5 Inventions during the Great Depression of 1930s
Necessity is the mother of invention. What can be a better time than a recession or a depression to invent a new thing!
The current crisis can be compared to the great depression of 1930s. The great depression of 1930s impacted everyone and there were stories of chaos everywhere. However, some positive people understood that it is time to be creative and left the lasting impact on the human history.
Few of the important inventions discovered during the great depression were:
1. Sliced Bread (1930)
Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa, United States, invented the first single loaf bread-slicing machine. A prototype he built in 1912 was destroyed in a fire and it was not until 1928 that Rohwedder had a fully working machine ready. The first commercial use of the machine was by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri, which sold their first slices on July 7, 1928. It was only in 1930, when the Continental Baking Co. began marketing pre-sliced ‘Wonder Bread’ around the country.
2. Toll House Cookies (1933)
Owner and operator of Toll House Inn in Whitman, Mass., Ruth Wakefield had a “butter drop do” recipe for cookies that dated from Colonial times which called for baker’s chocolate to be mixed in but one day didn’t have any on hand. Instead she used a chocolate bat given to her by Andrew Nestle and cut it into tiny bits hoping it would melt in the dough while they cooked. However, the chocolate didn’t melt but kept its shape and sort of softened into the cookie.
3. Nylon Bristle Toothbrush (1938)
In 1930, DuPont Chemical Company scientists came up with a substance that stretched and had a silky texture. Toothbrush bristles were usually made from boar’s hair up until 1938. Natural animal bristles were also replaced by synthetic fibers, usually nylon, by DuPont in 1938. The first nylon bristle toothbrush made with nylon yarn went on sale on February 24, 1938.
4. Scotch Tape (1930)
Scotch tape was invented in 1930 by banjo-playing 3M engineer Richard Drew. Scotch tape was the world’s first transparent adhesive tape. Drew also invented the first masking tape in 1925 — a 2-inch-wide tan paper tape with a pressure sensitive adhesive backing. In 1925, Drew invented masking tape so auto painters could more easily use two colors without the border between them getting messy. In 1930, he came up with a variation on the tape, using transparent cellulose. The new tape became a big hit in the Great Depression because it allowed people to mend things rather than replace them.
5. First Car Radio (1930)
Two brothers Joseph and Paul Galvin teamed up with William Lear, a radio parts owner and Elmer Wavering, an audio engineer and installed their first model of a radio into a Studebaker in May of 1930. In 1930, the American Galvin Manufacturing Corporation marketed a Motorola branded radio receiver for $130. A month later, Paul Galvin cranked up the radio near a pier at a convention in Atlantic City and needless to say, orders began to fly in for the radios. In 1933, Ford began offering his cars installed with Galvin Manufacturing or Motorola radios.
Will inventors do the same during current crisis?
I am hopeful that science will prevail after the covid crisis is over and there will be a perfect environment for the people to become more innovative. Perhaps, the biggest inventions will be come in the areas of biotech, medical devices, ventilators, environmental stuff and hygiene.
Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life.
Marcus Aurelius
