Imagine the first person who created a toothbrush.
Better yet—imagine life before a toothbrush. Think about it: getting your mouth minty-fresh wasn’t exactly easy with twigs or rags. Same things with clean hair, unspoiled leftovers, unsmelly bathrooms, or cool gamepieces, as you’ll see in “Brief Histories of Everyday Objects” by Andy Warner.
Scientists say you do your best thinking in the shower.
That’s where Andy Warner was on the morning he was trying to “come up with an idea for a comic.” Sadly, there wasn’t much story in a showerhead, but his toothbrush turned out to be a pretty interesting thing. It also opened the door to more.
Take, for instance, shampoo.
Yes, people washed their hair prior to the 1860s but Sarah Breedlove saw a special need for special hair formula. Prior to Breedlove’s hair-care products, African American women used goose fat to tame their locks. Breedlove’s concoction, it should go without saying, was a whole lot better product.
Or how about shaving: King Gillette (his real first name, not a British title) made a fortune, but not from razors. He sold those at a loss but got rich from the disposable blades that went inside those razors. Genius marketing, no?
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