Accidental Inventions: An Informational Essay

Slinky By Amanda Everly

The Slinky is a great toy. Its reaction to movement shows different types of physical forces and scientific laws. The Slinky (similar to other things) resists change in its motion.

The Slinky was invented by a US Naval engineer during World War II. Richard James was serving in the US Navy when he made the discovery and introduced the toy to the country. He was doing a study on how to use springs to keep the sensitive instruments aboard the ship from rocking constantly during rough seas. He knocked one of his prototypes over, and to his surprise, noticed how it kept bouncing across the floor. Richard watched the spring recoil itself. Then, it stood upright on the floor. The incident gave him an idea. After going back home to his wife Betty, he showed her the stepping spring. He said that he could make a toy out of it. The Navy was not interested in the springs though. Still, Richard spent a couple of years trying to perfect his idea. Betty came up with the name “Slinky.” Production of the newly invented toy began in 1945. The couple borrowed $500 to start their company. They named their company James Spring & Wire Co. Richard made and designed the machine to create his toy. Wire was delivered from Sweden. In 1956, the company changed its name to James Industries. The Slinky first showed up in Gimbels Department Store in Pennsylvania. At the beginning, Richard was doubtful whether his invention would sell or not. His doubts were laid to rest when all 400 Slinkies were picked up and sold in just 90 minutes. All age groups have enjoyed this original American toy for a very long time. The Slinky is not battery operated, does not really do anything special, and has no flashing lights or sounds. Nevertheless, it has delighted both children and adults alike.

Corn Flakes by Jackie Donaldson

Corn flakes were accidentally created while William Keith Kellogg and his brother Dr. John Harvey Kellogg were looking for a nutritious food. In 1894, John was a high ranking official at Battle Creek Sanitarium. It was a hospital managed by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The church was teaching the health benefits of eating vegetables. William was the bookkeeper at Battle Creek Sanitarium. John and William decided to look for a healthy food to feed to the sick that would help them recover. The brothers worked together, looking for something to give the sick people that would replace bread. They planned to make a dough by boiling wheat. The brothers left the boiled wheat for a while. When they came back, they found out that it had turned sour. They did not immediately throw it out though. William thought of rolling it through a roller. The problem was that it did not become a dough. It transformed into flakes instead. The brothers baked the flakes in an oven. Soon they found out that it was good enough to replace bread. They gave the hearty snack, which was happily consumed, to their patients. Their snack flakes were very popular with the patients at the hospital. The flakes were soon named Granose Flakes. The patients loved it so much that they asked for more after they left the hospital. Due to this request, John started to send the product all over the country. William, on the other hand, had another idea; he wanted to use other grains and ingredients along with their original recipe. He later tried to use corn as the main ingredient, which was successful.

William Keith Kellogg opened Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1906. He initially hired 44 workers who created a healthy breakfast cereal. Records from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology show that the company sold thousands of packs of corn flakes across the country. The next thing they tried was to mix more ingredients which, later on, produced the first high fiber cereal. They called it Bran Flakes. John left the company after William decided to put sugar in some of the recipes. Their original goal was to make a healthier snack food. John believed that adding sugar to the recipe did not follow their original goal. William then called the company W. K. Kellogg in 1922.