Category:
1980s
1980s
Aroma Discs
Donald Spector received a patent for these in 1985. They looked like small music discs. But instead of producing sound, they released an aromatic vapor when put in the 'player'.
I don't see what advantage an aroma disc would have over an incense candle (except, perhaps, for the lack of an open flame). Which, I assume, is why these are no longer around and incense candles are all over the place.
But Spector was successful enough to have his product featured on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson:
Posted By: Alex - Sun Sep 06, 2020 -
Comments (3)
Category: Inventions, Patents, 1980s, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents
Potato Ice Cream
Idaho farmer Alan Reed invented Potato Ice Cream in the mid-1980s. This wasn't potato-flavored ice cream. Instead, it was ice cream that included potatoes (in addition to dairy) as an ingredient. The advantage of this was that the potatoes sweetened the ice cream, eliminating the need to add sugar. The result was a lower-calorie, sugar-free ice cream. Reed claimed it tasted as good as regular ice cream.However, Reed had trouble getting his potato ice cream distributed, so he sold the formula and marketing rights in 1988 to businessmen Rich Davis and James McFrederick. I assume (because I've never seen potato ice cream in a store) that they didn't manage to make a go of it either. The fact that there were better (or cheaper) sugar substitutes probably doomed Potato Ice Cream.
Reed is still operating his dairy farm and selling ice cream. But his website makes no mention at all of potatoes.
However, I don't think he's entirely given up on the idea of using potatoes to sweeten dairy, because his chocolate milk contains potato flakes (if you look closely at the ingredients). And this chocolate milk is sold in the gift shop of the Idaho Potato Museum.
San Francisco Examiner -Dec 6, 1987
Longview Daily News - Nov 16, 1990
Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 01, 2020 -
Comments (2)
Category: Food, 1980s
Woman vs. Bugs
October 1985: Deciding that a single can of bug spray hadn't been enough, Marilyn Lucas set off 15 cans simultaneously. The resulting explosion blew the roof off her house. The bugs survived.
Fort Worth Star Telegram - Oct 30, 1985
Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 31, 2020 -
Comments (6)
Category: Insects and Spiders, 1980s
Aroma of Cocaine
In 1981, Warren Woodford of Atlanta, Georgia was granted a patent (No. 4,260,517) for a method of producing the "aroma of cocaine". From the patent:The present invention relates to a method and product for providing the aroma of cocaine and so called "street cocaine" to the olfactory senses using readily available, non-controlled substances...
Olfactory conditioning by brain trigger stimulus has recently found application in law enforcement agencies. In some instances, narcotics officers are permitted to light a marijuana cigarette during their training in order to allow them to later react to the characteristic aroma of marijuana smoke. Similarly, officers may be exposed to the aroma of cocaine so as to familiarize them with its distinctive aromatic smell...
Due to the legally controlled nature of such substances as cocaine and marijuana, it is usually not possible to freely disseminate samples of such substances to everyone who might wish to become acquainted with the aromas of these substances. Drug familiarization programs have as a result been limited by the availability of the drugs themselves.
It is therefore desirable to find alternative sources for the aroma of certain controlled substances.
Olfactory conditioning by brain trigger stimulus has recently found application in law enforcement agencies. In some instances, narcotics officers are permitted to light a marijuana cigarette during their training in order to allow them to later react to the characteristic aroma of marijuana smoke. Similarly, officers may be exposed to the aroma of cocaine so as to familiarize them with its distinctive aromatic smell...
Due to the legally controlled nature of such substances as cocaine and marijuana, it is usually not possible to freely disseminate samples of such substances to everyone who might wish to become acquainted with the aromas of these substances. Drug familiarization programs have as a result been limited by the availability of the drugs themselves.
It is therefore desirable to find alternative sources for the aroma of certain controlled substances.
I'm surprised this was never turned into a perfume.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 30, 2020 -
Comments (2)
Category: Drugs, Patents, 1980s, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents
Willem de Kooning toilet seat
By the mid-1980s, works by Willem de Kooning were fetching over a million dollars. So when James Garcia and Joseph Lada found a three-hole outhouse seat stored in their basement that apparently had been painted by de Kooning, they figured they had a potential masterpiece on their hands. De Kooning's wife confirmed he had painted the toilet seat "very fast" for a croquet party in 1954. He had been trying to make the wood look like marble.The sale raised the question: was this really art? Some said no. Others, such as de Kooning's friend John MacWhinnie, argued that, "It's a youthful, exuberant example of the painter at the height of his abstract expressionism... In spite of itself, it became art, simply out of a choice the de Kooning made."
It ended up selling for $50.
More info: Baltimore Sun
Tampa Bay Times - Feb 3, 1985
Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 28, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Art, 1980s
The Human Performance Enhancing Robot of Dr. NakaMats
AKA Cerebrex. Invented by Dr. Yoshiro NaKaMats. It was essentially a lounger chair that was supposed to improve brain function in only 30 minutes. Details from the Arizona Republic (Sep 12, 1986):NaKaMats unveiled the chair this summer [1986] and plans to mass-produce and lease the recliners for about 14,900 yen, or $93 a month.
Meanwhile, customers can use it only in his sun-flooded "oyasumidokoro," or sleeping place, a nearly empty room a few floors below his laboratory, where white-coated assistants bustle around prototypes of industrial robots in various stages of development.
The inventor explains how the chair works, sort of.
"It activates your alpha brain waves by emitting ultra-high frequency electronic pulses, which in turn increase the flow of blood to the head, through the chair's pillow and foot rest," he said.
Meanwhile, customers can use it only in his sun-flooded "oyasumidokoro," or sleeping place, a nearly empty room a few floors below his laboratory, where white-coated assistants bustle around prototypes of industrial robots in various stages of development.
The inventor explains how the chair works, sort of.
"It activates your alpha brain waves by emitting ultra-high frequency electronic pulses, which in turn increase the flow of blood to the head, through the chair's pillow and foot rest," he said.
York Dispatch - July 2, 1986
You can check out a (non-embeddable) video about Cerebrex on Vimeo.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 21, 2020 -
Comments (5)
Category: Inventions, 1980s, Brain
Unauthorized Dwellings 14
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Aug 17, 2020 -
Comments (2)
Category: Charities and Philanthropy, Family, Unauthorized Dwellings, 1980s
RIP Chicken Fried Steak
On July 26, 1985, the Taste of Texas restaurant in Houston buried a chicken fried steak and put up a tombstone for it, which remains there to this day.
It reminds me of the grave of Blinky the frozen chicken in L.A.
via Click2houston
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jul 21, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Death, Food, 1980s
Apparatus for temporarily immobilizing earthworms
Worms wiggle. This can make it hard for fishermen to impale them on a hook. But in 1989, Loren Lukehart of Boise, Idaho offered a solution. He received a patent (No. 4,800,666) for a method of "dewiggling" earthworms.His invention was essentially a rectangular box full of sand. From his patent:
To dewiggle a worm, the fisherman has to simply set the worm in the rectangular container on top of the sharp grained sand. During the worm's natural locomotion process, the sand becomes partially imbedded in the earthworm and causes an immediate reaction wherein the earthworm completely relaxes. The earthworm is then effectively dewiggled and ready to be impaled onto the fishing hook.
Once the sand coated earthworm is immersed in water, the sand rinses free and the earthworm resume its normal wiggly character.
Once the sand coated earthworm is immersed in water, the sand rinses free and the earthworm resume its normal wiggly character.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jun 28, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Inventions, Patents, Sports, 1980s
B.A.D. Cats
Lasted for 6 episodes, according to Wikipedia.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jun 25, 2020 -
Comments (4)
Category: Crime, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Motor Vehicles, Television, 1980s
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