Gadgets, Gizmos, and the Great Unknown By Toni Lee Robinson

Transcription

1 Gadgets, Gizmos, and the Great Unknown By Toni Lee Robinson 1 "Everything that can be invented has been invented." Charles Duell, U.S. Patent Office, Gadgets and new ideas were popping up all over in the 1890s. People back then loved finding things that made life easier, just like we do. They came up with some pretty handy doodads. Some 1890s inventions are still in use today. 3 Just before 1900, lots of people were working on tools that would take advantage of a new power source. Electricity was on its way to replacing older sources, like oil, coal, and gas, for heating and lights. The light bulb had been around for some time. Only wealthier homes, however, had luxuries like electric lights. Fewer still had hot running water or central heating. Most people still cooked and kept warm with coal or wood. There were some electric cook stoves on the market, but they weren't very practical. Cook stoves and other electric gadgets didn't come into wide use until a few years later. 4 The automobile was another up and coming gizmo of the late 1800s. Several people had built some version of the horseless carriage. Cars were thought of as toys playthings for the rich. Cars that ran on electricity from batteries were popular at the end of the 1800s. Drivers couldn't roam very far in them, however, due to the limited power supply. There were gas-powered cars, too, but they were noisier and stinkier. Many people thought they were nothing but a nuisance. 5 Some cities passed laws against cars. Others made lots of rules about their use. One law stated that drivers had to stop at every crossroads. Before the car could go on, the driver had to look ahead very carefully and give several hearty blasts on the horn. Before he could start off again, he even had to set off a roman candle or other explosive to warn people of his coming! 6 Outside cities, car owners had very few places to drive. There were millions of miles of roads in the U.S., but they were all bumpy wagon trails. Most were kneedeep in mud or dust depending on the season. In 1900, there were about 8,000 cars and 10 miles of paved road in the whole country! 7 Just before the turn of the century, people tinkered with faster, cheaper ways of making cars. The Duryea Brothers of New England had produced a dozen of their Motor Wagons by More people stepped on the band wagon. Soon gaspowered cars were being made for much less money than electric cars. Then it was

2 found that the state of Texas practically floated on a big pool of crude oil. The price of gasoline dropped and many more people began to buy gas-fueled cars. 8 While cars chugged and bumped over American streets, public transport made a big leap forward. The first subway in America clanged under the streets of Boston in That same year, the U.S. Navy tested the first practical model of a submarine. It was built by J.P. Holland. The Navy ordered half a dozen Holland subs. They were guessing that America would soon be at war with Spain, which proved to be true. 9 As the last decade of the century flitted by, other nifty inventions made their mark. Things from aspirin to escalators were coming into being. The zipper was patented in Dry cell batteries came in handy for all sorts of uses. Machines were developed to grind pencils to a point. Housewives and janitors prized a new tool called a dust pan for catching the dirt when the floor was swept. 10 Some items were a little on the wacky side. One example was the automatic hat. In those days it was polite for a man to tip his hat to a lady. This hat tipping stuff was just too much work for a Washington State man. He created a hat that would tip automatically. He called his auto-hat "The New and Improved Saluting Device." It took nearly 4,000 words and ten intricate drawings to describe the concept to the U.S. Patent Office. 11 People of the 1890s were also treated to several new things to eat. Most were quicker, easier versions of well-known foods. Will Kellogg and his brother cooked up corn flakes. They decided the crunchy flakes and a little milk might be healthier than the big breakfasts most people were used to. Little did they know that their flakes would spawn whole grocery store aisles filled with boxes of crunchy, crackly stuff. Jell-o got its name and its first fruit flavors in the 1890s. In 1893, in a moment hailed by chocolate lovers everywhere, Milton Hershey made his first chocolate bar. Cracker Jacks, the caramel coated peanut and popcorn snack, was first tasted by the public at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. 12 The work of creative people in the 1890s went far beyond sweet treats and the building of handy gizmos. Brilliant ideas also played an important part in the advances of the time. It was during the 1890s that Einstein's nimble brain was mulling his theory of relativity. His conclusions would soon explode the field of physics. Edison and others found that bones inside the body could be illuminated with a certain kind of ray. The medical wonder of x-rays was born. French scientists discovered the strange effects of uranium salts on photographic plates. They were pioneering the study of radioactivity. 13 The 1890s birthed an ocean of new tools, toys, and ideas. People trying to keep

3 track of it all at the U.S. Patent Office felt swamped. Surely the human brain just couldn't dream up any more stuff. That's what patent official Charles Duell thought in Boy, was he wrong! Since 1900, plenty of new doodads have been patented. Along with our newest inventions, however, we still use many of the gadgets created in the 1890s. Copyright 2012 edhelper Name Date Gadgets, Gizmos, and the Great Unknown 1. How did most people cook and heat their houses in the 1890s? 2. Why were wealthy people more apt to have the latest technology in their homes? 3. Explain why gas-powered cars gradually overtook electrics in sales and popularity. 5. The zipper, the pencil sharpener, and the dust pan could all be classed as very innovations. Frivolous Abstract Wacky Practical 4. Besides the car, what other form of transportation was first used in the 1890s? The monorail The steam locomotive The subway The diesel locomotive 6. New foods that came out during the 1890s tended to be. Quicker and easier-to-prepare versions of familiar foods Organically grown More elaborate versions of familiar foods Exotic, gourmet foods

4 Name Date Gadgets, Gizmos, and the Great Unknown 7. True/False: Einstein discovered that uranium salts contained radioactivity. False True 8. Why do you think Charles Duell said in 1899 that everything that could be invented had been? Would you have felt the same?

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