Each year, on the first Saturday of December, the town of Farmington, Maine, United States celebrates ‘Chester Greenwood Day’ in honour of Chester Greenwood, who at the age of fifteen invented ‘ear muffs’. The idea came to him while he was testing a new pair of ice skates on a cold winter day. Frustrated with unsuccessful attempts to protect his ears from cold weather, he made two ear-shaped loops from wire and asked his grandmother to sew fur on them. He was awarded a patent for an improved version in 1877. He established Greenwood’s Ear Protector Factory which provided a lot of jobs to the local people. Since 1977, the town celebrates the ‘Chester Greenwood Day’ where a parade is held with participants wearing earmuffs.
