Potty Putty? Er...make that Silly Putty...Much Better!

Silly Putty!!! If you have kids like me, then you probably have tons of this stuff around. Stretchable, bendable, bouncy, almost like a super clay, it is a great toy! With over 4,500 tons sold since its beginnings, one cannot doubt the popularity.

What I tend to find more interesting is that this product joins the long line of other inventions who's origins lie in World War II research. In this instance, the inventors were looking for a practical alternative to rubber, which was very hard to come by during the war years. The more history I study, the more products I find with their origins in either NASA or World War II. Of course there is that saying, "Necessity is the mother of invention."

Here's a quiz for you: Which TV show in the fifties was the first Silly Putty advertisement shown?

Have a good day and check the links below! See you Monday!

Wikipedia entry

• Check here for the link to the actual patent!
  

Silly Putty University

MIT Link to Silly Putty

The Great Florida Land Boom of the 1920's Revisited Today?

I was reading today in the NY Times trying to catch up with the great mortgage debacle going on and was reminded of studying about a similar event in Florida in the 1920's which predated the Depression for a few years. Along with the booming US economy during this time, Florida became basically awash in money, deals and land speculation...similar yet different to today's deals, speculation and money-making in the subprime mortgage market. History will repeat folks...not exactly the same, but in many ways different. Times change, events change, but people's motivations (greed?) and speculative assumptions will always be around. Not trying to paint everyone and everything with a big brush of dishonesty, I'm just struck by many parallels. Follow the links below for some great background and resources to help you learn more.

Link: Only Yesterday by Frederick Lewis Allen

Link: Short Background on the 1920's boom

Link: Wikipedia's entry for the Florida Land Boom