http://www.makingbooks.com/hotdog.shtml
I have started to use recycled materials as much as possible in my workshops. One of my favorite materials is brown grocery bags. The inventor of the flat-bottomed grocery bag is Margaret Knight. March is Women's History Month.
Cut out the front or back panel of a brown grocery bag. Make a hot dog booklet. If the bag has writing on it, it should be on the inside (not showing) when you make the first fold (like a hot dog).
Links
Article about Margaret Knight from the Portsmouth Herald
http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/04232006/maine/99159.htm
Women Inventors: Improving Our World
A small website from Girl Scout Troop 2409 in Briarcliff, NY about Margaret Knight which includes a mix and match quiz about other women inventors.
http://www.engineergirl.org/Troop2409/index.html
Marvelous Mattie by Emily McCully
A wonderful book about Margaret Knight's determination which led to her invention.
Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor
For Adult Readers
Henry Petroski who has written a number of books on objects, The Pencil, The Book on the Book Shelf, has a chapter on the grocery bag in his book, Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design.
Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design
Adapted from the March 2007 issue of Making Books Monthly
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