Who invented the detachable collar?

The collars on men's shirts used to be detachable and this was to save on laundry costs. Usually, the collar gets untidy fast and needs frequent cleaning. It is believed that Hannah Montague of Troy, New York, came up with this detachable collar in the 1820s, after she became tired of washing her husband's shirts when the collar became dirty. The idea caught on, giving rise to a new industry of detachable collars and shirts in Troy, which eventually came to be known as The Collar City."

It soon became fashionable for Gentlemen to look the part with really stiff collars that would look smart and stand daily wear. This is when rigidity became important and starching became popular. Other areas of the shirts soon became detachable and starched too, such as the front and cuffs. The businessman was The Reverend Ebenezar Brown and the manufacturer of detachable shirt elements soon became a significantly well-known industry for the town of Troy.

Such stiff cardboard like collars were not really very comfortable to wear on daily bases and therefore the practice of starching collars declined. Yet it was still significantly important when it comes to formal wear. Worn often by Military and at formal events along with a white or black bow tie. The Imperial collar (a high collar with no wings) was last worn during Edwardian times.

Detachable collars are also part of the uniform and are worn by students at Eton College. Most popular are the turndown collars, however students in positions of authority wear stick-up collars or a wing collar.

Clerical collars are also known as a Roman Collars and are customary dress for ordained ministers.

Credit : Barker Collars

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Who is Bluetooth named after and why?

As it turns out, Bluetooth is named after a 10th-century Scandinavian king. Harald "Blatand" Gormsson was a Viking king who ruled Denmark and Norway from the year 958 until 985.

The first consumer Bluetooth device was launched in 1999. It was a hands-free mobile headset that earned the "Best of show Technology Award" at COMDEX. The first Bluetooth mobile phone was the Ericsson T36 but it was the revised T39 model that actually made it to store shelves in 2001. In parallel, IBM introduced the IBM ThinkPad A30 in October 2001 which was the first notebook with integrated Bluetooth.

Bluetooth's early incorporation into consumer electronics products continued at Vosi Technologies in Costa Mesa, California, USA, initially overseen by founding members Bejan Amini and Tom Davidson. Vosi Technologies had been created by real estate developer Ivano Stegmenga, with United States Patent 608507, for communication between a cellular phone and a vehicle's audio system. At the time, Sony/Ericsson had only a minor market share in the cellular phone market, which was dominated in the US by Nokia and Motorola. Due to ongoing negotiations for an intended licensing agreement with Motorola beginning in the late 1990s, Vosi could not publicly disclose the intention, integration and initial development of other enabled devices which were to be the first “Smart Home” internet connected devices.

Vosi needed a means for the system to communicate without a wired connection from the vehicle to the other devices in the network. Bluetooth was chosen, since WiFi was not yet readily available or supported in the public market. Vosi had begun to develop the Vosi Cello integrated vehicular system and some other internet connected devices, one of which was intended to be a table-top device named the Vosi Symphony, networked with Bluetooth. Through the negotiations with Motorola, Vosi introduced and disclosed its intent to integrate Bluetooth in its devices. In the early 2000s a legal battle ensued between Vosi and Motorola, which indefinitely suspended release of the devices. Later, Motorola implemented it in their devices which initiated the significant propagation of Bluetooth in the public market due to its large market share at the time.

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Who invented the tea bag?

In 1908, Thomas Sullivan, a New York tea merchant, sent samples of tea leaves in small silken bags to customers. Many of them thought the bags were supposed to be directly immersed in hot water to make tea. They liked what they drank and began to ask for more. And the tea bag became popular.

Tea bags are commonly made of filter paper or food-grade plastic, or occasionally of silk cotton or silk. The tea bag performs the same function as a tea infuser. Tea bags can be used multiple times until there is no extraction left. Some tea bags have an attached piece of string with a paper label at the top that assists in removing the bag, while also displaying the brand or variety of tea.

raditionally, tea bags have been square or rectangular in shape. They are usually made of filter paper, a blend of wood and vegetable fibers related to paper found in milk and coffee filters. The latter is bleached pulp abaca hemp, a plantation banana plant grown for its fiber, mostly in the Philippines and Colombia. Some bags have a heat-sealable thermoplastic such as PVC or polypropylene as a component fiber on the inner tea bag surface, making them not fully biodegradable. Some newer paper tea bags are made in a circular shape.

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How was bubble wrap invented by mistake?

Did you know that Bubble Wrap which we irresistibly squeeze and pop was an accidental invention? In 1957, engineer Alfred Fielding and chemist Marc Chavannes were trying to create a textured wallpaper. They sealed two plastic shower curtains together and what they got was a sheet of film with air-filled bumps across. Though initially disappointed, they quickly turned around their failure. And their creation went on to revolutionise the packaging industry, protecting thousands of fragile products transported worldwide.

To make the original version of Bubble Wrap, Fielding and Chavannes used two shower curtains and sealed them together with air bubbles in between. According to Joey Green in his book “The Bubble Wrap Book”, the two inventors set out to develop a machine that created a type of plastic wallpaper with a paper backing. But their machine ended up just creating sheets of plastic with air bubbles in between. Unsurprisingly, their plastic wallpaper wasn’t a hit, and it didn’t sell well. But luckily, they didn’t stop there.

After its failed introduction as wallpaper, Fielding and Chavannes set out to market Bubble Wrap as a material for greenhouse insulation. Although Bubble Wrap does have some insulating properties, it’s simply not as effective at insulating as other materials. That’s why it was no surprise that this idea also didn’t take off. Yet again, Bubble Wrap failed to ignite the market and get noticed by people.

Since then, Bubble Wrap continued to grow and a become a fundamental tool in the shipping industry. Today, Bubble Wrap is one of the most popular materials for packing and shipping goods, becoming as essential as cardboard boxes and Styrofoam. Bubble Wrap now comes in a variety of styles and designs, and it consistently earns Sealed Air (its manufacturer and trademark holder) hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Not bad for something that started out as wallpaper.

Credit : Box Factory

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