Companies didn't see much of a need for Anderson's invention. Cars were still relatively new at the time. Henry Ford's Model T wouldn't be released until 1908 (via Investor's Business Daily). Ultimately, the product was written off as pointless. "The story of the missed chance is almost as big as the invention itself," said Sara Scott Wingo, Anderson's great-great niece.

The world wasn't ready for Anderson's creativity and progressive thinking. A rejection letter dated June 20, 1905, from Canadian company Dinning & Eckenstein read, "We regret to state we do not consider it to be of such commercial value as would warrant our undertaking its sale." Critics also claimed Anderson's idea would be too much of a distraction to drivers and ultimately a safety hazard (via History). Her genius patent expired in 1915. However, in 1922, Cadillac started to make and sell cars with, you guessed it, windshield wipers, per Investor's Business Daily.

So, why is it that a man named Robert Kearns would later receive credit for the invention of the windshield wiper? His idea was actually a slight variation on Anderson's windshield wiper, but it certainly seems that Anderson did the bulk of the work on this one.