Forty (40) Simple Inventions that made Inventors or Companies Residual Wealth or Millions
Forty (40) Simple Inventions that made Inventors or Companies Residual Wealth or Millions
1. J.C. Hormel of Hormel Foods in the 1930’s, rather than disposing of excess pork shoulders, he combined them with sodium nitrate and water to create a jellied loaf of canned table meat, popularly known as Spam. More than 6 billion cans of Spam have been produced. http://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8#q=history+of+J.C.+Hormel+of+Hormel+Foods&hl=en&rlz=1R2GFRD_enUS355&tbs=tl:1&tbo=u&ei=s
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2. The History of Jello: Frank Woodward, a school dropout and, who by the age of 20 had his own business, bought the rights to Jell-O for $450. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bljello.htm
3. The chocolate chip Toll House cookie was a MISTAKE! http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/wakefield.html
4. Kitty Litter is a huge hit: http://www.essortment.com/all/kittylitterwho_rixo.htm
5. Q-Tip: http://www.qtips.com/history.php
7. LaserMonks: LaserMonks.com is a for-profit subsidiary of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank, an eight-monk monastery in the hills of Monroe County, 90 miles northwest of Madison. Yeah, real monks refilling your cartridges. Hallelujah! Their 2005 sales were $2.5 million!
8. FitDeck: Create a deck of cards featuring exercise routines, and sell it online for $18.95. Sounds like a disastrous idea to me. But former Navy SEAL and fitness instructor Phil Black reported 2005 sales of $4.7 million. Surely beats what the military pays.
9. Twist ties: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_invented_the_twist_tie
10. Cotton Candy: http://www.cottoncandyexpress.com/history.html
11. Butterflies make millions: http://www.amazingbutterflies.com
12. FitDeck – Playing cards with an exercise theme (4.7 million)
13. Minute Rice: http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/03/31/gadgets-can-make-your-fortune/
14. Birdseye frozen food ($22,000,000): http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/03/31/gadgets-can-make-your-fortune/
15. Billy-Bob Teeth: http://www.asylum.com/2010/01/11/9-dumb-inventions-that-made-people-stupidly-rich/
16. Airborne health formula: http://airbornehealth.com/about/our-belief
17. Big Mouth Billy Bass: http://www.talkingpresents.com/Big_Mouth_Billy_Bass_p/big_mouth_billy_bass.htm
18. HeadOn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeadOn
19. OxiClean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OxiClean
20. ShamWow!: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Offer
21. Snuggie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleeved_blanket
22. Baby Einstein™: http://www.babyeinstein.com/home/
23. One Minute Manicure: http://www.oneminutemanicure.com/
24. Umbrellas Plus: http://www.worldgolf.com/newswire/browse/5024-Umbrella-Plus-offers-rain-protection-and-golf-practice-tool-in-one
25. Lava Lamp: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lava_lamp
26. Windshield Wiper: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/windwiper.htm
27. Ballpoint Pen: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/ballpen.htm
28. Band-Aid: http://inventors.about.com/od/bstartinventions/a/bandaid.htm
29. Chicken Soup For The Soul: http://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&source=hp&q=Chicken+Soup+For+The+Soul&rlz=1R2GFRD_enUS355&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&fp=a73b11f867dbecea
30. Bubble Gum: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/bubblegum.htm
31. Mr. Potato Head: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Potato_Head
32. Can Opener: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/canopener.htm
33. Crayons: http://inventors.about.com/od/cstartinventions/a/crayons.htm
34. Jigsaw Puzzle: http://www.mgcpuzzles.com/mgcpuzzles/puzzle_history/
35. Popsicle: http://www.icecreamusa.com/popsicle/history/
36. Toilet Paper: http://nobodys-perfect.com/vtpm/exhibithall/informational/tphistory.html
37. Hot Dogs: http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/HotDog/HDIndex.htm
38. Kevlar: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/kevlar.htm
39. Kite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kite
40. Kool-Aid: http://www.hastingsmuseum.org/koolaid/kahistory.htm
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