The "Real" Mae West Vest

Overblown claim:
Famed inventor got too much credit for "Mae West" life vest
By Ron Harris Associated Press
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SAN FRANCISCO -- Inventor Andrew Toti was praised by no less than former President Bush for inventing the "Mae West" inflatable life vest that saved his life when he was shot down over the Pacific during World War II. When Toti died in March at 89, he was credited in obituaries across the nation with the invention -- so-named because when inflated, it reminded servicemen of the buxom actress.
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As it turns out, government records show that another inventor, Peter Markus, patented such a vest in 1928 and was working with the military to improve it years before Toti began tinkering with life jackets. Peter Markus died in 1973.
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His son, Alvin Markus of Los Angeles, provided The Associated Press with documents showing that Markus was granted U.S. Patent No. 1,694,714, for an "inflatable life preserver," on Dec. 11, 1928, when Toti would have been about 11 years old.
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By 1930, the Navy was beginning to make Markus-designed vests, according to military records in the National Archives that were tracked down at the request of The Associated Press.
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Toti, who said he sold his vest design to the War Department for $1,500 when he was just a teenager, "never claimed to be the inventor. He always claimed to be the co-inventor," Russell "Buck" Hinkley, the executor of Toti's estate, told the AP.
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"Though Toti played a part in it, Peter Markus is the inventor of the vest," said Hinkley, a machinist who worked for decades with Toti.
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Toti had hundreds of patents for inventions that included an automatic chicken plucker and a breathing tube used during surgery. Over the years, Toti apparently did not object when others gave him credit for the Mae West. . . .
- - excerpt from an article written by Ron Harris, Associated Press - -
Published in The L.A. Daily News: Saturday, June 11, 2005