30 Eyebrow-Arching Origin Stories of Everyday Products

Turns out ordinary gadgets are anything but ordinary
30 Eyebrow-Arching Origin Stories of Everyday Products

The creative process is way more convoluted than the history books and talk shows let on. Products go through an insane amount of iterations before they reach their final form, and sometimes they wind up utterly unrecognizable when they finally hit the shelves. So we asked our readers to dig into everyday products and find their truly bizarre histories. The winner is below, but first, the runners-up…

Tea bags were created by accident In 1908, Thomas Sullivan, a New York tea merchant, started to send samples of tea to his customers in small silken
ORACKEDc CONT Ancient Greece enforced the law that prostitutes should wear lipstick during their working hours, or else they would be condemned for ma
Aviator sunglasses were nicknamed after the test pilots who first used them. Rrba P USAF Lieutenant John Macready partnered with a goggle manufactur
CRACKEDCON One of the early prototypes of the waterbed was a chair filled with Jell- O! It was deemed too smelly and heavy.
Commercial fertilizers, the invention that fed countless people, were invented by Fritz Haber, the same man who created the deadly chlorine gas during
THE INVENTOR OF THE ATM WAS INSPIRED BY CHOCOLATE BAR DISPENSERS. ATIV AND THe DiGIT COULD PIN WAS NOT CHOSEN MEMORIZE BECAUSE 6 NUMBERS. HIS WIFE GRA
In the nineteenth- century GUNPOWDER was often made with URINE because it is rich in nitrates, A BEER drinker's urine was preferable to that of a sobe
Salt was used as currency. GRA It was one of the greatest treasures of the ancient world and was traded ounce for ounce for gold. Greek traders exchan
Minoxidil, the main ingredient in hair treatment products such as Rogaine, was originally developed in the 60s to treat hypertension. That was until t
Alka-Seltzer is a knock-off of a home remedy for the flu. HAMME AIka- AT ASPIRIN Seltzer Pure + Baking Soda ORIGINAL NETAT1LN Hub Beardsley, president
Vaseline originated as a byproduct of the oil drilling Veseloe process. In 1859, British chemist Robert Augustus Chesebrough visited a small town in P
Warfarin is an anticoagulant used to treat blood clots and prevent new ones from forming. It was originally used as rat poison after several coWs died
Mass-produced chewing gum came out of an attempt to reinstate a Mexican dictators E F 0 F olraea catecas Anses GREAT TASTE! Chiclets. Oueretat Gum 12P
At the dawn of the 19th century, demand for dentures of human teeth was on the rise. Wealthy people sought for donors though advertisements. WANTED. S
Wifi was actually made to detect exploding mini black holes. Stephen Hawking predicted that mini black holes released some radio waves when they vanis
Like wearing pajamas? You have WWI air raids to thank. In wwi, people were being driven out of their homes by night-time air raids, and they needed wa
Marlboro's very first consumer target was women. A Beauty TODAY-FORA TIP TREAT-trY Merl. borest Ont few Bennes di ARLBORO llarlbom CRITID Marlboro Cnp
Bendy straws were popularized in hospitals, where they made drinking easier for sick and disabled people. Joseph B. Friedman invented them after seein
Coin-operated vending machines have beenused Isincethe1st century, ingreece. Themachine orito -Tos N was originally it invented to prevent people from
The Chinese takeout box was originally. invented for holding raw oysters. Thonk You Also, it's an American invention, not Chinese. CRACKEDCON
Nike's raised sneaker treads were invented with a waffle iron. Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman realized the pattern left by his waffle iron would make f
The earliest pillows were made of stone. Ancient Egyptian Pillow Neck-rests Ancient Chinese Pillow from Tutankhamen's tomb Originally more about keepi
During the 1700s, pineapples were So expensive they were served only to the most important guests. The fruit would cost $8000 in today's money. CRAGKE
Nutella was the solution to the utala cocoa shortage during t ervt nutella WWil. PERRERO ige Mixing cocoa with hazelnuts and milk created a chocolate
Right after the park opened in the mid 50s the 'Casa de Fritos' restaurant in DISNEPLAND was throwing away a lot of stale tortillas. A salesman for th
Today, Maybelline is a world-wide cosmetics brand with over 200 products. GRAUIN B 2NDES DHek It was founded in 1915 by a teenage boy who watched his
The $2 Microwave! Percy Spencer, the guy that discovered the Microwave back in 1945, got paid only one or two ID dollars for the patent. It was the ba
ud The stethoscope was invented by a French doctor named Rene LaENNEG because he was embarrassed having to press his ear to women's chests listening t
In the old days wasabi was added to sushi not because of its flavor, but because of its antibacterial properties. It was originally used to kill bacte
Artificial christmas trees are basically big toilet bowl brushes. Addis Housewares company had been manufacturing toilet brush cleaners for years befo
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