Joseph B. Friedman Papers
name: label: Creator
content: Friedman, Joseph Bernard, Dr., 1900-1982
label: Creator
content: Friedman, Betty
label: Creator
content: Flexible Straw Corporation.
label: Creator
content: Flex-Straw Co.
label: Former owner
content: Friedman, Robert A.
label: Names
content: Klein, Bert
label: Former owner
content: Leeds, Pamela B.
label: Former owner
content: Reiss, Linda A.
label: Former owner
content: Rosen, Judith B., 1933-2025
topic: label: Topic
content: Inventors
label: Topic
content: Inventions -- 1920-2000 -- United States
label: Topic
content: Ice cream scoops
label: Topic
content: Ice cream industry
label: Topic
content: Household appliances
label: Topic
content: Fountain pens
label: Topic
content: Drinking straws
label: Topic
content: Paper products
label: Topic
content: Patents
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Daughters Judith B. Rosen, Linda A. Reiss and Pamela B. Leeds, and son Robert A. Friedman donated this collection and its related artifacts to the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History on May 1, 2001.
creator: label: Creator
content: Friedman, Joseph Bernard, Dr., 1900-1982
label: Creator
content: Friedman, Betty
label: Creator
content: Flexible Straw Corporation.
label: Creator
content: Flex-Straw Co.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Joseph B. Friedman Papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: Papers relating to the development of the flexible drinking straw, Friedman's manufacturing company, and Friedman's other inventions, such as an ice cream scoop, fountain pens, and household appliances. Includes company ledgers, preliminary sketches, blueprints, correspondence, a video cassette, and photographs.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Joseph B. Friedman (1900 - 1982) was an independent American inventor with a broad range of interests and ideas.  Born in Cleveland, Ohio on October 9, 1900, Joseph was a first generation American and the fifth of eight children for Jacob Friedman and Antoinette Grauer Friedman.  By the age of fourteen, he had conceptualized his first invention, the "pencilite" lighted pencil, and was attempting to market his idea.  Over the course of his inventing career, he would experiment with ideas ranging from writing implements to engine improvements, and household products to sound and optic experiments.  He was issued nine U.S. patents and held patents in Great Britain, Australia and Canada.  His first patent was issued for improvements to the fountain pen on April 18, 1922, (U.S. patent #1,412,930).  This was also the first invention that he successfully sold, to Sheaffer Pen Company in the mid 1930s.  In the 1920s, Friedman began his education in real estate and optometry.  He would use both of these careers at different points in his life to supplement his income while improving his invention concepts.  Although he was working as a realtor in San Francisco, California, the 1930s proved to be his most prolific patenting period, with six of his nine U.S. patents being issued then.  One of these patents would prove to be his most successful invention - the flexible drinking straw.  

While sitting in his younger brother Albert's fountain parlor, the Varsity Sweet Shop in San Francisco, Friedman observed his young daughter Judith at the counter, struggling to drink out of a straight straw.  He took a paper straight straw, inserted a screw and using dental floss, he wrapped the paper into the screw threads, creating corrugations.  After removing the screw, the altered paper straw would bend conveniently over the edge of the glass, allowing small children to better reach their beverages.  U.S. patent #2,094,268 was issued for this new invention under the title Drinking Tube, on September 28, 1937.  Friedman would later file and be issued two additional U.S. patents and three foreign patents in the 1950s relating to its formation and construction.  Friedman attempted to sell his straw patent to several existing straw manufacturers beginning in 1937 without success, so after completing his straw machine, he began to produce the straw himself.

 
The Flexible Straw Corporation was incorporated on April 24, 1939 in California.  However, World War II interrupted Friedman's efforts to construct his straw manufacturing machine.  During the war, he managed the optometry practice of Arthur Euler, O.D., in Capwells' Department Store in Oakland, California, and continued to sell real estate and insurance to support his growing family.  Joseph obtained financial backing for his flexible straw machine from two of his brothers-in-law, Harry Zavin and David Light, as well as from Bert Klein, a family associate. With their financial assistance, and the business advice of his sister Betty, Friedman completed the first flexible straw manufacturing machine in the late 1940s.  Although his original concept had come from the observation of his daughter, the flexible straw was initially marketed to hospitals, with the first sale made in 1947.  

Betty Friedman played a crucial role in the development of the Flexible Straw Corporation.  While still living in Cleveland and working at the Tarbonis Company, she corresponded regularly with her brother and directed all of the sales and distribution of the straw.  In 1950 Friedman moved his family and company to Santa Monica, California.  Now doing business as the Flex-Straw Co., sales continued to increase and the marketing direction expanded to focus more strongly on the home and child markets.  Betty moved west in 1954 to assume her formal leadership role in the corporation.  Additional partners and investors were added over time, including Art Shapiro, who was initially solicited as a potential buyer of the patent.  On June 20, 1969, the Flexible Straw Corporation sold its United States and foreign patents, United States and Canadian trademarks, and licensing agreements to the Maryland Cup Corporation.  The Flexible Straw Corporation dissolved on August 19, 1969.	

Dr. Joseph Bernard Friedman died on June 21, 1982.  He was survived by his wife of over 50 years, Marjorie Lewis Friedman, his four children Judith, Linda, Pamela and Robert, and seven grandchildren
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 8 Cubic feet (17 boxes, 2 oversize folders)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1915-2000
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0769
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Ledgers (account books)
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Blueprints
label: Type
content: Black-and-white photographic prints
label: Type
content: Videotapes
label: Type
content: Personal papers
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is ivided into three series.

Series 1: Personal Records, circa 1920s-1940

Series 2: Invention and Patent Materials, 1915-1967

Series 3: Flex-Straw Corporate Records, 1938-1969
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Marianne Riley, 2001.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Original video (AC0769-OV0001) digitized in 2016. See repository for details. Digital copy available in the Smithsonian Institution Digital Asset Management System (DAMS)
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Ledgers (account books)
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Blueprints
label: Genre/Form
content: Black-and-white photographic prints -- Silver gelatin -- 1950-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Personal papers -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Joseph B. Friedman Papers encompass the years 1915-2000, with the bulk of the material ranging between 1925 and 1965.  This collection is a near complete source for the understanding inventive process of an American entrepreneur.  In the case of the flexible straw, the evolution of the invention can be traced from early concept drawings through its manufacture and production, to the development of advertising and marketing materials.  Records of necessary design modifications in the flexible straw and legal issues concerning Friedman's invention through its various stages are present here.  In addition to providing a detailed linear account of the flexible straw, these papers reflect the varied interests and additional accomplishments of Friedman's invention career.  The collection is arranged in three series to reflect the subjects of the material, namely personal papers, invention materials, and corporate records.  Materials within each series are arranged by topic and type, and then chronologically.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: "Straw samples and an original dispensing device (ice cream disher) are located in the Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life).

A mandrel prototype from the original flexible straw manufacturing machine is held by the Division of Work and Industry."