1949 | Everyday Life
Everyday Life
The whirlpool bathtub appliance invented by Italian-born California engineer Candido Jacuzzi, 46, relieves the pain of his 15-month-old son Kenny, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. Candido and his brothers built farm equipment before turning to production of airplane propellors during the war; his brother Ray will design the first self-contained whirlpool bath (see 1968).
Silly Putty is introduced by New Haven, Conn., advertising man Peter C. L. Hodgson, 37, who has discovered a substance developed by General Electric researchers looking for a viable synthetic rubber. The useless silicone substance can be molded like soft clay, stretched like taffy, bounced like a rubber ball, and can pick up printed matter when pressed down on newsprint and transfer it, but the stuff has no market until Hodgson borrows $147 to buy a batch from GE, hires a Yale student to separate it into one-ounce globs, packages it in clear compact plastic cases at $1 each, advertises it in a catalogue of toys he is preparing for a local store, and finds that Silly Putty is an immediate success.
New York's Saks Fifth Avenue introduces Boaters—nylon diaper covers that presage disposable diapers. Invented by Connecticut housewife Marion O'Brien (née Donovan), 32, the covers hold moisture in while allowing damp diapers to "breathe." Donovan has experimented in her attic with surplus cloth from nylon parachutes and also sells her product in packages to nurses and physicians at $1.95 each, but the cover is cumbersome, requires pins to keep it in place, and costs a discouraging 10¢ per diaper. O'Brien will nevertheless sell her patent rights for $1 million in 1952, and Boaters will be promoted as the first mass-market, moisture-proof, disposable diaper (see Pampers, 1966).
Revlon introduces "Fire and Ice," a new lipstick and nail enamel that is advertised with a frankly sexual approach in advertisements featuring model Suzy Parker and copy created by ad agency vice president Kay Daly, 29, who will join Revlon in 1961.
The KitchenAid dishwasher introduced by the 52-year-old Hobart Co. will eventually become the largest-selling brand but will have little success until its advertising promotes the idea that machine-washed dishes and glasses are more sanitary than those washed by hand (see Cochrane, 1913).
Lever Brothers introduces Surf laundry detergent with advertising claims that no rinsing is needed after washing. Procter & Gamble responds by advertising that its 3-year-old Tide detergent washes clothes "so miracle clean no rinsing needed." Colgate's Fab echoes the claim.
Clothes rationing ends in Britain.
Naples-born fashion designer Emilio Pucci, 34, opens a shop on Capri that he will follow with shops at Rome, Elba, and Montecatini. An Olympic skier in 1934, Pucci attended college in Georgia and Oregon from 1935 to 1937, served as a bomber pilot in the Italian Air Force during World War II, and last year designed Lord & Taylor's White Stag line for the New York department store. He uses hand-painted silks in vivid colors for sportswear and cruisewear that attract war-weary Europeans and will soon have an international following.