Jones turned her patents (she had more than any other woman of the 1800s) into the Women’s Canning and Preserving Company, which was 100 percent owned and staffed by women. In the first three months, they shipped 24,000 orders. The assertion that fruits could be canned without losing flavor was made years before she figured out how to do it. The brave act of building a significant women-owned and women-staffed company was put in place long before the orders arrived. The practice demands assertions when there are no guarantees.
