#028 - The Typist’s Undo Button

Inventing America

Title: Bette Nesmith Graham – The Typist’s Undo Button

Episode: Season 4, Episode 3

Summary:

Before the delete key or “Ctrl+Z,” there was a bottle of white fluid and a secretary who refused to let mistakes win. In 1950s Dallas, Bette Nesmith Graham transformed a kitchen experiment into Liquid Paper, the analog “undo” button that saved typists from ruined pages. Combining artistic insight with chemical problem-solving, she built an international office empire—then used her fortune to fund women in business and the arts.

This episode explores the technical challenges behind creating a quick-drying, opaque correction fluid, the cultural shift it brought to office work, and the legacy of a woman who turned small mistakes into big opportunities.

Topics Covered:

• The challenges of correcting errors on early electric typewriters

• Bette’s artistic inspiration and first experiments with tempera paint

• Transition from Mistake Out to Liquid Paper

• The chemistry and engineering of correction fluid

• Scaling production from a kitchen to an industrial plant

• The $47.5 million sale to Gillette in 1979

• The creation of foundations supporting women in business and the arts

• Her lasting legacy in productivity tools and workplace culture

Keywords:

Bette Nesmith Graham, Liquid Paper, Mistake Out, typewriter history, correction fluid invention, women inventors, office technology, productivity innovation, 1950s inventions, Gillette acquisition, women in business history, female entrepreneurs, forgotten inventors, American inventors

Historical Context:

In an era when typewriters ruled the office, accuracy was survival for secretaries. A single typo could mean retyping an entire page. Bette’s invention, born from artistic problem-solving, saved time, reduced stress, and democratized the ability to produce clean, professional work. Long before the digital age promised second chances, she handed them out in tiny bottles of white paint.