Placemats

In an effort to conserve the water required to wash tablecloths, the French invented placemats during WWI. When American servicemen returned home from the war, and showed their wives the unique tablewear they found in France, the placemat's place on the American table was secured.

Unicorns

Unicorns can only be touched by female virgins.

The Swingline Fastenomatron

The stapler was originally called the Fastenomatron and was invented by Jim Staple; the head product designer at swingline in the 1920's. When the product failed to sell initially, a grass roots campaign was started by Jim's friends to change the name of the Fastenomatron to the Stapler.

Windmills

Windmills are actually the 2nd oldest form of power behind coal. The first windmill on record dates back to 1200 BC.

Olga Spatz, the Model for the Statue of Liberty

The model for Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty was his German maid, Olga Spatz.
The inspiration for Lady Liberty's torch

Martini Glasses, Why So Shallow?

Martini glasses are intentionally shallow to ensure that the complicated mix of ingredients does not seperate. Using a rocks glass would cause the vodka/gin to settle on the top and vermouth/olive juice settling on the bottom of your drink...gross.

Why did little boys wear dresses?

Until the early 20th century little boys wore dresses just as often as little girls because there was no means of mass production for children's clothing. At the time, parents had many children, and had to reuse clothing. As pants aren't ladylike, dresses became the default. Franklin Roosevelt

Pigeons

Pigeons were originally brought to America as an inexpensive food source for the settlers.

Cashmere

As champagne must come from the Champagne region of France, so must cashmere have a very distinct pedigree to be considered cashmere. For soft wool to be called cashmere, it must come from the Shagadene sheep's belly in the Kashmir region of India. The Shagadene's bellies are sheered yearly at the Kashmir sheep festival. Such a distinct lineage really increases the price of true cashmere.

Garden Gnomes...The Residential Scarecrow

The Garden Gnome was developed as people started to move from rural areas to the suburbs. While people still needed to keep the crows away from their produce, scarecrows look rather creepy in someone's vegetable garden. Garden gnomes are much smaller but equally effective at scaring away garden pests.

Hotel Bed Spreads

On average, hotels change their bedspreads once every 6 guests.

Mold

Green and



white mold are okay; it's the black mold you have to worry about.

Polar Bears

Polar bears are the only natural predator of humans. Sharks see a human and think "oh, hey, that looks some food in the water. I'm going to try to eat it." A polar bear sees a human and says "oh wow, look a human, I like eating human, they are delicious."

Grade A and Grade B Truffles

Traditionally, truffles are hunted by using a pig that is trained to detect their unique aroma. These pig-detected truffles are considered Grade A truffles. Those truffles that are discovered by using dogs are Grade B.

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

To be safe, it's best to rescue anyone who is in the water. Don't discriminate, you can drown in 2 inches of water.
No Horseplay!

Coleslaw

My sister-in-law suggested the post be "it's called coleslaw because people from the South cannot pronounce 'cold slaw'." I didn't want to write that because I don't like to make fun of people.
Everyone knows coleslaw is German for finely sliced cabbage...it was originally served warm. Bacon fat was used instead of mayonnaise.

No Such Thing as Poisonous Berries

There are no poisonous berries...only berries that don't taste good and make you throw up.

Balloon Animals

The first balloon animal was a snake...needless to say it was unimpressive.

Rubber Duckies

In the middle ages, bathing generally took place in lakes and marshes with fish and ducks often swimming by. Once bathing moved indoors, people felt lonely. To combat their lonliness, floating duck models were invented. These floating duck models evolved into the rubber ducky we know today.

Antique Rubber Ducky

The Tooth Fairy

The legend of the tooth fairy was born out of an ancient Canaanite tradition of collecting the teeth of fallen enemies to appease the angel of death. The enemy teeth were collected and molded together into a 3 cubit by 1 cubit statue. Each householdhad one of these "tooth angels" which were thought to scare the crap out of anyone who came into the house (including the angel of death).