5 Products Invented By the Last Person You’d Expect
There are a surprising number of famous faces behind innovative technology, but it’s usually because they’ve become so good at the thing they’re famous for that they need previously unknown equipment. Like, no one would be surprised to find out Steven Spielberg had invented a new type of movie camera or Adele a new type of microphone or Jennifer Lopez a new type of divorce.
Sometimes, however, people venture into fields they have no business in, with beautifully mixed results.
Mark Twain’s Bra Straps
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Missouri’s favorite literary son was also a celebrated inventor, but you probably didn’t realize he had a hand in your over-the-shoulder boulder holder. His patent was actually meant to be a replacement for suspenders, specifically “an adjustable and detachable elastic strap for vests, pantaloons or other garments requiring straps,” but it turned out there was really only one “other garment” it was useful for. The next time you’re cinching that little slider to haul up your fun bags, make sure to think of Mr. Twain.
Roald Dahl’s Brain Shunt
Roald Dahl is best known for writing children’s books, but his arguably more significant contribution to society was saving their lives. After his infant son was hit by a car, he was left with a condition that causes fluid to build up in the brain, and finding the valve meant to relieve it insufficient, Dahl invented a new kind of brain shunt with the help of a neurosurgeon and a toymaker that wound up in the skulls of thousands of children. His interest in medicine didn’t stop there: After doctors insisted there was little they could do to rehabilitate his wife after a stroke, he developed his own plan that got her back to getting nominated for Oscars. He subsequently had an 11-year affair before their divorce, but nobody’s perfect.
Marlon Brando’s Drumhead-Tightener
Brando was the McConaghey of his day in many ways, not the least of which being their mutual passion for hand drums. His enthusiasm for the conga didn’t extend to taking the time to maintain his instrument, however. Finding the drumhead-tightening process tedious, he enlisted a renowned Latin jazz percussionist to help him invent a “simple and inexpensive drum tuning device that is also accurate and reliable and not subject to inadvertent adjustments.”
Did you read that in his voice? You did, didn’t you? Be honest.
A Dentist’s Cotton-Candy Machine
William James Morrison may not be famous, but he’s definitely the last person you’d expect to invent modern cotton candy. Until the Nashville dentist got in on the game, cotton candy was strictly a handspun caramel situation, but after teaming up with a confectioner and presenting their machine at the 1904 World’s Fair, everything changed. They even gave it the new, orally evocative name “fairy floss,” but our dentists don’t consider it an acceptable hygiene practice.
Penn Jillette Invented a Vibrator
To be clear, magician Penn Jillette wasn’t the first to discover that a carefully aimed jet of water is a fun time for a clitoris owner. In fact, it was Blondie singer Debbie Harry who mentioned it to him while the two were sharing a hot tub, raising just so many questions. Subsequently, he patented the Jill-Jet, a hot tub nozzle specifically designed for this purpose. He claims to have installed it in his own tub, where it is enjoyed by many of his friends’ wives, which is possibly the weirdest part.
“Later, honey, going over to Penn Jillette’s house to sit in his Jerkuzzi” is a sentence someone has said, because that’s clearly a better name for it.
