The entry from 12/14/12 was about painting. Well, I'm at it again. I'm sure I have the perfect color this time. It's been such a hard job that I have sworn never, ever to paint the living room again. Ever!
As I finished up today, I wondered, "Who invented the paint roller?" According to Wikipedia, a Canadian named Norman Breakey came up with the basic design in 1940. Before he could mass produce the device (and make a killing), others improved upon the design. Richard Adams held the first U.S. patent for the paint roller. He said, during his off hours from his job at Sherwin-Williams, he developed the roller in his basement workshop.
The really interesting thing about all this is that paint rollers could have been inspired by science fiction comic books. Edward Elmer Smith (E. E. "Doc" Smith) was a food engineer and later a science fiction author. In one of his books, published in 1931, a roller was used to spread paste on the outside of a space ship. From paste to paint, it's not a far leap. I wonder if Breakey or Adams read science fiction.
Watch how paint rollers are manufactured -
No comments:
Post a Comment