Susan Olivia Poole (April 18, 1889 – October 10, 1975) was an Indigenous Canadian inventor. She invented the Jolly Jumper, a baby jumper, in 1910, but it was not until 1948 that they were produced for the retail market. They are manufactured in Ontario, Canada. By 1957, the Jolly Jumper was patented.
Early life
Born in 1889 in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, Poole grew up in Minnesota at the White Earth Indian Reservation. She was part Ojibway or Chippewa. At a young age, she observed how women would strap babies to cradle boards, a practice called "papoose". While working in the fields, she also observed how mothers would hang their papooses on tree branches, using leather straps, as a medium for a soft bouncing motion.
Education
Poole was a very talented pianist. She studied music at Manitoba, Canada's Brandon College. After his birth, she began putting a swing together that resembled the practice she remembered as a young girl. After her invention, she moved to Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband in 1942. She was one of the first Indigenous Canadian women to be awarded a patent.