The feather duster is a staple of any house cleaning arsenal. But the first feather duster wasn't officially invented until 1881, when Susan Hibbard was issued a patent for it. What type of feathers did she use?

Turkey feathers aren't ideal for feather dusting, as they're a bit too coarse, but the earliest dusters were constructed from the feathers of those common American birds because of their size. In South Africa, a man named Harry S. Beckner started using ostrich feathers in 1903, winding them on broom handles using kick winders, and they became more common.

Asked by Tom Cohen · Last updated 5 years ago · 2K views