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Who Made That Maraschino Cherry?
The New York Times Magazine
The modern maraschino cherry is “a real cherry with the cherry flavor removed,” explains Darcy O’Neil, a chemist and the author of “Fix the Pumps,” a history of the soda fountain. The original version, by contrast, was a marasca cherry — a sour, dark variety cultivated on the coast of Dalmatia (now part of Croatia) beginning in the mid-19th century. It was brined in ocean water, then preserved in a liqueur made from its own juices, as well as leaves and ground-up pits.
Who Made That Cocktail Shaker?
The New York Times Magazine
In 1848, George Foster, a reporter for The New York Tribune who spent his nights searching for good stories in the city’s seedier quarters, marveled at the way a bartender made a drink: “With his shirt sleeves rolled up, and his face in a fiery glow [he] seems to be pulling long ribbons of julep out of a tin cup.”
Who Made Those Bluejeans?
The New York Times Magazine
In the beginning, there were Levi’s. In 1853, during the heart of the gold rush, a Bavarian émigré named Levi Strauss arrived in San Francisco from New York, looking to expand his family’s East Coast dry-goods business. Among his wares were blankets, cloth by the yard and durable work pants, sometimes called “jeans pants.”
Who Made That Ziploc Bag?
The New York Times Magazine
“It seems hard to believe it now, but people did not know how to open the bag,” Steven Ausnit, developer of the original Ziploc, recently told an audience at Marquette University. He recalled that sometime around the early 1960s, his company persuaded Columbia Records to try a plastic sleeve with the zipper on top for albums. “At the final meeting, we were all set to go. The guy called in his assistant, handed her the sealed bag and said, ‘Open it.’
Who Made That Ice Pack?
The New York Times Magazine
Physicians have long made use of the medicinal powers of cooling. Hippocrates wrote that cold water is to be applied “when there is a hemorrhage, or when it is expected.” During the French Army’s ghastly retreat from Moscow in 1812, Napoleon’s surgeon in chief, Dominique Jean Larrey, used ice and snow to numb soldiers before field amputations.
Who Made That Slip ’N Slide?
The New York Times Magazine
Long before Apple and Amazon were founded in humble garages, another quintessentially if decidedly lower-tech American success story began the same way — only the garage was used as a human launching pad. In the summer of 1960, Robert D. Carrier, who worked as an upholsterer at a boat-seating manufacturer, arrived home to find his 10-year-old son, Mike, and a friend on the family’s driveway in Lakewood, Calif.