Windshield wiper replacement blades are measured in inches. The windshield wiper was manually operated. The 1959-1960 TLs were not even available with a passenger side windshield wiper. She applied for, and in 1903 was granted, a 17-year patent for a windshield wiper. No. 1 is a historic windshield wiper factory building located in Buffalo, New York. In 1925, a hand-operated windshield wiper was added. Trico, then known as Tri-Continental Corporation, invented the windshield wiper blade in 1917. The steeper angle of the C-pillars meant that the Indigo lacked a rear windshield wiper. The windshield wiper, manual on the KR175, was electric on the KR200.