C. Carey Cloud


C. Carey Cloud - US Patent 2,200,616



US Patent 2,200,616, filed March 22, 1939, granted May 14, 1940, serial #263,325
This invention relates to display devices. Among the objects of my invention is to provide a display device formed of a single piece of flexible material and adapted to be folded and rolled into conical form so that said device may be passed over the neck of a bottle or the like and seated on the shoulder for display purposes.


Patent 2,200,616 - Drawing 1
Patent 2,200,616 - Page 1
Patent 2,200,616 - Page 2


C. Carey Cloud invented a collar for milk bottles for advertisement. Here's an excerpt from his autobiography regarding it.

   Not all my ideas were successful. In the days when glass was used for milk bottles, one would often find a paper ring around the bottle neck, advertising the dairy's other products. Neher Whitehead, St. Louis, had patents on the simple advertising piece. They sold many million each year, all over the country.

   I devised a printed advertising piece that served the same purpose. I obtained a patent and immediately sold Borden Dairy one million bottle collars. Not long after this, a gentlemen from Neher Whitehead called on me. He admitted that I was the first person to get around their patents, that I did not in any way infringe on theirs. Therefore, they would buy my patent. I said, "It is not for sale." He remarked, "Well! We'll see you don't get any more business." I gave prices to many users of the bottle collars that summer; quotes that ran into millions of pieces. Neher Whitehead outbid me on every one. I never got another order.

   One chocolate milk company used twelve million collars each year. They used my prices against my competitor to get their prices down. Needless to say, my competitor got their order. The following year the chocolate milk people called and wanted me to give them prices on collars. I refused. I told them I had saved them money by bidding against my competitor last year. Now I was out of the game, and they could go ahead and pay whatever my competitor asked.

   A patent does not mean much unless it is marketable, serves a better purpose, saves time or money, or is more economical than a similar item already on the market. If you are an amateur inventor as I am, it pays to have several ideas fermenting at the same time. Failures are inevitable. The successes will compensate for the failures. Cracker Jack turned down some ideas I thought were among my best. It takes a lot more time and effort to reduce an idea to practicality than it does to get an idea; uncountable hours are often required. Then the inventor must decide whether he can manufacture his concept or try to place it on royalty.


C. Carey Cloud Patent - Bossy Gers a New Collar

C. Carey Cloud Patent - More Display for less money

C. Carey Cloud Patent - It's a New Scoop for Dairies



C. Carey Cloud