Brand Names

By Albert Jack

From the bestselling author of Red Herrings & White Elephants, Pop Goes the Weasel, What Caesar did for my Salad, 9/11 Conspiracy, New World Order and many more...

This is a wonderful collection of stories revealing the origins of some of the world’s best-known brand names and how they became a part of our language and the world we live in today.

1. Landislas Biro
2. Charles Goodyear
3. Willis Carrier
4. The Earl of Sandwich
5. King C Gillette
6. Henry Ford
7. Walt Disney
8. George de Mestral (Velcro)
9. Hiram Stevens Maxim (Maxim Gun)
10. Jules Leotard
11. Rachele Jacuzzi
12. Dr Joseph-Ignace Guillotin
13. Sir Humphry Davy (Davy Lamp)
14. Major General Henry Shrapnel
15. Rudolf Diesel

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Jack Publishing
• Release date: Mar 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386209720

Book preview

Albert Jack

Albert Jack Publishing

Copyright Page

Brand Names

World Famous Brand Names and Their Origin

(2018 eBook Edition)

Extracted from They Laughed at Galileo

Copyright ©February 2016 Albert Jack

Cover Art: Albert Jack Publishing

Cover Design: Albert Jack Publishing

All rights are reserved to the author. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

This is a work of non-fiction

Albert Jack Publishing

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Seapoint

Cape Town

South Africa

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About the Author

Albert Jack, is a writer and historian. His first book, Red Herrings and White Elephants explored the origins of well-known idioms and phrases and became an international bestseller in 2004.

It was serialised by the Sunday Times and remained in their top-ten list for sixteen straight months. He followed this up with a series of bestsellers including Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep, Pop Goes the Weasel and What Caesar did for My Salad.

Fascinated by discovering the truth behind the world’s great stories, Albert has become an expert in explaining the unexplained, enriching millions of dinner table conversations and ending bar-room disputes the world over.

He is now a veteran of hundreds of live television shows and thousands of radio programmes worldwide. Albert lives somewhere between Guildford in England and Cape Town in South Africa.

Word-of-mouth is crucial for any author to succeed. If you enjoyed the stories, please leave a review. Even if it is only a sentence or two. It would make all the difference and is very much appreciated.

More from Albert Jack here

Including:

Introduction

Landislas Biro

Charles Goodyear

Willis Carrier

The Earl of Sandwich

King C Gillette

Henry Ford

Walt Disney

George de Mestral (Velcro)

Hiram Stevens Maxim (Maxim Gun)

Jules Leotard

Rachele Jacuzzi

Dr Joseph-Ignace Guillotin

Sir Humphry Davy (Davy Lamp)

Major General Henry Shrapnel

Rudolf Diesel

This, then, is a collection of stories revealing the origins of some of the world’s best known brand names and how they became a part of our language and the world we live in today.

––––––––

‘If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying, ‘It can’t be done.’ – Peter Ustinov

Introduction to They Laughed at Galileo

Curiosity will eventually lead to innovation. Fortunately we are an imaginative species who does a lot of wondering. Way back to when man first learned to walk upright and began communicating with each other, by pointing and shouting, we can find the earliest examples. Somebody once thought, ‘I know, we can move that heavy rock, or dead buffalo, by rolling it along on tree trunks because it is easier than dragging it over the ground.’

This, of course, led to the wheel. It must have been around that time that some other clever soul worked out that if he held some meat over that hot fiery thing then it tasted better. It seems basic but it was innovation. Somebody somewhere decided to take the risk of burning their food down into ashes, as they knew the burning logs did, just to see if it tasted any better.

But I bet there was someone else laughing at him and saying ‘don’t do that, it’s a terrible idea,’ (or whatever is was they would have said back then.) And that’s innovation too. That’s discovery and invention.

We have been doing it ever since in one form or another and we have come a long way as a species thanks to people who take risks and ignore the advice of wiser ones. And that, in a nutshell, is what this book is all about.

You see, that for all of our innovations and invention over the