Bette Nesmith Graham was a single mother barely scraping by as a secretary before becoming the developer of Liquid Paper, popularly known as White Out. And the inspiring brief story behind this commonplace object is anything but average. Plato is said to have said, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” It also makes logic. Wherever there is a need, someone will eventually find a way to meet it.
Bette Nesmith Graham, the Liquid Paper inventor, sought a better way to do her work. And God used one of Bette’s interests, painting, to inspire an idea that would become a household item and dramatically change Bette’s life!Bette Clair Murphy, who was born Bette Clair Murphy, dropped out of high school at the age of 17 to marry a soldier named Warren Nesmith. They had a son together, Michael Nesmith, who went on to become a member of the band The Monkees.
Warren and Bette eventually divorced after Warren returned from World War II. Bette was a single divorced mother in the 1950s struggling to maintain herself and her son on her own, earning around $300 per month. Her employment as a secretary for a Texas bank required her to type the majority of the time. That may appear straightforward. But this was back in the days of typewriters, before the blinking cursor of a digital screen, where a typo could be readily erased with the click of a button.
Some people have fingers that can fly across a keyboard, seldom missing a key. But, as it turns out, Bette Nesmith Graham, the inventor of Liquid Paper, was not one of them. And, back then, pressing the wrong key on a typewriter carried serious consequences. Each time I made a mistake with the carbon ribbon, I went to tremendous pains to attempt to remove it. Smudges were frequently the result of the process. The only other option was to restart typing the document.
But, as He often does, God utilized Bette’s flaws and shortcomings to accomplish something great! Bette Nesmith Graham is credited with inventing liquid paper. Bette Nesmith Graham was a dedicated employee. And she recognized she needed to find a solution to reduce the amount of time she was wasting due to her errors. As a result, she borrowed inspiration from one of her hobbies.
Bette would occasionally paint window displays for the bank on the side. And one day she discovered this was the solution to her typo problem. “An artist never corrects by erasing, but always paints over the error,” she explained. “So I decided to go with what artists use.” Bette Nesmith Smith created a correction fluid out of white, water-based paint called tempera in her shop. Once she had the appropriate proportions, she put the liquid into old nail paint bottles and declared herself the inventor of Liquid Paper!
Bette put her concoction to the test at work and discovered that it worked perfectly. When other secretaries found out about her secret, they wanted some for themselves. Bette dubbed it “Mistake Out” and enlisted the assistance of her son and his friends to meet the product demand created solely by her coworkers! She kept improving her “recipe” and pedaled her correction fluid to companies all over Texas.
She changed the name to Liquid Paper in 1958 and expanded the firm from her garage to a trailer, then to an office building.Bette’s product continued to sell well, and by 1964, production had increased tenfold. Despite her success, the developer of Liquid Paper confesses she struggled with concerns and anxiety while creating her company. The crucial point is that the single mother came from nothing and persevered.
“I think anyone who is making progress faces fear,” she says. “Success is nothing more than overcoming fear.” You must continuously confront your concerns and uncertainties. You keep repeating yourselves.”Bette Nesmith Graham used her thriving business to assist others. She established two foundations to assist women. One promoted women in the arts, while the other assisted impoverished women.
Furthermore, Bette handled her business in an unusually modern style. Some of the employee advantages she provided included on-site childcare, affirmative action policy, tuition reimbursement, and more. And to think it all started because of Bette’s typos! Of course, this did not mean Bette’s life was without difficulties. She thought she’d discovered love again in the thick of her prosperity. She married a man named Robert Graham and gave him a stake in the company as her spouse.
Unfortunately, their marriage ended in divorce in 1976, and Robert attempted to defraud the inventor of Liquid Paper out of her own business! He attempted to change the formula and remove Bette Nesmith Graham from the board, but she resisted.The tenacious woman was able to keep 49% of the company. Her health rapidly deteriorated over the next three years. As a result, the developer of Liquid Paper sold the company to Gillette in 1979 for $47.5 million, plus royalties.
Bette Nesmith Graham died of a stroke just a few months later, at the age of 59. The self-made woman left a significant legacy. To this day, liquid paper is still manufactured and sold. You might even have a bottle within arm’s reach. And what a potent analogy this product has to the Good News. Just as Liquid Paper removes the stain of an ink error, Jesus removes the stain of sin from our lives and, through His sacrifice, makes our souls as white as snow.
Bette Nesmith Graham’s innovation, born of necessity and many faults, outlived its creator and is proof that God can use our blunders to build a wonderful testimony! Please tell people about this tale as a reminder that no error or failure is too large for God!