Weekend Open Thread

… a popular candy bar was created in an effort to reduce costs? In 1908, the Hershey Chocolate Company introduced its Hershey Almond™ bar, a chocolate bar infused with almonds, which over the decades has proven to be a very popular candy. But the introduction of almonds wasn’t done for the sake of creating a new candy, it was done to save money. The almonds took the place of the more expensive chocolate, allowing Hershey to keep the cost of the bar at a nickel. (A nickel? Wow, prices have really gone up since 1908!)

… a famous inventor wanted to use the Statue of Liberty as a giant loudspeaker? Thomas Edison (1847-1931) wanted to design a massive record player and speaker to be installed in the Statue of Liberty, crafted to make it appear as if the statue itself were speaking. According to Edison, the system could be used to warn ships during heavy fog. As designed, Edison’s speaker would have been heard as far as northern Manhattan and all the way across New York Harbor. The plan died, however, when Edison was unable to secure the necessary permits from the city to launch his idea. Additional trivia note: While Edison was unable to make Lady Liberty talk, he did create the first talking doll toy, a 22-inch doll with a tiny phonograph in its body. The dolls flopped, however, because the tiny phonographs were easily damaged when the doll was played with. (Edison believed in dreaming big.)

… a dog has a very keen sense of smell? We all know that, of course, but if you ever wondered just how keen its sense is, there’s this: a dog can detect the smell of a teaspoon of sugar in one million gallons of water. (Which makes him very happy.)

… a test pilot for one of the first U.S. jet aircraft would fly wearing a gorilla mask? Jack Woolams (1917-1946), who later became the first pilot to fly the Bell X-1 experimental aircraft, was a test pilot as jets were being developed. Something of a practical joker, Woolams would be on a test run in a jet, join formation with other pilots flying propeller-driven aircraft, and wave at them while wearing a gorilla mask, derby, and cigar, then fly away. The idea, he later said, was that other pilots who reported seeing a gorilla flying a propeller-less airplane would not be believed. On a more serious note, Woolams was also the first pilot to fly a fighter aircraft coast to coast over the United States non-stop, in September of 1942. (He was just monkeying around up there.)

… a shrimp has five pairs of legs? (And a heck of a time in a shoe store.)

… all GPS units sold to civilians have a threshold at which they deactivate? In order to not be used on an intercontinental ballistic missile, GPS units sold to the general public are programmed to deactivate themselves if they travel faster than 1200 miles per hour or higher than 60,000 feet. (Both of which ICBMs do.)

Now … you know!

Glad you see you in the saddle again, CW – even if it’s the dime-store hobby horse.

Worked with a guy in the 1980’s who’d been a Green Beret in the Viet of the Nam (he said), who claimed he could use stuff in my kitchen to blow the doors off the house.

Never quite knew how much was fact, how much fiction.

RIP to Kris Kristofferson, who did the intro on this one. I didn’t agree with his politics, but he did earn the “Tab that is Ranger” and wrote some true classics like “Sunday Morning Comin’ Down” and “Me and Bobby McGee.”