Bette Nesmith Graham: How A Secretary's Innovation Redefined Office Productivity

After World War II, electric typewriters were becoming increasingly popular, but they posed significant challenges. Workers struggled with the messy carbon-film ribbons and the cumbersome mechanics of the new IBM Electric Typewriters. Fixing mistakes neatly was almost impossible, often requiring users to retype entire pages for minor errors.

Determined to find a better solution, Bette Nesmith Graham, a bank secretary, developed a prototype for what would become "Liquid Paper" in 1956, paving the way for a revolutionary tool in office work. This product is what we know today as 'correction fluid'.

The Breakthrough & Humble Beginning

Graham was born on March 23, 1924. At 19, she married Warren Nesmith, who served in World War II. They had a son, Michael Nesmith, who would later gain fame as a member of The Monkees and as an American musician, songwriter, and actor.

After Warren returned from the war, the couple divorced, and Bette started raising Michael as a single mother. She worked various temporary jobs, ranging from clerical work to graphic design, before securing a position as an executive secretary at Texas Bank and Trust.

Graham’s inspiration for creating "Liquid Paper" came from watching painters decorate the bank windows for the holidays. Instead of removing their mistakes entirely, the painters simply covered up imperfections with another layer of paint.  

This observation sparked an idea for Bette to simplify the process of correcting typing errors. She began experimenting with different white, water-based tempera paints to develop a solution for covering up mistakes. After creating a working prototype, she tested it in the office and saw excellent results. By using a watercolour brush to apply the correction fluid, her boss never noticed the concealed errors.  

Initially naming her invention "Mistake Out," she produced the first batch in her garage, filling empty nail polish bottles with the fluid. Bette even enlisted her son and his friends to help assemble the product, paying them $1 per hour. To mix the correction fluid, she used her kitchen blender. 

Graham sold her first batch of "Mistake Out" in 1956 and soon dedicated herself full-time to producing and bottling it. She continuously worked to improve her product, testing various angles for the nail polish brush to ensure easier application and experimenting with alternative formulas for faster drying times. Within a short time, she was selling 100 bottles per month.  

Commercialization & Success Of Liquid Paper

In 1958, Bette patented her refined product under the name "Liquid Paper" and secured General Electric as one of her first corporate clients.  

By 1967, her growing company had its corporate headquarters and an automated production plant, with annual sales exceeding one million units. In 1975, she expanded further, establishing a 35,000-square-foot international Liquid Paper headquarters in Dallas. At the height of its success, the company was producing 25 million bottles of Liquid Paper per year.  

In 1979, Bette sold the company to Gillette Corporation for $47.5 million.

Bette Nesmith Graham passed away on May 12, 1980, due to complications from a stroke. Her groundbreaking invention remains an essential tool, now widely used in the form of modern-day whiteners.