I salute American Exceptionalism.  But It’s not limited to American – somethings are universal and many things I thought it might have been created/invented in America, nope, they were not.

Lisa loves watching Shark Tank (me too).  Many are inventions, while others are improvements of something already made or perhaps a different type of an existing product. 

I often wonder – who made that?  Join me on this journey of discovery.

______________________________

Robert Hulseman.  Who knew that this mild mannered guy would become a cultural icon.  College Students all over unite and hold his creation up high.  And of course, it’s their Red Solo Cups they hold up high.  Leo Hulseman used to work at The Dixie Company and started the “Solo Cup” in his garage.  As fountain drinks become more popular, Dixie started coating the inside of their cups with wax, which stopped condensation from damaging the integrity of the cup.  Leo’s son Robert saw something there and created the Solo Cup in the 1970s and it was first marketed to families for their use at picnics.  There were several colors that Robert’s Children helped pick out.  They were red, blue, green and peach.  Who in this world hasn’t used a red Solo Cup?  In college I can remember that the beer at parties was free, but the cup cost you either $5 or $10. 

               *Side Note 1 – a “peach” solo cup?  How much of a collector’s item would that be.

Robert’s personal favorite was the Blue Solo Cup, but red is of course the color that took over the world.  Cheers Robert – CHEERS TO YOU !!!

____________________________________

Have you ever heard of “Caffeine Poisoning”? No, me neither.  John Sylvan was diagnosed with this while he and his business partner and co-inventor Peter Dragone tinkered and tested and worked on their machine that LITERALLY changed my life. Yes, these two guys invented The Keurig.  While fighting to get their invention of a single serve pod coffee maker off the ground, they went through dozens of designs and prototypes.  Their first design was huge, heavy and expensive and did require a plumber to install.  And on top of all that it was also unreliable.  They took many different designs in front of many different investors, and in their demonstrations, something would always go wrong: floating coffee grinds, hot water leaks, exploding single-serving pods and low brewing temperatures.  Nothing seemed to work. 

In 1993 Dick Sweeney joined the team and guess what?  Dick was “The Man”.  The Keurig was beginning to get traction in commercial kitchens, but the money was in home usage as more and more consumers were drinking coffee at home.  It took Dick about 2 years to develop the counter top Keurig version that we use today.  But as they grew, the competitors were also working on their own versions, competitors that had far deeper pockets.  But Keurig beat them at their own game.  While the larger companies did all the advertising for a single brew coffee machine, Keurig went to the streets and set up brew stations in retail stores sharing free samples.  Their machine now perfected, investors lined up and Sylvan and Dragone lost majority share of their company and Sylvan accepted a buyout of $50,000, quite a small amount for a company that today is worth $Billions.  That’s Billions, with a “B”.  Dragone left his position a few months later, but maintained his stake in the company. 

Green Mountain Coffee Company was one of the original partners/investors and helped them develop the first pods that were used, and in 2006 became owner of the Keurig brand for $160 Million.

               *Side Note 2 – perhaps you’ve read my poem, “Ode To My Keurig” where I declare my love for my Keurig Coffee Maker.

_________________________

Here’s something you never knew….. in 1935, Northern Tissue advertised……. wait for it…… “Splinter-Free Toilet Paper”.  YES – imagine that – they actually had to advertise that their toilet paper was free of splinters.  Toilet paper was made It’s been surmised that Scott Tissue might have invented Toilet paper in 1879 or 1880.  But Toilet paper was said to be a sensitive subject at the time, so they didn’t even want to put their name on their product.   Before Toilet paper, many people used paper, like from a magazine.  In agricultural areas other things used were: straw, hey, corn husks and hands full of leaves.  When toilet paper first came out the mills weren’t equipped to make such a fine smooth finish, and often, small shards of wood were still in the fibers.

But in 1942, St. Andrews Paper Mill in England introduced the first 2-ply toilet paper. 

Now normally one might want to make fun of the Brits for being “fancy boys” and being “soft”.  You’ll hear nothing of that from me.  Nope.  I thank them for their ingenuity of taking 1-play, which was perfectly acceptable at the time, and going 2 ply.  One might wonder, did they do this on purpose, or did the machine operator make an error and run up costs and the guy had to say – “Oh no – I meant this.  I’m tired of having my finger poke through”.

               *Side Note 2 – there is actually another British Company that sells 3-ply TP.  Okay – this might have me making fun of them.

_______________________________

I got a little warm while writing this and walked over and flipped the switch and turned on the ceiling fan.  And then – BAMM!!!!  I wondered – who created the ceiling fan  Well, it was Philip Diehl.  This guy……  first he had a hand as an engineer creating the first electric sewing machine for Singer, but then, he adapted the motor used in sewing machines, put blades on it, and created the ceiling fan.  That guy had some serious game.  The year was 1887 – and now you know.

____________________________

A teacher realized that kids were passing germs using the same towels, so she’d cut heavier paper into  squares and give them to her students to use as individual towels.  Upon hearing this, Arthur Scott, of the Scott Paper Company (you remember them right, from up above) had an idea.  Instead of the continuous rollers that had the 1 towel that spun around, Arty (as I chose to call him) had the thought to perforate larger roll of disposal tissues into small pieces and to advertise it as disposable.  In 1931 they were introduced for the home.

               *Side Note 3 – Because paper towels use so much oil in their production, it’s considered a luxury in Japan and most public restrooms don’t have them, and they have switched to using personal handkerchiefs to dry their hands.

___________________________________

In 1904 S.W. Atherton invented the Extension Cord.  Now, I just read about 10-12 pages about the evolution of the extension cord, seriously.  But I’ll spare you.  And I’ll leave it at the person and the year.  Trust me – that’s all you need to know.

__________________________________

So – don’t you feel a little bit smarter?  I know I do.

• Seriously