In 1957, Alfred W. Fielding and Marc Chavannes set out to make a new type of wallpaper. Instead, they changed the world of packaging. They were attempting to develop an easy to install and clean wallpaper with a paper backing. The partners sealed two shower curtains together creating a cluster of small bubbles between the two layers. For this invention, they received U.S. Patent No. 3,142,599 on July 28, 1964 for a Method for Making Laminated Cushioning Material.
The product was unsuccessful as wallpaper. Looking for other ways to use the plastic, the duo even tried to sell it as greenhouse insulation. The use of the air cushioned material as protective packaging was discovered later. Continue reading “Shower Curtain Packing Material? Invention of Bubble Wrap”
Genericized trademarks are words that used to be brand names but have become ingrained in common speech as a way to refer to all brands of a single product, not just the brand or service of the original trademark holder. A trademark often becomes genericized when one company dominates the market for a single product or is the original manufacturer of a new product. The use of a trademark as a verb will also led to the term becoming generic. 
On Sunday, April 3, Google celebrated the anniversary of the first ice cream sundae with one of its famous Google Doodles. But the invention of the sundae celebrated by Google is only one of the stories about how the ice cream treat came to exist. For years, there has been an ongoing debate about how and where the sundae was invented.
Polio was once a disease feared each summer by parents and children living in cities throughout the world. Epidemics of the disease were reported during the summer season starting in 1910. The polio epidemic of the summer of 1952 was the worst in the history of the United States. About fifty-eight thousand cases were reported with 3,145 deaths and 21,269 children left with some level of paralysis. Luckily, research was being done to develop a vaccine for this children’s illness.
The first thermoplastic was exhibited in 1862 at the London International Exhibition. Parkesine was invented in 1855 in London by Alexander Parkes. Parkesine was an organic material made by dissolving cellulose nitrate in solvent. The material could supposedly do everything that rubber could do only it was cheaper. In 1866, Parkes formed the Parkesine Company to produce his plastic. It was not a commercial success though because it was expensive, easily cracked and highly flammable.
On March 24, 1927, two cousins, Edward Knabusch and Edwin Shoemaker, left their steady, secure employment to start a furniture company. Knabusch was a woodworker and Shoemaker was a farmer. Shoemaker became interested in woodworking after learning about all of tools Knabusch used. They began building furniture in Knabusch’s father’s garage for their new company, the Kna-Shoe Manufacturing Company. With Shoemaker’s building talent and Knabusch marketing skills, the company began to grow.