Chester Greenwood & Earmuffs
Maine State Museum
For a period of about 50 years, the small town of Farmington was known as the earmuff capital of the world thanks to Chester Greenwood. Local lore has it that on one cold winter day in the 1870s, teenage Chester was ice skating and struggling to keep his ears warm. A hat didn't help and neither did wrapping a wool scarf around his head.
Returning home to the family farm, Chester shaped two pieces of thin, flexible wire into ear-shaped loops and asked his grandmother to sew beaver fur onto them. He later added a steel band to connect the two loops to hold them in place and patented the design.
By 1883, Greenwood’s Ear Protector Factory in Farmington was producing 30,000 pairs of Greenwood’s Champion Ear Protectors each year, and by 1936, annual output exceeded 400,000 pairs.
Chester – who held patents for a variety of other inventions – lived until 1937. His factory closed in the 1940s, but he and his invention are still celebrated. December 21 in Maine is Chester Greenwood Day and on the first Saturday in December his hometown holds an annual celebration, including a parade. That annual event is spoofed in “Muffed,” a play written by a University of Maine at Farmington graduate, which premiered in 2023 and has since been produced at regional and independent theaters around the country.
Author: Stephanie Bouchard
