Inventions And Something New

Nylon Stockings
May 15, 1940 Nylon stockings were sold in U.S. for the first time, but were replaced by silk stockings during most of the war because the nylon was needed by the military. Nylon stockings were easier to find after the war.

Stocking Seams
Woman’s stockings were held up above the knee by garters and usually had a seam up the calf of the leg until the 1960’s. It was a nuisance to keep the seam straight, but some women thought the seamed stockings were more attractive.

Max Factor Lipstick
1940 Max Factor introduced Tru-Color lipstick, a product that did not change color or smear.

Zoot Suit Culture
1940 Zoot suits initially were a fashion statement of African American kids until the Mexican American kids took it over. This fashion style was rampant in the Los Angeles, CA area in the 1940’s. Racial tensions grew between the Mexican Americans and the whites.

Gangs Wear Zoot Suits
In 1943, Some Mexican-American kids hung around in gangs in Los Angeles. The citizens perceived these “zoot suiters” to be a threat to the culture of the norm. Riots broke out in the summer between military men and the “zoot suiters.” The City Council ruled that wearing a zoot suit was a misdemeanor.

Description of a Zoot Suit
The zoot suit had high-waisted, baggy pleated pants with tight cuffs. The suit was worn with a fedora hat with a long feather, pointy shoes, and a long chain dangling from a pocket. To top it off, a long coat with wide lapels was worn over it. Many wore their hair in a “duck tail.”

Color TV
Sep. 3, 1940 Peter Goldmark invented high definition color TV.

K-Rations to the Rescue
1941 Professsor Ancel Keys of University of Minnesota created the K-Ration for soldiers in combat.

Cheerios
June 19, 1941 Cheerios cereal was invented by General Mills Cereal Co. First introduced as CheeriOats.

Teflon
1941 Roy Plunkett, a chemist, patented Teflon, a product he produced in 1938.

Deodorant
Jules Montenier, a holder of many patents, created a deodorant to reduce body odor. It was patented on Jan. 28, 1941.

Acrylic Fibers
The Dupont Corporation created the first acrylic fibers (synthetic). This new cloth was trademarked under the name “orlon.”

Kodacolor
1942 The first color picture was produced by Kodacolor.

LSD
1943 Albert Hoffmann discovered LSD, an illegal drug that ruined so many young lives.

Disc-Jockeys
1943 The first disc-jockeys began on the radio.

Microwave Oven
The microwave oven was discovered by Percy Spencer on Oct. 8. 1945. It was patented Dec. 7, 1945.

Communication Satellite
1945 British author Arthur C. Clarke wrote about his idea of a communications satellite in a magazine article.

Ball-Point Pen
Oct. 29, 1945 The first ball-point pen sold for $12. at Gimball’s Dept. Store in N.Y.

Cruise Control
A blind inventor and mechanical engineer named Ralph Teetor invented cruise control in 1945. The driver of the automobile sets the speed and cruise control automatically takes over and maintains the same speed until the driver decides to do it manually.

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Mt. Rushmore Sculpture
On Oct. 4, 1927, in order to attract more people to the Black Hills of South Dakota, Gutzon Borglum was hired to carve the faces of four U.S presidents on the sides of Mt. Rushmore. The famous faces depicted in granite were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Oct. 31, 1941, after 14 years of labor, the Mt. Rushmore sculpture was completed.

Potato Chips are Essential Food
1942 The government said that potato chips, a product invented by George Crum, a native American, were an essential food.

New Subway System
Oct. 16, 1943 Chicago opened a new subway system that had escalators and sound-proof phone booths.

Victory Gardens
During the war, the farmers had difficulty finding proper transportation and workers to get the produce to the markets. The government encouraged citizens to plant victory gardens, and grow their own fruits and vegetables. Considering it their patriotic duty, Americans planted gardens in backyards and in all available spaces such as empty lots. City dwellers planted what they could in planter boxes on rooftops. Victory gardens became a community effort. By 1944, millions of American families had victory gardens.

Canned Food was Scarce
The government asked the people to can their own vegetables and fruit during the war to save the commercial canned food for the troops.