Mistakes that Worked: 40 Familiar Inventions & How They Came to Be

By Charlotte Foltz Jones and John O'Brien

Popsicles, potato chips, Silly Putty, Velcro, and many other familiar things have fascinating stories behind them. In fact, dozens of products and everyday items had surprisingly haphazard beginnings. Mistakes That Worked offers forty of these unusual tales, along with hilarious cartoons and weird and amazing facts. Readers will be surprised and inspired!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Children's Books
• Release date: May 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9780307557988

Book preview

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Text copyright © 1991 by Charlotte Foltz Jones

Cover art copyright © 2013 by John O’Brien

Interior illustrations copyright © 1991 by John O’Brien

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Doubleday Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, New York, in 1991.

Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition of this work as follows:

Jones, Charlotte Foltz.

Mistakes that worked / by Charlotte Foltz Jones ; illustrated by John O’Brien. — 1st ed.   p. cm.

Summary: Presents the stories behind forty things that were invented or named by accident, including aspirin, X rays, Frisbees, Silly Putty, and Velcro.

ISBN 978-0-385-26246-0 (hardcover)

1. Inventions Juvenile literature. [1. Inventions.]

I. O’Brien, John, ill. II. Title.

T48J66   1991   609—dc20

89037408   CIP   AC

Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-385-32043-6

eBook ISBN 978-0-307-55798-8

v4.1

a

Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

Dedicated to Forrest Foltz

With Special Thanks to Bill Jones and John Jones

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Bangor Chamber of Commerce

Ed Bartley, Dunkin’ Donuts

Joan Beliveau, Dunkin’ Donuts

Kathie Bellamy, Baskin-Robbins, USA

Barbara and Bill Brownlee, International Brick Collectors Association

Mary Cash

Donald A. Fischer, 3M

Claire Jackson, Coca-Cola USA

Betty M. James, James Industries

Patricia M. Jent, Procter & Gamble Co.

Maxine C. Johnson, Scott Paper Co.

Edward Jones, Circus Historical Society

Peggy V. Jue, Levi Strauss & Co.

D’Ann King-Monroe, Tennessee State Library and Archives

Corinne Kirchner, American Foundation for the Blind

Leoma B. Maxwell, Avon Park Historical Society and Museum

Bill McCarthy, Circus World Museum

Sally Miller, Procter & Gamble Co.

Nestlé Foods

Neil Nix, Glenbrook Laboratories, Div. Sterling Drug

Nome Convention and Visitors Bureau

John Perduyn, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

Potato Chip/Snack Food Association

Roy Renfrow, Malvern Chamber of Commerce

Anne Reynolds

Phil Rice

Marvene Riis, South Dakota Historical Society

Dan Roddick, Wham-O

Dean Rodenbough, Binney & Smith

Jim Russell, Popsicle Industries

B. E. Saffer, General Shale Museum of Ancient Brick

Lori Scholz, The Seeing Eye, Inc.

Harold Sloan

Rob Smelstor, VELCRO, USA

Lina Striglia, Binney & Smith

INTRODUCTION

Name the greatest of all the inventors. Accident.

Mark Twain (Notebook)

Call them accidents. Call them mistakes. Even serendipity.

If the truth were known, we might be amazed by the number of great inventions and discoveries that were accidental, unplanned and unintentional.

The inventors mentioned in this book were not only smart, but also alert. It is easy to fail and then abandon the whole idea. It’s more difficult to fail, but then recognize another use for the failure.

Much research and documentation has gone into each entry of this book, and some fun, interesting, and sometimes humorous stories about various discoveries emerged. Some of the stories are historical fact. Others are legends or lore—stories that cannot be proved and probably can’t be disproved.

The discoveries related in this book are just the beginning of ideas. Research, experimentation, and hard work were needed to develop the subjects into the products we use today.

The inventors and discoverers mentioned in this book should teach all of us the lesson stated best by Bertolt Brecht in 1930: Intelligence is not to make no mistakes. But quickly to see how to make them good.

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. TUMMY FILLERS

Brown ’n Serve Rolls

Cheese

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Coca-Cola

Doughnut Holes

Fudge

Ice Cream Cone

Maple Syrup

Popsicles

Potato Chips

Sandwiches

Tea

Tea Bags

[muumuumousie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A nice collection of historical anecdotes concerning accidental inventions and discoveries. It was nice to see the bizarre origins of many now-commonplace items. The tone was light, and the chapters, though many, we quite short. There was a nice bit of humor thrown in, too; and pictures and charts helped convey information without being monotonous. A fun book for kids that adults can enjoy, too.

[maydacat_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mistakes and accidents happen in everyone’s life, but these mistakes and accidents have actually enriched people’s lives. Some were just fun, like Silly Putty, just were tasty, like potato chips and chocolate chip cookies, and some were helpful, like Velcro and Vulcanized rubber. It’s all here, in this entertaining book intended for kids, but adults might learn a thing or two, too.

[kvelin-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book includes fun facts about experiments and trials that went wrong but ended up with a new idea. This would be a great book for talking about growth mindset and how mistakes are just opportunities to learn.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating and quick to read.