Bubble wrap wasn’t invented just to keep your items neatly stored inside packages,
it was for epic stress relief! Oh, and one other thing. Apparently someone thought their house
would look awesome with 3-dimensional wallpaper. They were going to plaster painted bubble wrap
all over the walls! It didn’t work, so they tried selling it as greenhouse insulation. That failed
too. But they nailed it on the third try! Small bubbles, big bubbles… hey, what’s your favorite?
After downing a whole thing of mac n cheese, you’ve got to clean your teeth.
It’s a rule. Off you go to grab your blue toothbrush from the bathroom. Up and down,
circles, rinse, good job. Now, how about a bit of mouthwash to keep your breath fresh?
That mouthwash you’re reaching for… wasn’t always mouthwash. It used to be an anti-septic! You know…
the type of thing doctors and nurses use to keep their hands bacteria-free? Mmm, minty!
Mouthwash was also used as a floor-cleaner… and a cure for bad diseases. It was even marketed
as a hair tonic! Next time I clean my house and find myself out of cleaning products,
I might just pop a few lid-fulls of mouthwash into the bucket!
Play-doh. Yeah, you love it. I mean, it does whatever you want it to!
Stretch it, sculpt it into a dinosaur, make the world’s longest blue pasta-type thing… Just don’t
chuck it at the walls. Unless!! Yup, Play-doh was initially supposed to be a wallpaper cleaner,
and it wasn’t until 20 years later that it became the clay we love to squeeze into
weird shapes! It was a popular way of getting all that soot off your wallpaper,
everyone was using coal to heat their houses back then!
Rings are big business, people wear them for loads of different reasons…You even
get one when you win a Superbowl! Yippee! Back in the day though, rings weren’t just for show.
Archers used to wear them to protect their fingers from their bowstrings, and people doing
needlework used them to make sure they didn’t hurt themselves. All while looking extra stylish.
Egyptians used them as seals, a personal ring-signature! You walk into your very
nice Egyptian office, thousands of years ago. Everything’s made of gold for some reason. Your
boss walks in: “Sign this please.” And all you do is place a bit of wax on the paper
and press your ring on it! Sweet, great idea, what if you lose your ring though?
Along with play-doh, everyone loves a slinky. Especially when it’s in a YouTube video with
some funky music in the background. They were actually invented by accident! Back in the 1900s,
an engineer was working hard at his desk to find a way to keep sensitive nautical equipment steady,
while the boat was swishing around all over the place. Instead, he came up with a fantastic toy.
Find a treadmill, put a slinky on it. Thank me later.
Don’t know where to store your freshly baked pie? Place it on a frisbee! If you want the chef to
scream at you… In 1871 when Frisbees first came to be, that’s exactly what they were used for,
to serve pies! “Here you go, your strawberry pie on a frisbee tin.” College students came up with
a much better use for them though. Can you do the thing where you throw it upside down? When you go
to bed, you expect your pillow to be as soft as cotton, or maybe you prefer it a bit stiffer?
The first pillows, however, weren’t fluffy-wuffy soft. They were hard as stone. Because, you know…
they were literally made out of stone. They were designed to lift your head off the ground and
stop little critters from crawling all over us. Ew!! They eventually turned soft, thankfully. I
don’t think my neck could handle a stone pillow right now. I’m sore just thinking about it.
If you’re anything like me, aren’t you glad you’re not? -- you probably can’t walk for
even a few seconds in heels without falling over. I think even standing up might be a problem...
Back in the 16th century, Persian soldiers used high heels to get more accuracy from their bows,
while on horseback. It helped them get that little bit taller!
T-shirt, why is it called a T-shirt, come on people!!! Well, they didn’t use to call them
that. These classics used to be standard issue undershirts for the navy. Back then,
about a hundred years ago, the word T-shirt wasn’t even in the dictionary!
Back in ancient Egypt, some people walked around with eyeshadow. You might think they were really
ahead of the game when it came to fashion. That might be true, but mostly, they put it on to
protect their eyes from the glare of the raging hot desert sun! No aviators back then! It was also
used as a part of some ceremonies. We don’t really know what they were doing or why, but for sure,
they looked good! Can’t wait to see someone skiing down a hill with a face full of eyeshadow!
Ok, you’re having memory problems. No worries, we’ve all been there, where? I forgot. Go to your
drawer and grab a stack of…yeah! Those thingy’s, post-its! Now write yourself a note: “I’m
almost out of post-its.” Ooh! Very efficient. They were invented by accident, by a scientist who was
researching different glues. While he was trying out different mixtures, he discovered a special
recipe for a glue that only stuck very lightly to most surfaces. He was actually trying to do
the opposite, find the recipe for the biggest baddest glue ever! One that could hold up framed
paintings! Still, I’d argue that post-its are probably way better than an adhesive that strong.
A Kleenex comes in handy anywhere. Especially if you just bit into a hotdog and mustard is
oozing all over your hands. They weren’t originally thought to be multipurpose.
They were originally invented to be a cold-cream remover, what a weirdly specific
use! Over the years, people started using them for anything and everything they could think of,
especially as a disposable handkerchief. When their marketing team took notice of this,
they rebranded them into what we know and love, Kleenex Tissues! How generic!
You’re trying to blend in and look cool at a restaurant, and you spill your drink all over
the tablecloth. Uh-oh, you were originally going to order water, but the waitress convinced you
to order their new cherry infused something or other, that’s going to stain like crazy!
Well, not to worry! Cellophane was designed to tackle this exact issue.
The idea was to wrap the table cloth with it, then any and all spills could be wiped
clean! It didn’t quite work out, but instead, we found a great new purpose for it. Storing food,
and it does the job perfectly, plus it’s great for the odd prank now and then! You know what I mean…
You know pompons on caps? If you’ve ever wondered what those are for, they’re just decorative.
Still, sailors used to use them a bit differently. They used them as sort of antennas,
the way animals do to sense if an object is too close to them. Insects have them, cats
and other small mammals use their long whiskers to test if they can squeeze into a tight spot,
and humans have pom poms! Thanks to them, no more bumps on the head!
The small square patches on a lot of backpacks nowadays are mostly decorative. Still,
they used to be nice little gadgets for outdoorsy people. They used to tie extra equipment onto
those squares, or use them to tie their muddy sneakers onto. They might have lost their usage
over the years, but they kept their funny name. You can call them lash tabs, or… pig snouts!
A good pair of sunglasses completes any outfit. They’re not just for show,
a lot of professionals rely on them! Professional drivers, pilots,
construction workers… they all use them to make their jobs safer. About 1,000 years ago,
judges used to wear them! Picture this, you’re in a 12th century trial. Wonder how the judge is
going to rule on this one? You try really hard to guess what the judge is thinking, but you can’t.
The judge has sunglasses on! The perfect way to hide your face while you interrogate someone!