Chocolate Chip Cookies

Did you know...
The Chocolate Chip Cookie was discovered by accident when Ruth Wakefield ran out of
bakers chocolate? If not for this little idea of Ruth Wakefields, the world might never have tasted those sweet delights. Born in 1905, Wakefield grew up to be a dietician and food lecturer after graduating from the Framingham State Normal School Department of Household Arts in 1924. Along with her husband Kenneth, she bought a tourist lodge named the Toll House Inn, where she prepared the recipes for meals that were served to guests.

In 1930, Wakefield was mixing a batch of cookies for her roadside inn guests when she discovered that she was out of baker's chocolate. Not really knowing if it would work
or not, she substituted broken pieces of Nestle's semi-sweet chocolate, expecting it to melt and be absorbed into the dough to create chocolate cookies. That didn't happen, but the surprising result helped to make Ruth Wakefield one of the 20th century's most famous women inventors. When she removed the pan from the oven, Wakefield realized that she had accidentally invented what we know as "chocolate chip cookies."

Some accidents or ideas can really pay off very sweetly.

Liquid Paper

Did you know...
You don't have to graduate from high school to become famous, you just have to need something so bad you set out to invent it and that's just what
Bette Nesmith Graham, who was born in 1924 in Dallas, Texas, did.

She dropped out of high school at the age of seventeen and went to secretarial school. By 1951, she had worked her way up to the position of executive secretary for W.W. Overton, the Chairman of the Board of the Texas Bank and Trust. It was at this time that Graham and her colleagues at the bank began experiencing trouble with the new IBM electric typewriters.

Tired of having to retype entire pages because of one small error, Graham who had an unstoppable attitude was determined to find a more efficient alternative. Little did she know her frustration would lead to her becoming one of the most famous women inventors of the 20th century.

The idea for the "Mistake Out" product came to her while watching painters at the bank, if they made a mistake they just covered it up with more paint.
So quick-thinking Bette copied their technique by using a white, water-based tempera paint to cover her typing errors. Soon every secretary at the bank was begging for her cover-up.

She sold her first batch of "Mistake Out" in 1956, and soon she was working full-time to produce and bottle it from her North Dallas home. Her son Michael – who would later achieve fame as a member of the pop group The Monkees – and his friends helped to fill the growing number of orders for Mistake Out.

Bette continued experimenting with the substance until she achieved the perfect combination of paint and several other chemicals. The refined product was renamed "Liquid Paper" in 1958 and, was in great demand, Graham applied for a patent and a trademark that same year.

Bette Graham's Liquid Paper Company experienced tremendous growth over the next decade and by 1967, the company had its own corporate headquarters and automated production plan. Sales were in excess of one million units per year. In 1975, she moved operations into a 35,000-sq. ft. international Liquid Paper headquarters building in Dallas. She sold the company to Gillette Corporation four years later, just six months before her death in 1980.

Will computers put a damper on the sales of liquid paper or will the demand still keep it on the shelves in the stores...? What do you think?

Scotchgard

Did you know...
Scotchgard the first stain repellent and soil release textile treatments which have grown into an entire family of products was invented and discovered by Patsy Sherman
born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1930 while working at the 3M company? One of the lab assistants accidentally dropped a glass bottle that contained a batch of synthetic latex she had made and some of the latex mixture splashed on the assistant's canvas tennis shoes. Patsy Sherman and her colleague, Sam Smith, were working on another project when they observed that the accidental spill on the white tennis shoe would not wash off nor would solvent remove it.
But the most amazing thing was the area where the solvent splashed resisted soiling. They recognized the commercial potential of its application to fabrics during manufacture and by the consumer at home.

Scotchgard was first sold in 1956, however, Patsy Sherman and Samuel Smith obtained the U.S. patent in 1973, for the method for treating carpets, now known as Scotchgard. The name Scotchgard is a combination of the words Scotch and a misspelling of the word guard.

Patsy Sherman was inducted into the Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame in 1983. Patsy Sherman and Sam Smith jointly hold 13 patents in fluorochemical polymers and polymerization processes.

So go ahead and put your feet up… the dirt will wash off.

Disposable Diapers

Did you know...
A woman born in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1917 by the name Marion Donovan had a hard time getting her invention of the disposable diaper on the market. She made the first diaper cover from an old shower curtain. Her design did not cause diaper rash and did not pinch the child's skin. The soon-to-be famous female inventor subsequently perfected her invention, adding snap fasteners in place of the dangerous safety pins. She called it "Boater" because she thought they looked like a boat. But no manufacturers would even consider her invention, so she struck out on her own, and the Boater was an unqualified success from the day it debuted at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1949. A few years later in 1951 Donovan applied and received a patent. She then promptly sold the rights to Keko Corporation.

Her next project was a fully disposable diaper, for which she had to fashion a special type of paper that was not only strong and absorbent, but also conveyed water away from the baby's skin. She took her finished product to every large manufacturer in the country, but once again she found no takers. Incredulously, everyone she talked to told her that the idea was superfluous and impractical. It was not until nearly a decade later, in 1961, that Victor Mills drew upon Donovan's vision to create the disposable diaper we know as Pampers.

Marion Donovan earned a total of 20 patents in her lifetime and also received an Architecture degree from Yale University in 1958.

I for one am thankful for this famous woman inventor who deserves the undying gratitude of new parents around the globe.

The Disposable Cell Phone

Who said it's a mans world?
I have been asked to do some post about women inventors.
So I went in search of some women who actually have patents
on useful items. I was surprised to see just what these women
invented, and I bet it will be a surprise to you too.
So this week will be dedicated to these women and their inventions.



Did you know...
The Disposable Cell Phone was invented by Randice-Lisa "Randi" Altschul?
A woman who was known for her inventions of toys and games.
Randi thought up the invention after being tempted to toss her cell phone out of her car window in frustration over a bad connection. But she realized cell phones were too expensive to lose or throw away. After clearing the idea with her patent lawyer and making sure no one else had already invented a disposable cell phone, Randi Altschul together with engineer Lee Volte, patented both the disposable cell phone and the super thin technology needed for the Phone-Card-Phone and other intended products.

In November of 1999 Randice-Lisa "Randi" Altschul was issued a series of patents for the world's first disposable cell phone. Trademarked the Phone-Card-Phone®, the device is the thickness of three credit cards and made from recycled paper products.
Yeah, she was still thinking "green". This is a real cell phone (outgoing messages only) with 60 minutes of calling time and a hands free attachment. You can add more minutes or throw the device away after your calling time is used up. However, with the planned additional magnetic strip the cell phone would double as a credit card, swipeable for purchases with free airtime credits as a bonus. The retail price of the invention should average around twenty dollars, with a two or three dollar rebate for returning the phone instead of trashing it. These cell phones are now available around the world.

Don't let frustration over an item get to you just think of a way to improve it.

Tune in tomorrow to learn more about women inventors.
Please leave a suggestion for a post on this blog.
Who or what do you want to read about?

Cows and milk

Did you know...
The average cow produces about 19,825 pounds of milk a year.
That comes to 2,305 gallons of milk a year. A good milk cow will
produces about 8 gallons of milk daily. The average milk cow
produces around 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.
That's enough for 128 people to have a glass of milk every day.
A milk cow drinks from 25 to 50 gallons of water every day.
Contrary to what most people have been lead to believe a cow
does not have 4 stomaches but only one with 4 chambers.
Before the milking machine was invented farmers could only milk
about 6 cows in an hour. Now they are able to milk more than 100.
The 6 cows in the picture are breeds of cows that produce milk.
The white and black Holstien (lower right)is the best of the milk producing cows.

Credit Cards.... Earn from them !

Did you know...
You can earn money when using your credit card? Well you can if it has a cash back like the Discover card, or any other credit card that gives a cash back reward when you make a purchase with it. First it's best to start with a new card that has no charges on it, then use it to make the same purchases that you intended to pay cash for. Now don't go and spend this cash but put it in your bank account or in a safe place so it will be available for use in 28 days. This money will be used to pay your Credit Card in full each month. No interest and no bad credit. It will actually make your credit better.
With the cost of gas and food this cash back reward will build up over a period of time. It's like getting free money to do your Christmas shopping. Why not put your credit card to work for you? It's so simple to do and you can bet the money sure will come in handy.