Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Patent #2,504,679

    Based on the number of enthusiastic "Hey, you exist!" emails I've gotten lately, I seem to be getting some new readers, between those who finally wandered off from the slowly disintegrating Tribune and those lured in by my new daily newsletter blast. They might not know about my book, "Every Goddamn Day," a calendar year's worth of historical vignettes about the multitudinous wonders of Chicago, published by the University of Chicago Press. What better way to spill the beans than by sharing the entry for April 18? Included is the excellent artwork by Lauren Nassef. 


April 18, 1950

   The US Patent Office issues Patent #2,504,679 to Chicago inventor Eddy Goldfarb. Glance at the paperwork and it might seem some kind of dental appliance—those are certainly teeth in the patent illustration, seen in profile, set in their gums. But what about those gears? And the wind-up key? The category is “Novelty and Amusement Device,” and the invention’s purpose, the patent explains, is “simulating the opening and closing of the teeth of the mouth in rapid succession and creating the amusing illusion of a person who is jabbering.”
      Chattering teeth are only one of many classic gag devices to come out of Chicago, a hub of toy design for more than a century. Fake rubber vomit is another, conjured up in 1959. Goldfarb will go on to invent 800 toys and games. He soon leaves for California, but his partner, Marvin Glass, establishes a company that turns out a series of 1960s classics: Mouse Trap, Rock ’Em–Sock ’Em Robots, and Operation, created in 1962 when University of Illinois industrial design student John Spinello is assigned to design a toy. He develops a game using electric probes, then shows it to his grandfather, who works for Glass.
     Earlier classic toys came from Chicago and environs. Tinker Toys were devised by a stonemason taking the train from Evanston The Flat Iron Laundry on Halsted Street attracted business by giving away small white zinc charms to children of customers—cars and ships for boys, Scotty dogs and thimbles for girls, who wear them on bracelets. The company that made them, Strombecker Toys, manufactured trinkets that go into Cracker Jack boxes, and repurposed laundry charms—that flat iron, a top hat, a shoe, a cannon—became tokens moved around Monopoly boards.

5 comments:

  1. Great book! If you haven’t bought one yet I encourage you to do so. I used these as Christmas gifts for my family and friends and they loved them.

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  2. Love your columns, always interesting.

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  3. Last night I just took the book off the shelf and opened it to a random date. Then I flipped to another date, and another, and another. When I finally looked at my watch, just as I put the book down, it was 4;30. I have learned so much about my native city from EGD...both the blog and the book. For this lifelong Chicago history junkie, they're both totally addictive. I can never get enough of this history stuff. Thanks again, Mr. S.

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  4. Was the fake melted ice cream bar a Chicago invention? My aunt went totally nuts when she saw it on her piano bench. Fake rubber vomit works best when there's a young child or a kitty in the house, and when it's coated with Joy dish detergent, which makes it look more realistic. Used it to good effect on both wives...and on my kid sister as well. They were not all that amused, but I certainly was. It's a great April Fool gag.

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