The innovation was in the integration of the holder with the belt, making the system more secure and more reliable than the existing alternatives.

The design addressed specific practical problems that the people who used menstrual products experienced every day, and it was based on a thorough understanding of those practical problems that came from direct experience.

She began working on this design in the 1920s — possibly as early as when she was in her teens.

She continued refining it through the 1930s and 1940s.

She filed for a patent, and in 1956 — more than two decades after she had begun working on the design — her patent was granted.