Before we get going, I just wanted to give you a friendly reminder that the Ion Center’s “Dining to Make a Difference” is this evening. Also happening tonight is the Mason County High School Spring musical “Annie,” which runs through Sunday. The Maysville Players are on stage, as well, with the Neil Simon classic “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” and runs through the 28th at the Washington Opera House. I am sure that is just the tip of the entertainment iceberg this weekend in the “city that has nothing to do.” Moving on…
The origin of this story began when I landed on some click bait that told how Tarot cards came to be. Did you know that normal playing cards are older than Tarot cards? Better yet – did you know originally Tarot cards were used for a card game similar to today’s Bridge? Me, neither. So I thought I would share.
What’s more, Tarot as a fortune telling tool only began about 250 years ago. That is at least 400 years after they were imported from the Middle East.
Speaking of cards, one of the United States’ contributions to the social landscape was the invention of the game of Poker. Sure, there were variations of the pastime previously, but the game we play today is pure America. It spread to the north from New Orleans on early 19th century Mississippi riverboats. The original 20 cards used was expanded to the 52-card deck we now enjoy.
Well. If those origin stories interested you (and I hope that they did), maybe you’ll find these other fascinating tidbits as mentally arresting. Like denim.
Given blue jeans often evoke thoughts of the American Wild West, you might be surprised to learn that the fabric dates back to 16th-century France. Nîmes, to be precise, which is where the name “denim” originated (from “de Nîmes”).
Staying on the clothing theme, the loafer, another American favorite, was worn by Norwegian dairy farmers. The slip-on was used in cattle enclosures called “loafing areas.”
What about alcohol? The magical elixir that causes people to wear lamp shades on their heads first appeared around 6000 BC, when vintners in Turkey and Armenia squashed grapes. But wait – there’s more! An eighth-century alchemist took a break from trying to convert tin into gold and invented distillation, which gifted us with pure alcohol.
Used today as both packing material and a low-tech stress reliever, bubble wrap replaced excelsior and Styrofoam peanuts as the go-to when shipping items. Admit it – you are envisioning popping those compressed pockets of air right now, imagining the satisfying noise it makes.
Would you believe bubble wrap was the result of a failed experiment by a couple of men named Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes? It was concocted in a New Jersey garage circa 1957, the idea being that the new invention could be used as textured wallpaper.
The duo, wisely rethinking that idea, decided the wrap was better suited to help protect fragile items during shipping. It was patented in 1960 and the company they formed around bubble wrap still exists today.
The axiom “Necessity is the Mother of Invention” might apply in these cases, but I prefer “It’s smarter to be lucky than it’s lucky to be smart.” Success by accident is still success, after all. Take the win
