanutboard.org/peanut-info/who-invented-peanut-butter.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> By the time Carver published "How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it For Human Consumption" in 1916,<ref>[http://nationalpeanutboard.org/the-facts/george-washington-carver/ "George Washington Carver"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151101124402/http://nationalpeanutboard.org/the-facts/george-washington-carver/ |date=November 1, 2015}}, National Peanut Board.</ref> many methods of preparation of peanut butter had been developed or patented by various pharmacists, doctors and food scientists working in the US and Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=00306727&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPALL%2526s1%3D0306727.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F0306727%2526RS%3DPN%2F0306727&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page|title = US Patent #306727|access-date = October 20, 2015|archive-date = April 5, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170405145402/http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=00306727&homeurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526co1%3DAND%2526d%3DPALL%2526s1%3D0306727.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F0306727%2526RS%3DPN%2F0306727&PageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?docid=00604493&PageNum=1&IDKey=611D5B869ACB&HomeUrl=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1%2526Sect2=HITOFF%2526p=1%2526u=%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r=1%2526f=G%2526l=50%2526d=PALL%2526S1=0604493.PN.%2526OS=PN/0604493%2526RS=PN/0604493|title = US Patent #604493|access-date = March 11, 2022|archive-date = April 5, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170405172017/http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?docid=00604493&PageNum=1&IDKey=611D5B869ACB&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect2%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-bool.html%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPALL%2526S1%3D0604493.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F0604493%2526RS%3DPN%2F0604493|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Innovate St. Louis |url=http://www.innovatestl.org/stlouishistory.html |title=Innovation in St. Louis History – Innovate St. Louis |publisher=Innovatestl.org |date=August 25, 2011 |access-date=December 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227090829/http://www.innovatestl.org/stlouishistory.html |archive-date=December 27, 2011}}</ref> The [[Aztecs]] were known to have made peanut butter from ground peanuts as early as the 15th century. Canadian pharmacist [[Marcellus Gilmore Edson]] was awarded {{US patent|306727}} (for its manufacture) in 1884, 12 years before Carver began his work at Tuskegee.<ref>Mary Bellis, [https://archive.today/20120629114522/http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpeanutbutter.htm "The History of Peanut Butter"]. Inventors.about.com (June 21, 2013). Retrieved July 12, 2013.</ref><ref>[http://peanut-butter.org/peanut-butter/History+of+Peanut+Butter "History of Peanut Butter"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727170350/http://peanut-butter.org/peanut-butter/History+of+Peanut+Butter |date=July 27, 2011}}. Peanut-butter.org. Retrieved July 12, 2013.</ref>

===Sweet potato products===
Carver is also associated with developing [[sweet potato]] products. In his 1922 sweet potato bulletin, Carver listed a few dozen recipes, "many of which I have copied verbatim from Bulletin No. 129, U. S. Department of Agriculture".<ref>[http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/carver-sweetpotatoes/ "How the Farmer Can Save His Sweet Potatoes"], Geo. W. Carver<!-- Bot generated title --> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605075919/http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/carver-sweetpotatoes/ |date=June 5, 2013}} from the [[Texas A&M University]] website.</ref> Carver's records included the following sweet potato products: 73 dyes, 17 wood fillers, 14 candies, 5 [[library paste]]s, 5 breakfast foods, 4 starches, 4 flours, and 3 molasses.<ref>[http://www.tuskegee.edu/Global/story.asp?S=1107086 Carver Sweet Potato Products<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904080244/http://www.tuskegee.edu/Global/story.asp?S=1107086 |date=September 4, 2006}} from the Tuskegee University website.</ref> He also had listings for vinegars, dry coffee and instant coffee, candy, after-dinner mints, orange drops, and lemon drops.