Mark Twain, The Inventor...?

Turns out that some of our best known authors could do a bit more than spin a good yarn. Some of them, like Twain, were inventors as well!

Funny, but I just can't see Mark Twain as an inventor. I don't know why, but it's hard for me to get my head around! Especially when you see what he got the patents for. Ready for a surprise?

Mark Twain Invented The Bra Strap 

Photo credit: US Patent Office

In addition to being one of America’s greatest novelists, Mark Twain held a wide variety of jobs like reporter, prospector, and riverboat pilot. He was also an accomplished inventor, taking out at least two patents during his lifetime. In fact, his first invention netted him $50,000, which isn’t bad, especially by 19th-century standards.

Mr. Clemens’s creation was a new-and-improved scrapbook. Twain loved collecting pictures and newspaper articles, but he got tired of dabbing glue onto each individual clipping. Wanting to speed up the process, Twain devised a self-pasting scrapbook. The process involved adhesive strips pre-pasted to the pages. All you had to do was moisten the sticky stuff, and presto, you were ready to go.
Twain’s most important achievement was a stretchy strap meant to keep loose clothing from falling down. With the help of a handy clasp, the strap prevented “vests, pantaloons, or other garments” from sagging. The device was also detachable, so when changing outfits, you could take it off one pair of undergarments and button it onto the next. 

Billions of people still use Twain’s invention, only it isn’t detachable, and it isn’t on vests. The man who wrote Tom Sawyer came up with the elastic-clasp strap on the back of the bra. Somehow I never figured ol' Mark as a scrape book fella, did you? Guess we all need a hobby.

Coffee in the kitchen this morning. Got a few showers coming in!

One Fun Game...!

I know a lot of you have spent some fun times all twisted up playing this game. At least, I did!

This game was one from a time when folks did more at parties besides drink and get stupid. Well, that is not counting looking a little stupid while tangled up in a pile on the floor! Had a lot of fun with this game, ya know? However, we some times forget to give credit to the people that invented these games, and that's too bad!

Inventor of iconic party game Twister dies

By PATRICK CONDON Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota man whose Twister game launched decades of awkward social interactions at parties has died. He was 82.

Charles "Chuck" Foley died July 1 at a care facility in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park. His son, Mark Foley, said Thursday that his father had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Foley and a collaborator, Neil Rabens, were hired in the mid-1960s by a St. Paul manufacturing firm that wanted to expand into games and toys. They came up with a game to be played on a mat on the floor, using a spinner to direct players to place their hands and feet on different colored circles.

"Dad wanted to make a game that could light up a party," Mark Foley said. "They originally called it `Pretzel.' But they sold it to Milton Bradley, which came up with the `Twister' name."

The game became a sensation after Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor played it on "The Tonight Show" in 1966.

Hasbro Inc., which now manufacturers the game, said it continues to be a top seller.

"What makes the Twister game timeless is the fact that it's always been about showing off your free spirit and just having some laugh-out-loud, out of your seat fun," Hasbro Inc. said in a statement noting Foley's death.

Mark Foley said his father made little money from Twister, but that it never seemed to bother him much. The game was not his first invention, and far from his last.

Born in Lafayette, Ind., Foley's first invention came at the age of 8 -- a locking system for the cattle pen at his grandfather's farm. As a young man he worked as a salesman, but his interest in games and toys led him to apply for a job at a toy company in the Minneapolis area. He moved his family to Minnesota in 1962.

Over the years, Foley invented dozens of other toys and games. He also invented a product called un-du, a liquid adhesive remover.

Mark Foley is now president of un-du Products Inc., based in St. Louis Park. Chuck Foley had lived in North Carolina for a number of years, but his son said he returned to Minnesota six years ago when his health began to decline, to be closer to his family. Foley and his wife, Kathleen, had nine children. She died of breast cancer in 1975, and Foley never remarried.

"He never stopped having fun," Mark Foley said. "He tried to think like young people thought. He never wanted to grow up, and he always maintained his enthusiasm for seeing things through the eyes of a child."

In my opinion, this man was brilliant! Imagine, having the ability to think about what make a child happy and make a living while doing it!

Coffee on the patio this morning. I have some home made chocolate chip cookies I'll share!

Thank You, Walter Hunt...!

There are a lot of folks in our history that contributed some very useful products to us, most of which are still in use today!

Unfortunately, many of these inventors never got credit for their achievements. Certainly most of them were very deserving of the credit, and it's sad that it never came! Until now, that is!

Walter Hunt

Walter Hunt was an American mechanic born in New York in 1796. Throughout his life he worked as an inventor and he managed to create a variety of different devices. The lockstitch sewing machine, safety pin, a forerunner of the Winchester repeating rifle, a successful flax spinner, knife sharpener, streetcar bell, hard-coal-burning stove, artificial stone, street sweeping machinery, the velocipede, and the ice plough are his most notable creations.

Many of his creations have served as indispensable additions and improvements to basic activities and devices in modern times. This is especially true for things like the simple safety pin and the complicated sewing machine. Unfortunately, none of his extremely useful inventions managed to win him an award throughout his life (nor afterwards).

The next time that someone ask you if you knew who invented the safety pin, you can tell them about Walter Hunt! Who knows? That might come in handy someday!

Coffee out on the patio this morning. I don't think that the rain is coming, so we should be good to go!