I found some interesting things to share this week for THURSDAY THIRTEEN so here goes:

Did you ever wonder how some things were invented or just found? I did so here is a small sampling of some I had wondered about....

1. Baby formula....Henry Nestle' invented it and named his produce Farine Lactee' Nestle. He had several firsts like,the first condensed milk produced in Europe; the 1st soluble coffee, the 1st freeze dried coffee!!
2. Bubble Gum....Now this was an accident found by Walter Diemer. He was working at the Fleer Chewing Gum company in 1928 in Philadelphia and discovered a less sticky and a more stretchy gum. Thus bubble gum was born!! A million dollars of bubble gum was sold in that first year alone!! Unfortunatley, Mr. Diemer never got a patent on his invention!! Bet he felt bad about that one!!!
   
3. Coca-Cola....Coke was born in the Atlanta, Ga. area on May 8th, 1886 by a Dr. John Stith Pemberton. It first sold for 5 cents a glass at a local soda foutain. It was first called, "Pembertons French Wine Coca". In 1916 Coke got its first unique contour bottle design that we all know and remember.
4. Jello....In 1897 Pearl B. Wait was a cough syrup manufacturer in LeRoy, New York. His business was not going too well so he decided to go into the food business. For many years people had experimented with gelatin but it never tasted good nor did it look good!! Mr. Wait decided to add fruit syrup and named his product JELLO. It did not go over very well. Later he sold it to his neighbor Mr. Woodward who later sold it for a mere $35.00. In 1900 some cooking experts re-discovered JELLO and it became a HIT!!! Poor Mr. Wait!!! (guess he should have waited smile)
5. Life Savers....These were invented by Clarence Crane in 1912 because he wanted a candy that would not melt in the summertime. He first made the peppermint lifesavers. In 1913, he sold the rights to his lifesavers candy to Edward Noble for only $2,900.00!! Bet he wished that he had that all back!!!
6. Candy Bar....Mr. Joseph Fry from Britian discovered a way to mix melted cacao butter back into defatted or "dutched" cocoa powder along with sugar to create a paste tht could be pressed into a mold...OOOPS..a candy bar!! Here is when the candy bars that you may like were invented....1900 my favorite the Hershey BAR was invented followed by the Clark Bar in 1916; 1923 the Milky Way; 1925 the O'Henry bar; 1930 the Snickers Bar and in 1933 the Kit Kat!!! Now aren't you just a little bit smarter!!!
7. Popsicle....Frank Epperson an 11 year old invented the Popsicle!! I think this is the best one that I read about!! One day he mixed some soda water powder and water. This was a popular drink then (1905). He left the mixture over night on the back porch and left the stirring stick in it. The temperature dropped to a record low that night and the next day Frank woke up to frozen water on a stick. He took it to school to show his friends!! Years later (1923) Frank remembered about his frozen stick and began a business calling it Epsicles in 7 fruit flavors. One estimate says that popsicles sell about 3 million a year!!! WOW!!
8. Graham Crackers....Mr. Sylvester Graham invented Graham bread in 1829 (finally someone uses their own name for a change) He invented it for a vegetarian diet! Hmm!! It was high in fiber (hmm) and made in little squares and now we know them as graham crackers. He was an American ...Go Americans!!
9. Planters Peanuts....Amedeo Obici founder of Planters was born in Italy. He moved to America at an early age. He started peddling peanuts and called himself the "Peanut Specialist". He went into partnership with Mario Peruzzi. Planters was founded. Two years laters the firm was incorporated as Planters nut and Chocolate Company. Mr. Peanut, Planters mascot is such a nut!! He was introduced in 1916 to help advertise the great peanut!! It is based on the drawing of a 13 year old boy!! How cool!!!
10. Wonder Bread....In 1921 The Taggert Baking Company was looking for a new name for their bread. Mr. Elmer Cline was in charge of finding that "new name". He was visiting the Indianapolis Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana (good ole' USA again). He was really awestruck when he saw the sky filled with hundreds of beautiful balloons. He said it filled him with...guess what...you got it..."WONDER" Thus Wonder Bread was born...
11. TEA....Yummy...tea...my favorite GREEN cold tea..I drink it all of the time...so I wanted to see how it was invented...so here goes...This was found way, way back in time. It says something like 2727 BC..that is WAY BACK...here is the description: One day Shen Nung was boiling water outside when leaves from a nearby bush fell into the open kettle. Before Shen Nung could retrieve the leaves, they began to brew. He smelled the sweet aroma of the mixture and once he tasted it (he was brave), the world was given tea!! Did you know that tea is the most popular beverage in the world today after water!! (I did not know that but am not surprised either). It was introduced into Europe in 1610.
12. Toll House Cookies....Now we have a woman inventor...finally....Ruth Wakefield and her husband lived in a Cape Cod style toll house (never heard of this before toll house?) near Boston. It served as a haven for people as they came through this area. Ruth started making desserts. She began making....what?...yes...cookies...Her first recipe was Butter Drop Do Cookies a favorite dating back to Colonial days. Ruth added some Nestle chocolate. She figured it would melt in the cookie as it baked. Instead the chocolate held it shape and the cookies became VERY popular!! Her recipe somehow made it to the Boston newspaper. Regional sales of the Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate bar skyrocketed (and people were going to get fat). Ruth went to the Nestle Company and together they reached an agreement that allowed Nestle to print her recipe on their packages of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar. Part of the agreement incluced supplying Ruth with all of the chocolate she could use to make her delicious cookies for the rest of her life!! What a deal that smart woman made...Women are like that you know!!!
13. Potato Chips....In 1853 An African American, Mr. George Crum was employed as a chef at an elegant resort in Saratoga Springs, New York. One of his dinner guests was not happy with his French Fries. He complained because he thought they were too thick. Mr. Crum wanting to please his guest decided to cut the fries really thin and made them very crisp. You could not even eat them with a fork. The guest loved them. Thus began everyone asking for Mr. Crums potato chips!! He never patented his invention either!!
    

Well, so now you have it...I just hope that I did not bore you. I just thought it was very interesting!! Every once in a while I think it is FUN to LEARN...don't you!! If you would like to learn more...just go to www.ideafinder.com and go from there. You can learn about almost anything your little heart desires...NOW just how much fun is that????FLIP FLOP