U.S. Patent No. 868,312 was granted to Wilcox for a bake pan.
On October 1, 1907, Margaret A. Wilcox was granted U.S. Patent No. 868,312 for a bake pan. This patent is part of the documented record of her later-life inventing, when she continued to work on practical household equipment after her better-known transportation patent.
The bake pan may appear modest compared with a railcar heater, but it belongs to the same inventive tradition of incremental domestic improvement. In the early twentieth century, kitchen tools were still being refined for efficiency, durability, and ease of use. Wilcox’s continued interest in such devices reflects a consistent approach to engineering: identify routine tasks, then redesign the apparatus to make them simpler or more effective.
For historical interpretation, the patent matters because it confirms that Wilcox’s inventing career was sustained and varied. Women inventors were frequently celebrated only when their work seemed novel or unusual; Wilcox’s record shows durable participation in the patent system across multiple decades. The bake pan patent thus adds depth to her legacy, demonstrating that she remained active in the practical technologies of everyday life and continued to contribute to the material culture of the home.