The Bridgeport Innovation Center: Where It All Began (Part 1)

The Bridgeport Innovation Center traces its roots back to the early 1900s when inventor Harry Delyne Weed from Canastota, New York, created the first “Tyre” Grip Chains in 1904. His invention improved the safety and maneuverability of automobiles on snowy, icy, and unpaved roads, long before snow tires existed. These chains were first used on trucks and buses for better traction.

Weed was also a clever marketer. In 1908, his company ran a front-page ad challenging escape artist Harry Houdini to try his chains in a stunt at New York’s Hammerstein’s Victoria Theater. Houdini accepted, escaping with great effort. Weed later moved his office to 28 Moore Street in New York and the factory to Bridgeport, Connecticut, before selling his patents to Walter B. Lashlar of the American Chain Company.