The Surprising Truth Behind Your Favorite Products

THE SURPRISING TRUTH BEHIND YOUR FAVORITE PRODUCTS

Have you ever wondered how your favorite products came to be?

I mean, who in the world came up with the idea of bubble wrap? And what evil genius was behind Play-Doh?

According to this great article from Insider, many of the popular brands and products we use every day were actually created by accident. And, as this article from Mental Floss explains, many of those products were originally intended for other purposes.  

Take America’s favorite soda, Coca-Cola, for example.

Originally invented in 1886, the concoction was meant as a cure for morphine addiction and anxiety.

Of course, back then the ingredients included alcohol and cocoa leaf extract. Yep—the same ingredients used to make cocaine.

In 1903, the cocaine ingredients were removed, and carbonation was added to make Coca-Cola the same delicious beverage we all enjoy today.

Coca-Cola isn’t the only product with a surprise beginning, though.

Did you know that WD-40 was first used for lubricating nuclear missiles during the Cold War? Or that the hair restoration product, Rogaine, was originally intended as a treatment for high blood pressure?

Or, how about the fact that the Slinky was invented as a way to stabilize naval instruments on the rough ocean?

Of course, my personal favorite take-away from these fun articles is the fact that bubble wrap was originally invented as textured wall paper.

For some strange reason, though, that idea that idea didn’t exactly take off.

The inventors futilely attempted to re-market bubble wrap as insulator for greenhouses.

However, it wasn’t until the IBM launched their new 1401 variable word length computer in 1959— and needed a way to protect it during transport— that bubble wrap finally found its real purpose in everyday life.