ORIGINS OF EVERYDAY THINGS

by Pam North

We are surrounded by everyday objects that have interesting origins.
Here are just a few of them.

Toothpaste Tubes: A tube of oil-based paint was the inspiration for
Dr. Washington Wentworth Sheffield to devise the collapsible-tube
packaging for toothpaste that we know today.  His idea became
mainstream almost overnight as a vast improvement in sanitation and
hygiene over the communal jars of toothpaste that were used by all
the members of a family, mingling the germs from their toothbrushes.

Pop-Top Cans: A forgotten can opener proved to be a major
inconvenience for Ermal Cleon Fraze, a mechanical engineer, at a
picnic in 1959.  Only after much concerted effort, using the bumper of
his car as the opener, did he manage to open his can of soda, and he
vowed never to have to repeat such a task.  His experience in
engineering and with aluminum aided him in coming up with a practical
design, and within a few months, he had a patent on a pull-tab
can. The Pittsburg Brewing Company was the first to use it on its Iron
City Beer.  Eventual environmental concerns in the 1970s about the
separate pull-tabs that were discarded led to further refinements in
design, and now the pop-top can is commonplace..

Refrigerator Magnets: John Amasto and his wife, Arlene, were
merchandisers of a line of decorative wall hooks, and Arlene asked her
husband to came up with a hook for a refrigerator door.  John obliged
with one that was shaped like a teakettle, decorated with a small
bell, and backed with a magnet.  It sold well, and the Amastos soon
expanded their line with many additional designs (many of their
originals command $100-and-up prices from collectors today).

Wristwatches: As a novelty, some Swiss watchmakers began attaching
small watches to bracelets in 1790. Considered just a frill for women
at first, the fad evolved in World War I to a useful substitute for 
the traditional man's pocketwatch, and wristwatches were issued to
servicemen.

Scotch Tape: In the 1920s, two-toned paint jobs for automobiles became
popular, creating a need for an alternative to masking tape to provide
the smooth, defined edge where the two colors met.  Detroit carmakers
asked the 3M Company to come up with such a tape; 3M's answer was a
2-inch-wide cellophane tape that turned out to be prohibitively
expensive for use by the automobile manufacturers.  3M tried to cut
the price by applying adhesive only on the edges of the tape.  The
altered tape wouldn't stick well, and the auto companies' painters
complained to 3M salesmen, saying,"Take this tape back to your stingy
'Scotch' bosses and tell then to puy more adhesive on it." 3M met the
demand, and the tape stuck, as did the adjective from the complaint.

Knives and Forks: Originally, ordinary sharp knives were simply
modified, beginning in the late 1600s, for use at the dinner table;
their sharp tips were rounded and their cutting edges were dulled.
The reasoning behind this modification was most likely a step to
prevent the use of sharp knives as toothpicks or tools for
assassination during meals.  Tiny, two-pronged forks were introduced
in the 11th century to Italian high society.  Prior to that time,
fingers were the mode of transporting food to the mouth; the upper
class used three fingers, and the lower class used five.  The fork
took a while to go mainstream; the Catholic Church opposed its use as
unnatural, an affront to God implying that the fingers created in
humanity were not good enough for food.  Forks were considered
pretentious or effeminate for around 800 years until they were
generally accepted in the eighteenth century.  Now the forks are
sharper than the knives.