ANDERSON, Mary, American, 1866-1953. Inventor of the first windscreen wipers for vehicles. Mary observed how streetcar drivers had to stop and get out to clean ice and snow from the driver’s windows. The device had a swinging arm with a rubber blade, it was lever operated by the driver from inside the vehicle. During the summer months the wipers could be removed. The design was completed in 1903 and the patent granted in 1905. A version of the wipers, called Rain-Rubbers, was soon on the market. By 1916 windscreen wipers were standard equipment on vehicles, but were electrically operated by then.