by Bonnie Alter


Let’s hear it for the little things. London’s Science Museum is celebrating the “genius of everyday things.” Like the 3-ring binder, invented in 1885, or the tea bag in 1903 or the egg carton.
The fascinating stories are about the objects we take for granted. Many are perfectly simple in design and function and have stood the test of time brilliantly. These inventions include bubble wrap, the folding ruler, condoms, Tetrapak, Lego, band-aids, flip flops, tin cans, thumb tacks and clothes pins.


The premise behind this show is that the Museum wants to “shine a light on a group of outstanding inventions and inventors, revealing the supposedly mundane to be nothing short of remarkable.” Unfortunately only one out of the 36 on show was invented by a woman: in 1908, German housewife Melitta Bentz invented a coffee filter by lining a perforated metal beaker with blotting paper.


The show is the essence of what good design is all about, according to the press release:
It is often most effective and influential in the places where it goes unnoticed. It emerges out of the careful examination of daily human life. It often has an eventful history that is closely linked to industry and technology. Yet in some cases, it is also based on tiny changes in the way we think, but which ultimately have a great impact on our everyday lives.


The stories behind their creation are fascinating. For example the glass jars used for preserving all those summer fruits and vegetables and jams were invented in 1892 and mass produced by the Weck Company in 1900, made famous and popular because of their patented suction closing.
Consider the humble clothes hanger. It looks very simple, but 189 patents were issued for various models between 1900 and 1906. The first wire one was invented in 1904, when an employee twisted a piece of wire into a shape to hold his coat because there were no hooks left on the wall.


Or the egg carton: it was the first moulded packaging material. Created out of the pulp made from left over wood chips, it was invented in 1930 by Martin Keyes and continues to be a perfectly safe and ecological container for eggs.
There are lots more: shipping containers, condoms, sticky notes, rubber bands and the 6 ring drinks holder. You can see them all, with the history, on the world’s most annoying website. It will also be on view at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
(Source: www.treehugger.com )