{"product_id":"bessie-blount-shoulder-bag","title":"Bessie Blount- Shoulder bag","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCarry her softly because she feels so good to be held.She has a long shoulder strap . A triangle shape with a zipper closure over a fully lined leather bag. Embellished with a matching bag length tassel. The bag itself measures 13\" X 12\" and is a great joy to have.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBessie Blount Griffin was left-handed, and when her childhood teacher tried to punish her for writing with her left hand, Griffin trained herself to be ambidextrous and even to write with her teeth and feet — skills that would later help her teach amputee World War II veterans.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eShe became a practicing physical therapist when many soldiers returned from the frontlines as amputees. As part of her physical therapy work, Blount taught veterans who did not have use of their hands and feet new ways to perform basic tasks. One major challenge for people in this condition is eating. It was important to many of them to be able to feed themselves in order to gain a feeling of independence and increase self-esteem.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eBlount came up with a device that consisted of a tube that delivered individual bites of food to the patient at his or her own pace.  All he or she needed to do was bite down on the tube for the next morsel to be delivered to the mouthpiece. An attached machine would deliver the next mouthful on cue. Later, while living in Newark, New Jersey, practicing physical therapy and teaching at Bronx Hospital in New York, she also created a simpler device that employed a neck brace with built-in support for a food receptacle such as a bowl, cup, or dish. For this, she received a patent under her married name, Bessie Griffin, in 1951.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e⁠\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eLater on in her career, Griffin became a pioneering forensic scientist specializing in graphology, the analysis of handwriting for behavioral profiling, and applied her skills to detect forged documents for police departments in Virginia and New Jersey. Griffin once observed her 12-year-old grandson Nicholas' handwriting and correctly gave him a diagnosis of weak vision in one eye. \"She said it was all in your writing, that your writing showed you how you were physically as well as mentally,\" Nicholas later said. \"It's a bit of science but it's a bit of a gift — and that's what she had as well.\" And even after she retired, Griffin continued to consult with researchers and museums, determining the authenticity of pre-Civil War documents and letters.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/lemelson.mit.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/inventor-image\/blountport.gif\" alt=\"Bessie Blount\"\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Handle it handbagz","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46636687720606,"sku":null,"price":210.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0962\/9630\/files\/BessieBlountGriffin3.jpg?v=1774388645","url":"https:\/\/www.handleithandbagz.com\/products\/bessie-blount-shoulder-bag","provider":"Handle it handbagz","version":"1.0","type":"link"}