Muggle Inventions: Inventions I-J

Instant Noodles

The history of instant noodles also known as pot noodles or cup noodles, goes way back to the Chinese Quin Dynasty. The first version of the noodles is deep-fried so they could be stored longer. But the modern Instant Noodle, Japanese dish ramen which many people love these days is invented by Taiwanese Japanese businessman Momofuku Ando who died at the age of 96. In 1958, Ando's company launched the world's first instant noodle product, Chikin Ramen (chicken-flavored instant ramen). To cook the noodles you have to add hot water to it and let it sit for three to five minutes. There are many different flavors of instant noodles too, like chicken, shrimp, beef and even curry in Japan. Then in 1971 the company introduced the famous Cup Noodle, instant noodles in a waterproof styrofoam container that could be used to cook the noodles. Presently, Instant Noodles are so popular that some schools sell them at lunch, Japan has an Annual production of over five billion meals per year, the game Sims2 provides each Sim with them, and even the cartoon Naruto enjoys them. I like Instant Noodles because they are easy to 'cook' and taste really good. *drools* Nowadays, the instant noodles are spread worldwide. In countries like China, the noodles are a fast-growing market for noodles. In the United States and Britain, the noodles are a big part in the students’ life. Since the noodles are cheap and easy to prepare, many students, especially college ones, have a ‘diet’ of these.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_noodles#Instant_noodles_worldwide
http://www.instantramen.or.jp/english/history/history04.html


If the wizarding world had instant noodles, they would have a special spell to cook in an instant so the hungry people would not have to wait for the noodle to actually be eatable. Another thing that can help make instant noodle better is probably make it have more flavor, like the Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans so there a variety of what you eat.

Jigsaw Puzzles

Jigsaw Puzzles were invented around 1760 by John Spilsbury, a London engraver and mapmaker. He had cut one of his maps with a saw to teach British kids their geography. The idea of jigsaw puzzles until the 1820 were only used for educational tools. The puzzles made in 1880 were made of wood. In the late 1880, the puzzles became made of cardboard which was mainly used by kids. In the early 1990’s there were two kinds of puzzle types available: wood and cardboard. Many people preferred wood since they consider cardboard puzzles as ‘too cheap’. The years of 1920s and 1930s were the ‘golden age’ for jigsaw puzzles. In Great Britain and the United States, they were producing a diversity of puzzles like for entertainment, with new marketing strategies. One of the strategies was to make it more difficult so it makes both adults and children to buy it. Another method that may seem kind of lame is that they use puzzles as an advertisement space. For example, someone used the puzzles to advertise their toothbrush company. Also during the Great Depression in the United States, puzzles became ‘weekly’ thus more people bought them due to the puzzle can entertain for a long time, it can be shared with others, can reduce stress, and it had a cheap price. Nowadays, jigsaw puzzles are as popular as before especially after the invention of computers and ipods, but once in a while, teachers bring in puzzles of the world for the kids or a bored person might rummage through their closet and just fiddle around with the pieces. I am not a particularly big fan of puzzles since most of the time; I am unable to solve them, especially the four-hundred pieces ones. I am also a messy person so I loose the pieces easily.

http://www.jigsaw-puzzle.org/jigsaw-puzzle-history.html

In the wizarding world, a charm like accio can help located missing pieces of a puzzle. Also there may be a charm to put it back together, like arrange them to the correct picture, when the person is absolutely frustrated with the puzzle. Sometimes the boxes of puzzles say four and up, since they don’t want little toddlers to swallow them so maybe a mom can put a charm over them just in case one of the pieces are lying around.

[b]Ice Cube Trays

No one knows for sure who invented the ice cube tray, however, the inventor is believed by some to be Dr. John Gorrie, an American physician. In 1844 he invented a special refrigerator to make ice for his yellow fever patients. It is believed he may have invented to ice cube tray because his patients are documented to have recieved iced drinks. In 1914 the DOLEMRE refrigerator was invented by Fred Wolf. It was largely unsuccesful, however, it included a simple ice cube tray that inspired others to put the trays in their appliances. In the 1920s and 1930s it became common for refrigerators to come with ice cube trays. The first flexible metal ice cube tray was invented by Guy Tinkham in 1933. He was the vice president of the General Utilities Mfg. Company, which produced household appliances. His invention was called the McCord ice tray and cost $0.50 in 1933. These trays were eventually replaced by plastic trays which later paved the way for the modern built in ice machines. I personally am very grateful for my ice cube trays. I can't afford a refrigerator with a built in ice machine, and the plastic trays are usually free with the appliance. For the most part they are pretty easy to use except when the water freezes to the plastic and you have to wrestle the ice out. The main thing that I don't like about them is having to refill them when they are empty; mostly becuase my roommate uses more ice than me and never refills them herself.

Source:
http://inventors.about.com/od/istartinventions/a/IceCube.htm

This product would be very easy to magically enhance. The two main issues I have with them are having to refill them and disliking when the ice melts into my drink and waters it down. A permanent refilling charm could be placed on them so that whenever a cube is taken out, it is automatically replaced. A charm could also be placed on them to make the ice unmeltable in liquid so that the ice never waters down the drink.


[b]Jell-O

In 1845, Peter Cooper, who was an industrialist, inventor, and philanthropist, acquired the first patent for a gelatin dessert. However, he never promoted the product. The patent was bought in 1895 by Pearl B. Wait, a cough syrup manufacturer, who turned it into a prepackaged commercial product. It was renamed "Jell-O" by his wife, May David Wait. These two, however, were also unsuccesful in selling their product. Enter Frank Woodward, who was a high school dropout. At the age of 20, Frank had his own business and bought the rights to Jell-O for $450 in 1899. The sales of the company were so low that he offered to sell the rights to Jell-O to his plant superintendent, Sam Nico, for $35. Before he could make the sale, however, his investment had finally paid off. The name Jell-O was used publically in 1900, and by 1902 sales had reached $250,000. Sales had reached $1 million by 1906 and the popularity rose by sending out salesmen to demonstrate Jell-O and hand out copies of a Jell-O cookbook. Woodward's company, Genesee Pure Food Company, was renamed Jell-O Company in 1923 which later merged with Postum Cereal . They became the General Foods Corporation. I think that Jell-O is amazing. It's delicious and not at all bad for you. It tastes like candy but fits into a healthy diet. You can cut it into shapes and it's fun to play with because its all jiggly. The only thing I would change about Jell-O is make it all instant.

Source:
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bljello.htm
http://www.jellomuseum.com/#History

To magically enhance this product I would place charms upon it to do certain things. For instance, it would be fun if it changed colors by itself and if it changed colors like a mood ring. It would also be fun if the flavor changed as you were eating it to correspond with your favorite flavors.

ICE CREAM

Ice Cream is a deliciously edible frozen dessert made of milk and cream and whipped up with sweet flavors liek strawberry, lemon and chocolate etc. It is said that the ice treats sold toady developed from the ones used almost 4,000 years ago. The pharaohs of Egypt had ice shipped to them. In the fifth century BC, ancient Greeks sold snow cones mixed with honey and fruit in the markets of Athens. Persians, having mastered the storage of ice, ate ice cream well into summer. Roman emperor Nero had ice brought from the mountains and combined with fruit toppings. Ice cream became popular throughout the world in the second half of the 20th century after cheap refrigeration became common. There was an explosion of ice cream stores and of flavors and types. Vendors often competed on the basis of variety.

To magically enhance this delicious treat, I would make it to where it won't ever melt. You'd be able to take it anywhere and open it up and still have it nice and cool.

JIGSAW

Jigsaws are numerous small, oddly shaped, interlocking pieces. Each piece has a small part of a picture on it and when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture.Jigsaw puzzles were originally created by painting a picture on a flat, rectangular piece of wood, and then cutting that picture into small pieces with a jigsaw, hence the name. John Spilsbury, a London mapmaker and engraver, is credited with commercialising jigsaw puzzles around 1760.Typical images found on jigsaw puzzles include scenes from nature, buildings, and repetitive designs. Jigsaw puzzles typically come in 300-piece, 500-piece, 750-piece, and 1,000-piece sizes, however the largest commercial puzzle has 24,000 pieces. For those new to puzzles it is recommended that you choose one consisting of multiple areas with contrasting designs and colors. This enables the narrowing down of potential portions of the puzzle where a particular piece will fit. Also, you should start by separating the edges from the inside pieces. Then connect the outside edges, and work inward.

To magically enhance this game I would have to where if you cannot figure out where a piece goes it may give you a hint or clue as to where it may go.

Sources:
Wikipedia

The first ice cube tray was invented in 1933 by Guy Tinkham. This tray had flexible slides running throughout it so when moved the ice would come out easily. The tray cracked the ice into cubes and forced it out. The ice cube tray when first invented cost $00.50 and was called the McCord ice cube tray.

This wasn't just a whim though the idea came from an early refrigerator called the Domestifc Electric refrigerator that was invented around 1914. This refrigerator came with a simple ice cube tray but little is known about it.

Even before that there is a a possibility of an ice cube tray as late as 1844. During that time yellow fever was quite a problem and it is believed that possibly a doctor named Doctor Gorrie gave his patients iced drinks possibly (again) having had an ice tray to make the ice.

Though now there are plastic trays that replaced the ejecting McCord trays. Plus refrigerators come with automatice ice makers and disspencers so trays aren't used as much anymore.
To magically inhance this tray I would focus more on the plastic ones. The ice tends to stick to the plastic more that to metal so if something was done to make the surface smoother the ice wouldn't stick. Or if you had to fix the automatic ice makers a charm or spell that wouldn't allow the ice to freeze into a big clump would be useful. Ice does tend to freeze together and causes the machine to stop working.

My grandmother had one of the McCord ice trays and it worked wonderfully. Though the tray was cold to the touch because it was metal the ice came out easily without having to hit the tray onto a hard surface. Now we have these silly plastic ones that the ice doesn't seem to want to leave and you end up with smaller pieces of the single cube instead of the cube as a whole.
source: inventors.about.com

Jigsaw puzzles were invented around 1760 by a man named John Spilsbury. Spilsbury was an engraver and mapmaker from London. What was done was that maps were pasted onto pieces of wood and cut apart. It was widely used as an educational toy because they would be put back together now.

Even today puzzles still come as maps but other pictures as well. They also come in a variety of sizes or piece amounts. Some puzzles are even 3-D where you are putting together buildings or even a globe.

Puzzles are alright I suppose, but they are a pain. I do enjoy putting them together and when I babysit they do come in handy. What I can't stand is when you sit down to put together one of those 1000 piece puzzles and it takes up to a week.

If anything could be done to magically fix this invention it would be to put itself together when it was one of the larger puzzles since those are the more annoying ones. Overall jigsaw puzzles aren't that bad. They are intertaining and some do look nice once together.
source: inventors.about.com

Ice Cream is my all time favorite dessert. I always tell my mom what a good source of dairy it is because it is made of milk , and cream. To make it they take the desired dairy products I just mentioned and add sweetners (like sugar) to it. They churn it slowly while it cools so that theres not actually ice in it. Then they flavor it with a variety of things. They range from the common and tradition like choclate, vanilla and strawberry to the new and exceiting like cotton candy and bubble gum. Mesopatamia had the first "Ice House" in exisitance almost 4,000 years ago. Greece were the first to sell snow cones which are basically the same idea although instead of cream they use actual ice. No matter where it was created people all over the word love this tasty treat (not to mention all the toppings. =P)

To magically enhance ice cream I would have the cartons refill themselves and have them at a perfect temperture at all times. For example, not cold enought to give you brain freeze, but it will never get warm enough to melt



Jump rope which is also known as skipping rope is a game that I played when I was younger. It is played when one or more people try to jump over a rope that is being spun around and around. I always sang rhymes while jump roping to add to the challenge. If it said to jump you had to jump or if it said turn you would fallow suit all while keeping the rythem. Also, there were games where if you messed up while on a word it would mean something (usually embaressing). Now, I don't play jump rope anymore but I know kids who can Double - Dutch which is when there are two ropes spinning in opposite directions at the same time. This is much harder and a lot of fun to watch. This childs game is rumored ot have been around since the days of Judas.

To magically enchance the jumprope, I would have it self spinning. That way you wouldn't need friends to play and it would go at a steady place instead of speeding up or slowing down. It would make it more competative if the ropes spun themselves because then you would have to buy "models" of ropes. XD

Sources:
www.en.wikipedia.org

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