Category:
Toys
Toys
Reuben Lindstrom’s Wind Driven Vehicle
In 1940, Reuben Lindstrom was granted a patent for a "wind driven vehicle". It was a toy made out of tin cans. It resembled a model train, and the wind could make it go by itself. In his patent, Lindstrom explained that he deliberately avoided using a sail to propel the toy.In wind driven vehicles it is desirable to avoid use of elevated wind responsive devices such as sails, windmills and the like and this is particularly true in toy vehicles simulating various types of full-sized vehicles for the reason that it is desired that the toy vehicle resemble as nearly as possible the full sized vehicle which it simulates.
Instead, he had shaped the wheels "to constitute wind responsive impeller blades".
Digging more deeply into the history of this patent, it turns out that Lindstrom was quite a character. For a start, he never cut his hair because, so he said, whenever he did he got heart trouble. In America, in the 1940s, this was unusual enough that it made the news.
Warren Times Mirror - June 28, 1949
He was a regular fixture around Wisconsin Rapids. A 2001 article in the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune called him "our most unforgettable character."
In addition to his wind-driven toy train, he had built a kind of motorized bicycle, described as a "weird contraption of bicycle wheel, one cylinder gas motor, pulley, levers, scooter and miscellany." He used this to get around on roads and railroad lines.
He basically lived as a street person/free spirit, always carrying around "a picture of a woman with a large snake wrapped around her neck." Some people referred to him as the "inventor hobo".
One of the quotations attributed to him: "Fashion is the main religion of this world. If you are different, they think you are nuts. Most people stay away from me because they think I'm a religious fanatic. The girls also stay away from me."
Also: "Dirt's natural and it keeps human diseases from penetrating the skin and entering my body."
He died in 1988.
There's some more info about him at randyjack.com.
Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune - June 9, 2001
Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 11, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Bums, Hobos, Tramps, Beggars, Panhandlers and Other Streetpeople, Inventions, Patents, Toys, 1940s, Trains
Toy Gas Fired Missile
A toy gun that uses fart gas to "fire a toy missile into space" was patented by Michael Zanakis in 2000:To operate the assembly, the operator places the inlet tube with its valve open adjacent his anal region from which a colonic gas is discharged. The piston is then withdrawn to a degree producing a negative pressure to inhale the gas into the combustion chamber to intermix with the air therein to create a combustible mixture. The ignitor is then activated to explode the mixture in the chamber and fire the missile into space.
Zanakis argued that his toy wasn't just amusing but also offered safety benefits, because using it was safer than lighting your farts on fire:
A recreational activity practiced by some individuals is ignition of one's own flatus. This is performed by using a lit match or candle, or a cigarette lighter. So widespread is this activity that there are web sites on the Internet devoted exclusively to explaining proper lighting techniques.
A major drawback of this popular practice is that it usually involves the hazardous coupling of fire, combustible gases and inebriated participants. Reports of serious burns to body parts are not uncommon, this being especially true when the participants remove their clothing...
In view of the foregoing, the main object of this invention is to provide a safe toy which exploits the combustible properties of flatus to fire a toy missile into space.
A major drawback of this popular practice is that it usually involves the hazardous coupling of fire, combustible gases and inebriated participants. Reports of serious burns to body parts are not uncommon, this being especially true when the participants remove their clothing...
In view of the foregoing, the main object of this invention is to provide a safe toy which exploits the combustible properties of flatus to fire a toy missile into space.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jan 30, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Toys, Patents, Flatulence
Merry Christmas 2020!
Otherwise known as "Santa Claus's Mistake."
Posted By: Paul - Fri Dec 25, 2020 -
Comments (8)
Category: Holidays, Toys, Gender, Goofs and Screw-ups
Toy Hitler
A popular toy in Nazi Germany was a miniature model of Hitler. It came in six action poses, including Hitler in an army jeep and in an open car doing the Nazi salute.Not many of these toy Hitlers survive, so if you have one, for some reason, it's probably worth some money. One of them was featured on Antiques Roadshow in 2012.
Newsweek - Dec 26, 1938
Posted By: Alex - Wed Dec 16, 2020 -
Comments (5)
Category: Dictators, Tyrants and Other Harsh Rulers, Toys, 1930s
Farrah’s Glamour Center
Part of the 'Farrah mania' of the late '70s.In 2011, it became part of the Smithsonian's popular culture history collection.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 27, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Celebrities, Toys, 1970s
Diaper-Rash Doll
Jackson Sun - Oct 11, 1978
Posted By: Alex - Sat Sep 19, 2020 -
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Category: Toys, 1970s
Digital Rubik’s Cube
A toy that seemed utterly immune to becoming digital...was not.Review and details here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jul 12, 2020 -
Comments (3)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Technology, Toys
Mold-A-Rama
Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 11, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Collectors, Inventions, Souvenirs, Mementos, and Tchotchkes, Toys, Statues and Monuments, 1960s
Three-Faced Doll
Introduced in 1961, her name was "Hedda-Get-Bedda." Twisting a knob changed her face from sick, to well, to sleepy.I'm surprised no one ever came out with a similar, Exorcist-themed doll. She could have been happy, sleeping, or demonically possessed.
Allentown Morning Call - Sep 29, 1961
Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 04, 2020 -
Comments (2)
Category: Toys, 1960s
Suntan Suzy Doll
Suntan Suzy was a doll that would develop a tan if you put her in the sunlight. Back in the shade, her tan would fade. She came on the market in 1962, but lasted only one season. As far as I can tell, she was the only doll that has ever had the ability to tan.
Arizona Republic - Nov 23, 1962
image source: worthpoint
The chemistry responsible for producing the tanning effect is described in Patent No. 2,921,407 (Jan 19, 1960) – “Simulating Sunburning Toy Dolls and Figurines”:
0.5 gram of mercuric bis-dithizonate having the following structural formula was dissolved in 1000 grams of dioctyl phthalate.
1550 grams of a high molecular weight polyvinyl chloride polymer, in powdered form, were dispersed in this solution by stirring for ten to fifteen minutes. The latter material was specifically Bakelite Company QYNV polymer. Thus a plastisol formulation containing the phototropic dye dissolved in the liquid dioctyl phthalate (plasticizer phase) was obtained. About 120 grams of this plastisol formulation were then poured into a two piece steel mold, this having its inner surface previously coated with a silicone oil release film. This was then placed in an oven at 140 degrees centigrade and held at this temperature for eight minutes to allow solution of the polyvinyl chloride polymer phase. The mold and contents were then removed from the oven, cooled to room temperature, and the now solid form of the doll figure removed.
The figure thus produced was transparent and red in color. Upon exposure to sunlight a progressive darkening to a brown, then blue-black color occurred during a period of about three to four minutes, simulating a “sunburning” effect. When the doll was shielded from the sun a return to the original color took place, being visually complete after a period of eight to ten minutes. This action was repeatable with no detectable change in functional characteristics being noted after several dozen cycles.
1550 grams of a high molecular weight polyvinyl chloride polymer, in powdered form, were dispersed in this solution by stirring for ten to fifteen minutes. The latter material was specifically Bakelite Company QYNV polymer. Thus a plastisol formulation containing the phototropic dye dissolved in the liquid dioctyl phthalate (plasticizer phase) was obtained. About 120 grams of this plastisol formulation were then poured into a two piece steel mold, this having its inner surface previously coated with a silicone oil release film. This was then placed in an oven at 140 degrees centigrade and held at this temperature for eight minutes to allow solution of the polyvinyl chloride polymer phase. The mold and contents were then removed from the oven, cooled to room temperature, and the now solid form of the doll figure removed.
The figure thus produced was transparent and red in color. Upon exposure to sunlight a progressive darkening to a brown, then blue-black color occurred during a period of about three to four minutes, simulating a “sunburning” effect. When the doll was shielded from the sun a return to the original color took place, being visually complete after a period of eight to ten minutes. This action was repeatable with no detectable change in functional characteristics being noted after several dozen cycles.
It seems like an interesting gimmick for a doll. Curious it never caught on.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 07, 2020 -
Comments (3)
Category: Inventions, Patents, Toys, 1960s
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