Monthly Archives: April 2011

The credit card: Diner’s Club, started in 1951, introduced the idea of the credit card.  In 1958, American Express gave us the card in plastic.    

The Cricket, developed in France in the early 1960s, was the first disposable lighter. It was one of countless objects that helped usher in the era of what Life magazine dubbed “Throwaway Living”. Now lighters are one of the most … Continue reading →

The plastic blood bag was developed in the late 1940s by Boston surgeon Carl Walter, who wanted to replace the breakable, cell-damaging  glass and rubber blood bottles then in use:

Walter Frederick Morrison brought us new worlds of fun with his “Pluto Platter,” later renamed the Frisbee by Wham-O:

The evolution of the plastic chair: