Posts tagged invention
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Patent US690236
Patent US690236
from "Patent US690236 - COW-TAIL HOLDER," awarded to C. W. Colwell of Delhi, New York, United States Patent Office, 31 December 1901 :: via Tweets of Old
An old forgotten bit of culture-making, which may seem hilariously small now, but on the scale of an early twentieth century milking shed, not insignificant. "The object of my invention is the production of a cow-tail holder which is very simple in construction and operation and cheap in its production and which will not annoy the cow or interfere with the milking operation and which can be readily attached and detached."
Nate: 
from "Patent No. 383,817: Knitting-Machine," by Benjamin B. Lamprey and Almon C. Bugbee, 29 May 1888
This week I've been haphazardly exploring unsurprisingly nifty Google patents database. Surprise discoveries included a talking alarm system invented by my great-great-uncle in 1927. The patent shown here, though, I found particularly pleasing, mostly due to the patentee's names. Lamprey & Bugbee write, "Our invention relates to knitting-machines adapted to the production of striped goods, and, as here shown, it is particularly applicable to circular rib-knitting machines. It is the object of our invention to provide improved means for automatically operating and controlling the operations of two yarns of different colors in such manner that a tubular fabric can be produced having alternate stripes of different colors and of any desired width repeated to the end of the tube without stopping the machine to change the yarns to throw one color out of action and another into action."
Nate:
repost 
A timeline of food
A timeline of food
The site also has links to cookbooks and recipes (referring to date of publication rather than conception—hence the arrival, only last year when the New York Times found out about 'em, of Kool-Aid pickles)
Nate: 
The Food Timeline shows which foods were invented when. Ok, not invented, exactly, but first eaten. A tasting menu:
Pretzels, 5th century AD.
Pork and beans, 1475.
Foie gras, 1st century AD.
Croissants, 1686.
Chop suey, 1896.
Popcorn, 3600 BC.
Swedish meatballs, 1754.
(via snarkmarket)
We learn about and remember the inventions, equations, and colors that changed the world. But we can easily forget that at the time, which invention, equation, and color would prevail was an entirely open question. And then we can easily deceive ourselves into thinking that changing the world is a great deal easier than it actually is.
—Culture Making, p.193