My wife insists that I mention the washing machine as one of the greatest inventions of all time. I admit that everyone plus public health benefit from this wonderful device. However, other than using the Laundromat variety during my second bachelorhood days, I’ve never been at the helm of the domestic type she’s referring to.
Here’s my compilation of the hall of fame of greatest inventions.
When I discovered the Robertson screw driver, I shunned the use of the slot and Phillips kind. Into the bin also went their kinds of screws. Since then I use nails only rarely, because quite often my carpentry projects fall short of what I had envisioned, or they outlive their usefulness. When that happens I reverse the pitch of my cordless drill and out come the screws. The lumber can be used for yet another attempt at building something.
Also at the top of the list of greatest inventions are the easy to remove labels. Plastic jars and Rx containers can enjoy a second life when the labels are easily removed and leave no sticky residue. My first acquaintance with a product that uses easy-offs was Crystal Margarine. It was packaged in a 907g rectangular plastic container. That’s the only brand we buy now.
A pre-European contact item is the next invention deserving mention: the canoe. When the ‘colonists’ discovered it a couple of days after 1492, it had great potential but needed a lot of upgrading. It came in one colour only: white. That was because it was made of birch bark. It leaked. That was because it was made of birch bark. It was difficult to portage. That was because the birch bark would get water-logged.
Canoes now come in any colour, red being the traditional, yellow being the brightest. Any colour, because most contemporary canoes are made of fiberglass, Kevlar or other composite materials. The ‘silvery’ canoes are the aluminum ones, manufactured by Grumman (the company that brought you the WW II Wildcat, Hellcat and Bearcat, and the post-war Panther, Cougar and Tomcat).
By nature, all canoes are green.
Without a doubt, Robertson, easy-off labels and the canoe are the top three inventions. If you dare to disagree, send me an E-mail!
