Undergarment Boudreaux showed the world that an American woman could establish and run a company, and she also caused a revolution in the underwear industry. In 1913, a New York socialite named Mary Phelps Jacob created the first modern brassiere by tying two handkerchiefs together with ribbon. Jacob's original intention was to cover the whalebone sticking out of her corset, which was visible through her sheer dress. Jacob began making brassieres for her family and friends, and news of the garment soon spread by word of mouth. By 1914, Jacob had a patent for her design and was marketing it throughout
Elizabeth Wooster Stuart Phelps in Boston's Mount Vernon School under the tutelage of its principal Reverend Jacob Abbott, a prolific writer and editor whose works include the popular Rollo books and Lucy books for children. Phelps lived in the Abbott household for two years and while there published her first writings under the pseudonym "H. Trusta" (an anagram of Stuart) in Abbott's periodical, "The Religious Magazine". After completing her education, Phelps returned to Andover in 1834 suffering from chronic health problems including partial blindness, headaches, and even temporary paralysis. She was diagnosed with a "cerebral disease" or "brain fever" that plagued her for the