By Marilyn Jones
It's fascinating to learn that many everyday items and services originated in Nebraska. Every tool, innovation, food product, and service started with an idea, a need. Here are some of Nebraska's inventions recognizable nationwide and, for some, worldwide.
Vise-Grip Locking Pliers
Danish immigrant and DeWitt blacksmith designed locking pliers in the early 1920s. Patented in 1924, he named his invention Vise-Grip. At first, DeWitt produced the pliers in his blacksmith shop and sold the pliers from the trunk of his car. Within four years, he had more than 600 employees. The tools were very popular. Mechanics and carpenters could grab a nut or a bolt and hold onto it, freeing their hands. Today, Vise-Grips are sold in almost every hardware store.
Butter Brickle Ice Cream
Butter brickle ice cream features high-quality butter brickle pieces whipped into vanilla bean ice cream. It was initially introduced to the world by Omaha's Blackstone Hotel restaurant in the 1920s.
TV Dinners
In the 1950s, Swanson created a meal that was easy to prepare and came in single portions. Other companies had already developed several different frozen dinner variations, but Omaha-based Swanson developed the idea nationally. The term "TV dinner" most likely came from families eating meals in front of the television at dinner time. Swanson executive Gerry Thomas claims that when the company found itself with a massive surplus of frozen turkeys in 1953, he conceived the idea. The dinners contained turkey and an assortment of vegetables and cornbread. The dinners came in aluminum packaging to be heated in the oven.
CliffsNotes
Cliff Hillegass, an employee at Nebraska Book Co. in Lincoln, met Canadian Jack Cole. Cole published study guides. Hillegass purchased the American rights and began producing them under the name CliffsNotes. Hillegass and his wife, Catherine, started the business in their basement at 511 Eastridge Drive with 16 William Shakespeare titles. By 1964 sales reached one million Notes annually. CliffsNotes now exist for hundreds of works. The company would go on to create reference guides for subjects other than literature.
The Chair Lift
The Omaha design company Union Pacific engineer James Curran created the ski chairlift in 1936. His inspiration came from hook-equipped banana conveyor systems that loaded cargo ships in the tropics. Later that year, the first chairlift was installed in Sun Valley, Idaho, a resort owned by Union Pacific. It turned out to be groundbreaking for the ski industry,
Raisin Bran
Skinner's Raisin-BRAN was created in 1926 by Lloyd M. Skinner and Paul Skinner, owners of Skinner Manufacturing Company in Omaha. For 17 years, Skinner owned the product's name until Kellogg's and Post began selling their raisin bran versions. Skinner filed a cease-and-desist to keep ownership of his raisin bran product, but the ruling was that a product description was not a trademark.
Top 40 Radio Stations
In 1949, radio was still many Americans' main form of entertainment. That may be why the Storz family decided to purchase a radio station in Omaha. They named Todd Storz as the manager of KOWH, and instead of playing soap operas or talk shows, he opted to play popular music. He made the decisions based on record sales, jukebox plays, and other data. His strategy resulted in KOWH's ratings making it the top independent station in the country.
Kool-Aid
Edwin E. Perkins began mixing up potential products in his mother's Hendley kitchen at age 12 or 13. Perkins sold several products, including a tobacco habit remedy, and moved with his wife to Hastings in 1920. In 1927, Perkins mixed up the first packet of what would become Kool-Aid. Inspired by a drink concentrate called Fruit Smack, he created a formula to remove the liquid from the drink until only a powder remained. The process would reduce shipping costs. Hastings celebrates its claim to fame by hosting "Kool-Aid Days" on the second weekend in August.
Cushman Model 53 Airborne Scooter
Cushman Motor Works, a Lincoln company, manufactured farm equipment engines. During WWII, they introduced the Cushman Model 53 Airborne Scooter. The scooter, designed to be dropped by parachute and airborne soldiers from a plane, ensured easy mobility and communication between units.
The Reuben Sandwich
It's widely believed that the Reuben Sandwich, corned beef and sauerkraut with melted Swiss cheese and Russian dressing on warm rye bread, was invented at Omaha's Blackstone Hotel by Reuben Kulakofsky. It first appeared on their menu at one of Blackstone's restaurants in 1925.
SAFER Barrier
The Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) Barrier minimizes the danger of racing. It lowers the risk to drivers in the event of a crash and is used today on IndyCar and NASCAR circuit tracks. From 1998 to 2002, the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln designed the race track safety wall.
Does this list make you want to invent something? Go for it; maybe you’ll make the next list!