The first commercially-available hummingbird feeder was designed by Laurence J. Webster for his wife. The idea came about after he had read a 1928 National Geographic story about feeding hummingbirds from small glass bottles. It was between 1929 and 1935 that Webster had his design produced by an MIT lab glassblower (possibly James Ryan). In 1947, National Geographic ran an article by Harold Edgerton about his newly-invented strobe flash, which included photos of hummingbirds at Webster’s feeder. Interest was aroused, but it was not until 1950 the Webster feeder was offered for sale by the Audubon Novelty Company of Medina, NY.
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