V N1 . , . • 'A For Openers A Better Mousetrap I f you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door." Over the years, people have come up with some odd inventions. Some of these were just plain silly, but others took off and are commonplace items today. Before people started wearing their hats indoors and for every occasion, it was common cour- tesy for men to tip their hats to acquain- tances they passed on the streets. In 1896, a Mr. James Boyle got tired of this and came up with a hat that tipped automatically. If you're into time or money- saving proposi- SY tions (but not MANELLO necessarily aids to Editorial beauty), there are hair-cutting Assistant devices one can use at home. In 1951, John Boax invented a machine to cut hair: It sucked hair into tiny holes where electric coils would burn the hair into desired lengths. It's hard to believe that women once wore clothes that were extremely full (and did not show ankles, let alone belly buttons). Bustles were popular in the 1800s and Elliot Fentner got the idea to use all that space under the skirt to hide a bustle-attached stool to sit on. In that way, women could have an instant seat anywhere. They could just lean back and the stool legs would open to create a seat. - In England, a patent has been applied for on a glove that lets courting couples maintain palm-to-palm con- tact while holding hands; it has a common palm section, _ but two separate sets of fingers. A kooky British cousin has also filed a patent for a ladder to enable spiders to climb out of a bath. The device is a thin, flexible latex-rubber strip, which follows the inner contours of the bath with a suction pad attached at the top edge. (Anyone who is bathing spi- ders really needs to get a life!) Even though I was unsuccessful in applying Liquid Paper® to my computer screen, it is a valuable tool to cover paper mistakes. Originally called "mistake out," it was turned down by IBM. The inventor, Bette Nesmith Graham, kept selling it from her kitchen-garage until 1979 when the Gillette Corp. bought the product for $47.5 million plus royalties. Would you believe that Post-it® Notes were not a planned product? A lab research scientist at 3M devel- oped a new adhesive that stuck but could be easily lifted off; it was super-weak and no one knew what to do with it. Years later, when the man needed markers to keep place in his church hym- nal, he used some adhe- sive to coat the markers. The notes are now one of the most popular office products. That adorable toy Mr. Potato Head® was "born" in 1952. It originally contained only parts, and parents had to supply kids with real potatoes for the face-changing fun. The character has been so much a part of our lives that in 1987, giving up his pipe, he became the "spoke- spud" for the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout. At 40, he received a special award from the President's Council for Physical Fitness, deciding no longer to be a "couch potato." He and his missus helped out in 1996 with the League of Women Voters' Get Out the Vote Campaign — all this, despite the fact that an American vice president could not spell the character's name. ❑ Chaya Masha Stock and daughter Itta Henya Stock, 6, of Oak Park. Shabbat Candlelighting "I light one candle for each member of my family, plus one in honor of the blessing of life that God granted me after a seri- ous illness 10 years ago. After I say the prayer for lighting the candles, I add prayers for my family, for the healing of the sick and injured in klal Yisrael [the Jewish people] and for peace." Staff photo by Krisra Husa IV hat goes around, comes around. What earlier practices of Judaism on Chanukah and Passover are now common again? — by Goldfein pup' axenbs alp awns Aq painjald •asnom atli ale 10Z1E111 nAOSSEd apIsano luaulaDETd mopurm ap!su! u-e woJi panow uaaq ge-q -q-emnu-etp Dtp ui .civRnuvcp -e pip mou s! TiEJOLIQUI Liminue-qDatJZ :IWASITV nano Quotables "We need to organize the unique energy hidden in Russian Jewry." — Israeli Deputy Absorption Minister Yuli Edelstein, a former Soviet dissident, during the Moscow portion of the World Congress of Russian Jewry, as quoted by JTA. "There is so much more coverage than there was of the 1967 or the 1973 war. That tends to generate complaints from those who already have an existing bias one way or another ... I think most of [the com- plaining] is nonsense, predictable, politicized opinion-mongering." — John Schidlovsky, director of the Pew International Journalism Program about the perceived imbalance in Mideast daily newspaper coverage, as quoted in the July August issue of the `American Journalism Review" A rabbi said, "Though you're in pain, It's unwise to always complain. I think, Mrs. Schechter, You'll find a gelechter Is heard viter vee a gevain."* Candlelighting Candlelighting Friday, July 26: 8:41 p.m. © 2002 Yiddish Limericks — Yehudis Brea, Oak Park Sponsored by Lubavitch Women's Organization.To submit a candlelighting message or to receive complimentary can- dlesticks and information on Shabbat cancilelighting, call Miriam Amzalak of Oak Park at (248) 967-5056 or e- mail: amzalak@juno.com tiV46.1 -)'cha Don't Know - Friday, Aug. 2: 8:33 p.m. Shabbat Ends Shabbat Ends Saturday, July 27: 9:48 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3: 9:39 p.m. — Martha Jo Fleischmann * laughter is heard farther than weep- ing .ZU 7/26 2002