Black History – Special Delivery!!

Madeline M. Turner invented Turner’s Fruit Press.  Her invention is believed to be the original blueprint and design on which many modern juicers are based.  Turner was inspired to create her juice press one morning when she struggled to hand squeeze a cup of orange juice. 

Turner’s invention helped pave the way for “juicing” to become a lucrative business endeavor. She was granted a patent for her fruit press machine on April 25, 1916 (U.S. Patent #: 1,180,959). Her invention was praised as “ingenious” due to its ease of use and its easy to clean design.  Norman Walker, a white businessman, is credited with inventing the first mechanical juice maker in the 1930s. However, Turner’s invention preceded his by nearly 20 years! The invention was first debuted in San Diego, CA.  From 1948 to 2014, seven other patents have referenced her invention and patent. In 2020, the juice and smoothie industry boasted a revenue of $2.6 billion!

Not much is known about her life. It was believed that she was born in Kentucky around 1875. She later moved to Oakland, California. Her exact dates of birth and death are unknown. 

Sources:

Sullman, N. (2020, November 15) Madeline M. Turner (?-?). Retrieved from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/madeline-m-turner/

Autumn Stanley, Mothers and Daughters of Invention:  Notes for a

Revised History of Technology (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1993):  “Madeline M. Turner.”

PeoplePill.com, Https://peoplepill.com/people/madeline-turner:/ Bridget Boakye, “Meet Madeline Turner, Inventor of the Fruit Press.” Face2Face Africa.com.

 March 16, 2018.

Carlee Morey, How Much Is A Juice Bar Franchise, https://puregreenfranchise.com/blog/how-much-is-a-juice-bar-franchise