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Fuzzy Felt
Fuzzy Felt is a simple fabric toy for young children. The toys consist of a flocked backing board onto which a number of felt shapes are placed to create different pictures -
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Inventions in the 50's
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First Credit Card
In 1950, the Diners’ Club issued the first credit card, invented by Diners' Club founder Frank McNamara, in the United States for use in restaurants, with American Express next joining the market in 1958. -
Super Glue
Superglue is actually a chemical substance called cyanoacrylate that was originally discovered by Dr. Harry Coover during a research project to develop an optically clear plastic for use in gun sights. The discovery was made while working for the Kodak Research Laboratories in 1942. -
Mr. Potato Head
Mr. Potato Head was invented and patented in 1952 by George Lerner of New York. The idea was based on an earlier toy known as “make a face” where an actual potato acted as the face. -
Airplane Black Box
The unit could continually store up to four hours of speech, prior to any accident, as well as flight instrument readings. It took five years before the value and practicality of the idea was finally accepted internationally with the fits units going into production in 1957. -
Matchbox Cars
Matchbox is a die cast toy brand. Matchbox toys were so named because the original models were packed in boxes similar in size and style to boxes of matches. -
First Mcdonalds
A McDonalds restaurant existed before 1954 but it was the introduction of Ray Kroc to the business in 1954 that began the seemingly endless colonisation of the globe by the McDonalds restaurant chain that ensued. -
Liquid Paper
Bette Nesmith Graham never set out to be an inventor, here vocation in life was to be an artist. However, shortly after the Second World War ended she found herself divorced and a single parent (the child Michael Nesmith, later went on to become a member of 60’s pop group, The Monkees) living in Dallas and working as a secretary -
The Hovercraft
The hovercraft was invented by Christopher Cockerell in 1956. The theory behind one of the most successful inventions of the 20th century, the Hovercraft, was originally tested in 1955 using an empty cat food tin inside a coffee tin, an industrial air blower and a pair of kitchen scales. -
The Hula Hoop
Plastic hula hoops were first manufactured and sold in Australia. In 1957, Coles department store sold bamboo hoops, but the supplier couldn't produce enough to meet demand. So they invited Alex Tolmer, the founder of Toltoys, to produce plastic ones. Toltoys sold 400,000 plastic hoops in 1957.
