02/10/2026
The original. The genuine article. The real McCoy: Some names enter history. Others become part of our language.
For Black History Month, we reflect on the remarkable story of Elijah McCoy, the Black engineer and inventor whose work helped change how steam engines operated.
Born in Canada in 1844 to parents who had escaped slavery, McCoy trained as a mechanical engineer in Scotland. Yet when he returned to North America, racial discrimination meant his qualifications did not open the doors they should have.
So he found another door.
Working on the railway, McCoy identified a practical problem. Machinery had to stop regularly so workers could lubricate moving parts.
His solution was an automatic lubrication system that allowed engines to keep moving while oil was supplied where it was needed. He received his first lubricator patent in 1872, followed by many more inventions during his lifetime.
And this is where history gives us a fitting metaphor.
McCoy's invention was copied. Alternatives appeared. According to a widely told account, railway engineers wanted to know whether they were getting McCoy's original equipment rather than an imitation.
They wanted "the real McCoy."
Historians have linked the expression to him, although its precise origin remains debated. Perhaps that makes the story even more interesting. Being original is not simply about being first. It is about creating something with enough substance that, when alternatives appear, people can still recognise the difference.
A reputation cannot simply be manufactured. It is engineered over time.
➡️Through ideas.
➡️Through standards.
➡️Through consistency.
➡️Through doing the work, even when nobody cares who gets the credit.
That thought reaches far beyond a railway workshop.
➡️Businesses can copy a model.
➡️Competitors can copy language.
➡️Industries can copy processes.
But authenticity is much harder to reproduce.
For us at , that idea feels quietly powerful. The ambition should never simply be to look like the genuine article. It should be to keep building the substance behind it.
Elijah McCoy's legacy deserves recognition for far more than a familiar expression. His story is one of engineering ability, persistence and innovation in a society that placed unnecessary barriers in his path.
More than 150 years after his first lubricator patent, perhaps the best play on those famous words is also the simplest:
Don't just call yourself the real McCoy.
Build something worthy of the name.
