08/18/23

8/18/2023

Some inventions blow the mind. Medical science develops wonder drugs and precise instruments that leave us stunned with their diagnostic and curative powers. The harnessing of nuclear power rivals the creation of raw matter and energy themselves. Deep-sea exploration equipment conquers the enormous pressures thousands of feet down and lets explorers do their thing in relative comfort.

Such inventions require millions, sometimes billions, of dollars and years of devoted concentration before they finally reach completion, to say nothing of the resources lost down blind alleys of experimentation. Sometimes it takes teams numbering in the hundreds or thousands of members to achieve success.

But other items leave millions of us asking the universal question: “Why didn’t I think of that?”

A few winters ago I went ice fishing for the weekend with three friends to Lake Mille Lacs up north in Minnesota. We stayed in a commodious shack out on the ice, complete with four bunk beds, a simple cook stove, chairs and table, even a small private bathroom over in one corner.

I expected that the resort personnel sponsoring the ice shack would cut four holes in the ice for us so we could drop our lines in, and they did. But we didn’t have to spend the weekend hunched over our respective holes waiting for something to swim by and take the bait. 

The four holes in the ice were located near the walls, to which were attached four rattle reels. I had never heard the term, and was dubious about their usefulness. Boy, was I wrong.

A rattle reel is a simple wheel with fishing line wound around it, attached vertically to the ice shack wall above a hole in the ice. The line, with sinker, hook, and bait, is reeled down through the hole to the floor of the lake, then reeled up about a foot or so where the walleyes hang out.

The rattle is the simple genius of the item. Remember when you used to stick a playing card into your bicycle spokes and ride around town making pop-pop-pop sounds? That’s the concept of the rattle reel. It sports a stiff flap that rattles similarly when a fish takes the bait and swims away. A fast-swimming fish will make the rattle reel sound like a rattlesnake.

So we didn’t have to wait staring down into the hole, fishing pole in hand. The rattle reel did all the work. We could instead sit around the table and play cards, or tell stories, or both, and wait to hear the rattle reel tell us there was a fish on the line. 

At one point a school of feeding walleyes passed below the shack, and all four rattle reels went off at the same time. Raised our excitement level significantly. 

In terms of fish caught it wasn’t a very successful trip. But because fishing was slow, it was much more relaxing than if we had to spend all our time looking down into the holes holding our fishing poles for hours and waiting for fish that didn’t show up.

A basic rattle reel sells for less than $10. It probably costs much less to make. In winter, northern ice-bound American lakes are covered with ice fishing shacks, and my guess is that thousands and thousands of them are outfitted with rattle reels. I don’t know who dreamed up the concept, but whoever it was deserves to be rich from it today.

Some inventions simply merge two concepts to make a new popular and useful item. Because I have sleep apnea, causing snoring and irregular breathing, I use a CPAP machine that provides a continuous light stream of air to my nose as I sleep.

My CPAP is electrical, with a cord that plugs into the wall. So I have to have access to an electrical outlet wherever I use it. But there are battery powered CPAPs which work equally well. And modern ingenuity has produced a solar powered CPAP machine that can be taken on camping trips. It has a battery that stores solar power during the day that can be used at night.

How neat is that? No more bear-growling snoring sounds from the adjoining tent to spoil a good night’s rest in the wilderness.

The champions of simple genius, of course, are the everyday items that have become almost indispensable for modern living.

Twist ties are a classic. Invented by either Charles E. Burford in 1961 or George D. Hansen in the 1930s, the twist tie consists of a fine wire covered by paper or plastic, capable of wrapping around a twisted sack opening to seal it. Twist ties apparently were first used to seal bread packages, but of course today they have many added uses.

Sticky notes are another classic. In 1980 Dr. Spencer Silver, a 3M Corporation scientist, was trying to develop a strong adhesive in the laboratory. Instead he produced a weak adhesive that would stick to paper that could be easily removed with no trace. Marketed as Post-It Notes, the product featured its iconic yellow color because Dr. Silver went to the lab next door to grab some scrap paper, which was yellow. 3M retained yellow as the basic color.

Both twist ties and sticky notes are sold in bunches for only a few dollars; the individual tie or note costs maybe a penny. But billions have been made, sold, and used. Twist ties are reusable a few times; a sticky note has a one-use life.

I’m no inventor, and generally have difficulty mastering something even as simple as a twist tie or a sticky note. But I know that before long something else will surge into modern life that’s so simple and indispensable that we can’t imagine how we ever got along without it. 

And once again I’ll think, “Why didn’t I think of that?” ♦