Tasteful Inventions: September 2008

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Bending Straws with Joseph B. Friedman

Back in January of this year we celebrated Drinking Straw Day at Months of Edible Celebrations. It just so happens, today is another day in drinking straw history. On September 28, 1937, patent number 2,094,268 was issued to Joseph Bernard Friedman for his new invention, under the title Drinking Tube. Curious?

My invention relates to drinking tubes and more particularly to that type of drinking tube known in the trade as a "soda straw" which, while sometimes actually made from a straw, is usually wound or otherwise formed from oiled paper, paraffin paper, Cellophane, or the like. The main object of my invention is to provide a soda straw or similar drinking tube with a flexible section so positioned that the tube may be bent during use without substantially reducing the diameter of the straw.

The "flexible straw" invention and drawings are available at google patents online. Aren't they just amazing? Who was Joesph Bernard Friedman? Why did he create such a relatively simple yet useful innovation?

Joseph B. Friedman

I doubt Joseph Friedman woke up one morning and decided to invent the bendable straw. He may have been doodling it for years considering his flexible version of the beverage straw was not his first invention. No dear visitors, although Friedman would later obtain two additional U.S. patents and three foreign ones in the 1950s related to its formation and construction, the flexible straw was only one of a number of inventions Friedman had developed or had begun the process of developing. Like Mattie Knight, "Mother of the Grocery Bag" Joseph Friedman began his inventing career at a pretty early age.

...This was not Friedman’s first invention. In 1915, when he was 14, the Cleveland native had come up with the “pencilite,” for writing in the dark. He offered to license his invention to a manufacturer if it would pay the patent-application fees. The company did not accept his offer but, evidently unaware of his age, expressed an interest in his inventive abilities. He received his first patent in 1922, for an ink gauge for fountain pens. In the 1930s he sold this invention to the Sheaffer Pen Company. By then he had moved to California and started a family. To support his wife and four children, he worked briefly as an optometrist but primarily as a real estate broker...excellent source

Lucky for us, the family of this hard working part time optician, real estate, insurance salesman, and inventor saved many of the papers and artifacts of his career. In 2001, they were donated by his family to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History which has an excellent article titled The Straight Truth About the Flexible Drinking Straw available online at the Lemelson Center.

Resources 1. Drinking Straw Day 2. Grasping at Straws 3. Mattie Knight 4. Got Chocolate Milk Straws?

Thursday, September 4, 2008

The Genuine Scoop!

Let's see, what do we know about the history of ice cream in America? Well, here's some ice cream trivia for you. "The first recorded reference to ice cream in the New World was found in a journal entry by a Mr. Black of Virginia dated 1744. It described a dinner party at the home of Maryland's governor, Thomas Bladen, who served a dessert of ice cream made with milk and strawberries." We all know George Washington loved ice cream. And, "ice cream frequently appeared in visitors' accounts of meals with Thomas Jefferson" at Monticello. As a matter of fact, the Library of Congress has Thomas Jefferson's treasured ice cream recipe on their website. James Madison also loved ice cream and his wife Dolley Madison (Dolly Madison) gave ice cream her gracious sanction by serving it in the White House. What else do we know about Ice Cream in America? It seems we know much about prominent people and their love of ice cream but, how much do we know about those who perhaps, are not as famous. Take for instance, the ice cream cone. Was the ice cream cone invented in America? Some say Italian emigrate Italo Marchiony produced the first ice cream cone in New York City in 1896. Gee, I wonder how he got the ice cream from the tub to the cone; the scoop? No. The ice cream scoop wasn't invented in 1896. Hmmm...this sounds like the story of the can before the can opener. You see, the ice cream cone was invented before the ice cream scooper. It wasn't until almost one year later on February 2, 1897 that the “Ice Cream Mold and Disher” (the ice cream scoop) was invented. But, by who. Was it by someone who ate a lot of ice cream? No again. It was invented by an African-American by the name of Alfred L. Cralle who probably ate very little ice cream (ice cream was still the dessert of the rich) but noticed people who tried to dip ice cream into those cones sure did have a difficult time doing it.

Alfred L. Cralle

Alfred L. Cralle was born today, September 4, in 1866. Born in Virginia, Alfred Cralle attended local schools and worked with his father in the carpentry trade as a young man. When he was older, he continued to work with his father in the carpentry business but had a desire to learn more about the mechanics of how things worked. Thank goodness for us, Alfred was sent to Washington D. C. and enrolled in Wayland Seminary, which was a branch of the National Theological Institute. The school was created in 1865 by several Baptist groups to help educate African-Americans after the Civil War. Today it serves as the premier historically black institution of higher education as Virginia Union University. Unfortunately, there isn't much more information available online about Alfred L. Cralle but there is no doubt that his invention was indeed patented by him. 

The Scoop

Alfred Cralle moved to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, where he worked as a porter in a drug store. The idea of an ice cream scoop came to him when he noticed ice cream servers having the most difficult time trying to get the popular confection desired by the customer into the cone they also were craving. What to do? There had to be a better way. The ice cream would stick to everything but needed at least two hands to get into the cone. Some servers found it so frustrating, they would simply use their fingers to push the ice cream into the cone. Not too sanitary I'm afraid. Something was needed to release the ice cream and make for one handed dispensing; the first ice cream scoop with mechanical lever action was patented by Cralle on February 2, 1897 when Alfred L. Cralle was only 30 years old. Now everyone could enjoy eating their favorite ice cream cone thanks to Alfred L. Cralle's invention. It was strong, inexpensive, and it could be shaped like a cone or a mound. Not only that but today more than 200 years after his invention it is still his prototype which is used as the basis for the modern day ice cream scooper. Alfred Cralle's Patent number: 576395 is visibly available at the USPO and also at the google patent website.

...This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in ice-cream molds and dishers, and has for its object to construct a disher that may be conveniently operated with one hand. The invention has for its further object to construct a disher of the above -described class that will be extremely simple in its construction, strong, durable, effectual in its operation, and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture; furthermore, a disher of this class that can be constructed in almost any desired shape mold and that will have no delicate parts to become broken or disarranged.

It seems to me, many innovative minds have developed a number of other ways to enjoy ice cream. You can see some vintage ice cream dippers in here or take a look at the first hand-cranked ice cream freezer patented by a Philadelphian woman by the name of Nancy Johnson. Wow! another day to celebrate ice cream in September. Her patent was issued on September 9, 1843.

The hand-cranked churn, which also uses ice and salt for cooling, replaced the pot-freezer method. The exact origin of the hand-cranked freezer is unknown, but the first U.S. patent for one was #3254 issued to Nancy Johnson on September 9, 1843. The hand-cranked churn produced smoother ice cream than the pot freezer and did it quicker. Many inventors patented improvements on Johnson's design. source wiki

There are so many indispensable tools and innovations serving up one of America's favorite desserts. Perhaps, you will find the invention of the Eskimo Pie a source of inspiration. There's also the invention of Baked Alaska up at the top left corner to explore. In the meantime, I'm off to Idaho for the Idaho State Fair. You can be sure I will be seeking more information on any tasteful inventions that passes over these lips.

Resources

  • 1. What do you know about the history of ice cream?