Top 10 Everyday Innovations

Here’s a compilation of inventions behind many items we rely on daily. While these may seem trivial, they all contribute to making life significantly more convenient. So, here’s a rundown of the top 10 everyday innovations.

10. The Safety Razor

Before the safety razor came along, most men used straight razors, which were difficult to handle and required skill. In the late 18th century, Jean-Jacques Perret, inspired by a joiner’s plane, created the first safety razor. Perret, a specialist in the field, even wrote a book called “Pogonotomy or the Art of Learning to Shave Oneself.” Starting in the 1820s, different companies began producing their versions of the safety razor, though many wouldn’t meet today’s standards. In 1875, the Kampfe brothers introduced the first American safety razor, featuring a wire skin guard that had to be removed for sharpening. Then in 1901, American inventor King Camp Gillette introduced the first safety razor with disposable blades. Gillette, a savvy entrepreneur, realized that selling the razors at a loss and profiting from disposable blades would generate much greater revenue. This approach became known as the Razor and Blades Business Model, or “loss leader.” In 1903, Gillette sold just 51 razors and 168 blades during his first year of production.

Let’s clear up a common misconception: George Washington Carver did not invent peanut butter! The practice of grinding peanuts into a paste dates back to the Incas, though it eventually faded away. It wasn’t until 1890 that peanut butter made a modern comeback. George A. Bayle was the first to produce and market it as a protein supplement for those with dental issues. Then, in 1893, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg created a precursor to today’s peanut butter, though his version used steamed peanuts rather than roasted ones. Peanut butter gained widespread recognition in the U.S. in 1904 when C.H. Sumner introduced it at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (Saint Louis World’s Fair), which also helped popularize the ice cream cone, hot dogs, and hamburgers. In 1922, Joseph L. Rosefield revolutionized peanut butter by improving its texture with finer grinding, hydrogenation, and an emulsifier to prevent the oil from separating. This process resulted in the smooth, creamy peanut butter we know today, unlike the gritty or pasty versions of the past. Rosefield’s method earned him a patent for long-lasting peanut butter with a shelf life of up to a year.

British merchant Peter Durand made a significant contribution to food preservation with his 1810 invention of the tin can. Three years later, John Hall and Bryan Dorkin established the first commercial canning factory in England. Initially, tin cans were so thick that they had to be hammered open. As the cans became thinner, the need for a dedicated can opener emerged. In 1858, Ezra Warner of Waterbury, Connecticut, patented the first can opener, which the U.S. military used during the Civil War. In 1866, J. Osterhoudt patented the tin can with a key opener, commonly seen on sardine cans. The familiar household can opener was invented by William Lyman, who patented a simple-to-use design in 1870, featuring a wheel that rolls and cuts around the rim of the can. In 1925, the Star Can Company of San Francisco enhanced Lyman’s design by adding a serrated edge to the wheel.

The New York Dairy Company is credited with being the first to mass-produce glass milk bottles. Before this, milkmen would deliver milk directly into customers' own containers, with unpasteurized milk being delivered up to four times a day due to its short shelf life. The first patent for the Lester Milk Jar was filed on January 29, 1878. Lewis P. Whiteman received the first patent for a glass milk bottle with a small glass lid and a tin clip (US patent number 225,900, filed on January 31, 1880). A few years later, on September 24, 1884, Whiteman’s brother Abram V. Whiteman was granted a patent for a milk bottle with a dome-shaped tin cap (US patent number 305,554, filed on January 31, 1880).

The first vacuum cleaner powered by manual effort was the “Whirlwind,” invented by Ives W. McGaffey in 1868 in Chicago. The device was compact and lightweight, but challenging to use as it required turning a hand crank while pushing it across the floor. McGaffey received a patent for the machine on June 5, 1869, and partnered with The American Carpet Cleaning Co. of Boston to promote it. The Whirlwind was sold for $25, a significant amount at the time. Its success is difficult to assess, as most units were sold in Chicago and Boston, and many may have been lost in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Only two Whirlwinds are known to have survived, one of which is on display at the Hoover Historical Center.

An early precursor to the zipper, called an “Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure,” was patented in 1851 by Elias Howe in the United States. Unlike the modern zipper, Howe’s design lacked a slider. Instead, a series of clasps slid along both sides, locking together at various points. The true zipper emerged from a series of improvements over more than twenty years, developed by inventors and engineers from companies that later became part of Talon, Inc. The process began with Whitcomb L. Judson’s “clasp locker,” patented on Nov. 7, 1891. It culminated in 1914 when Gideon Sundback invented the “Hookless Fastener No. 2,” the first practical zipper with no major design flaws, essentially the model for today’s zippers.

In 1948, Swiss engineer George de Mestral created the hook-and-loop fastener after noticing how Burdock seeds clung to his clothing and his dog's fur during their daily walks in the Alps. Intrigued by their structure, he studied them and saw potential for binding two materials together in a simple, reversible manner. De Mestral patented his design in 1951, receiving approval in 1955. He named his invention “VELCRO,” a combination of the French words ‘velours’ (meaning velvet) and ‘crochet’ (meaning hook). The versatile invention has since been used in countless applications across various fields.

Before electric toasters, bread was toasted by placing slices in a metal frame over a fire or by holding it near the flames using a long-handled fork. In 1893, Crompton and Company from Leeds, England, introduced the first electrically powered toasters. The technology behind electric toasters, a nichrome wire capable of withstanding high temperatures, had been known for some time. Around the same period, at least two other brands also entered the market with their own versions, while General Electric filed the first patent application for their D-12 toaster in 1909. In 1913, Lloyd Groff Copeman, along with his wife Hazel Berger Copeman, applied for various patents related to toasters, including one for a toaster with an automatic bread turner. Prior to this invention, toasters cooked bread on one side, which then required flipping by hand. Copeman’s design allowed the bread to turn automatically, eliminating the need for manual intervention. Additionally, Copeman is credited with inventing the first electric stove and the flexible ice cube tray.

The origins of soft drinks can be traced back to natural mineral waters from springs. Ancient civilizations believed that these waters had healing properties, and bathing or drinking them could cure ailments. The first commercially sold soft drinks, which were non-carbonated, appeared in 17th-century France. These drinks were made from water and lemon juice sweetened with honey. In the 1770s, advancements in replicating natural mineral waters began, thanks to Englishman Joseph Priestley, who infused distilled water with carbon dioxide. Another English inventor, John Mervin Nooth, refined Priestley’s invention and marketed it to pharmacies. The concept of soda water and the soda fountain gained immense popularity in the United States. In 1806, Yale chemistry professor Benjamin Silliman began selling soda waters in New Haven, Connecticut, using Nooth's apparatus. American pharmacists soon started adding herbs and flavors to the soda water, such as birch bark, sarsaparilla, and fruit extracts, which helped improve the taste and attract more customers. Soda fountains became a beloved part of American culture.

“[The Chinese] are not careful about cleanliness, and they do not wash themselves with water when they have done their necessities; but they only wipe themselves with paper.”

In the early 14th century, during the Yuan Dynasty, it was noted that in what is now Zhejiang province, China, ten million packages of toilet paper, containing between 1,000 and 10,000 sheets each, were produced annually. The British Perforated Paper Company became the first to produce perforated toilet paper in 1880. Around the same time, other forms of non-perforated toilet paper, including those from Scott Paper Company and Joseph Gayetty, were also available. Prior to these innovations, wealthy individuals used luxurious materials like wool, lace, or hemp, while those with fewer resources resorted to using their hands, or other local materials such as rags, wood shavings, leaves, grass, hay, stone, sand, moss, water, snow, maize husks, fruit skins, seashells, or corn cobs depending on their location, social class, and environmental conditions. François Rabelais, a 16th-century satirist, humorously suggested the back feathers of a live goose as the ideal tool for this task:

“He who uses paper on his filthy bum, will always find his bullocks lined with scum”

1886 Apw Ad

This article is distributed under the GFDL license. It incorporates information from the Wikipedia entries on: The Vacuum Cleaner, Zipper, Velcro, Toaster, Soft Drink, and Toilet Paper