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10 Colorado Inventors Who Helped Shape America

10 Colorado Inventors Who Helped Shape America

| Mar 29, 2022 | "Story Time" Newsletters

– Researched & written by Mike Hamers

Innovation is the driving force behind American business. If we weren’t constantly creating new products, our country of entrepreneurs would never be able to carve out new markets and push the dream forward. We’re all pretty familiar with the creation of Crocs, the cheeseburger, and rodeos. But let’s take a moment to appreciate other inquiring minds, the ones who solve problems with creative solutions and made their dreams a reality. Here are 10 inventions and ideas (big and small) that were born in Colorado.

1) WHEEL CLAMP / DENVER BOOT — Frank Marugg
A parking ticket meant a tow in the 1940s, and as Denver grew, this system became a logistical nightmare. Enter Colorado Symphony violinist Frank Marugg, who came up with the “auto immobiliser” – also known as the Denver Boot. In 1944 and patented it in 1958. Marugg’s invention has since been the bane of fugitive parkers nationwide and is even on display at the Smithsonian. 

CLYFFORD STILL MUSEUM, Denver
2.  RECYCLABLE ALUMINUM CANS – Adolph Coors
Adolph Coors is a key player in Colorado lore because of his beer-brewing vision. But his company also pushed the envelope in the manufacturing and distribution spaces: Coors was the first company to use a 2-piece aluminum can for its beverages in 1959. The 2-piece part is important, because it meant the entire base of the can could be created from a single piece of aluminum, then sealed on top with the second piece. That meant much lower packaging costs, better distribution — and more happy beer drinkers.
2. A. R. MITCHELL MEMORIAL MUSEUM OF WESTERN ART, Trinidad

3. XERISCAPING – Denver Water
The alternative to the manicured bluegrass lawn, the term ‘xeriscape’ was conceived by Denver Water as a drought-tolerant conservation measure in 1981, and the municipal utility still holds the copyright for the term. Officials came up with Seven Principles to Xeriscaping, and once threw a tongue-in-cheek “X-rated Party” to celebrate the water-thrifty concept.

The Seven Principles are:  1) Water-wise Planning & Design, 2) Low-water Using Plants, 3) Limit Grass Areas, 4) Water Harvesting Techniques, 5) Efficient Irrigation System & Design, 6) Use of mulch, and 7) Proper Maintenance.
2. A. R. MITCHELL MEMORIAL MUSEUM OF WESTERN ART, Trinidad
4. JOLLY RANCHERS – Bill Harmsen 
Bill Harmsen and his wife, Dorothy, opened an ice cream shop in Golden, Colo., in 1949. They made candy during the winter when ice cream sales were slow. They started with chocolates, but it was the cinnamon, watermelon, apple, cherry and lemon hard candies that propelled Jolly Rancher to regional and then international success.
2. A. R. MITCHELL MEMORIAL MUSEUM OF WESTERN ART, Trinidad
5. ROOT BEER FLOAT – Frank J. Misner
Nothing says summer like a root beer float. While A&W seems to have the market cornered, legend has it that this warm-weather favorite was actually invented in Colorado by Frank. J. Wisner. His “aha!” moment happened while gazing up at Cow Mountain: He saw the white snow on the peaks of the brown mountains, which inspired him to drop a scoop of ice cream into a glass of root beer. His creation was originally called a Black Cow, but is known worldwide as a Root Beer Float.

6. V-BELT – John Gates, Gates Rubber
In 1917, hemp and rope were the dominant materials for automotive and industrial belts, and John Gates, brother of Gates Founder Charles, came up with the world’s first rubber V-belt. It quickly became the industry standard, and the company was soon entrenched as the world’s top manufacturer of V-belts — and it still is, nearly a century later.

7. MOLYBDEBUM – Charles Senter
Colorado is also one of the world’s largest Molybdenum producers — a chemical element with symbol Mo and atomic number 42. It also helped the U.S. become the second largest producer of the element after China. The prospector Charles Senter discovered the outcropping of molybdenum sulfide veins in 1879, during the Leadville, Colorado Silver Boom. At the time there was no market, no known use for the metal. Later, when steelmakers determined the utility of molybdenum as an alloy in producing harder steel, the first ore shipments from the deposit began in 1915, and the Climax mine began full production. It is used in the production of alloy steel. Also, it is a good solid lubricant used normally under extreme temperatures, so it is widely used in gas turbines, gears, aerospace, nuclear industry, and other fields.
8. SHREDDED WHEAT – Henry Perky
Henry Perky invented shredded wheat cereal in Denver in 1890, as well as founding the “Cereal Machine Company”. Perky received a patent for the machine in 1895. His original intention was to sell the machines, not the biscuits. But the biscuits proved more popular than the machine. So he began distributing the biscuits from a horse-drawn wagon (in Denver) in an attempt to popularize the idea. Shredded wheat was premiered to the public at Chicago’s World Colombian Exposition in 1893. The first factory to produce shredded wheat was in Denver. Other factories were opened across the U.S. The company grew and became Nabisco in 1941, and was bought by Kraft Foods in 1993.

9. OUTDOOR CHRISTMAS LIGHTS – David Sturgeon
On Christmas Eve 1914, little David Sturgeon was sick in bed, too sick to join his family around the Christmas tree. His father, a pioneering Denver electrician, decided to cheer up his son, so he dipped lightbulbs in red and green paint, connected them to electrical wire, and hung them in a pine tree outside his son’s window — creating a tradition that quickly spread from Denver across the world, lending a garish, colorful cast to the holiday season.

10. TAMPON – Dr. Earle Cleveland Haas
Earle Haas was an osteopathic physician, a real-estate investor and inventor of the diaphragm before developing the first cotton tampon. Originally described it as a “catamenial device” – a term derived from the Greek word for “monthly”. After the patent was granted in 1933, Haas unfortunately couldn’t generate any interest in the tampon. So he sold his patent to businesswoman Gertrude Tendrich for $32,000. She would go on to form the Tampax® Corporation and begin mass production. Today more than 42% of women in the U.S. use tampons. Dr. Hass was later named one of the “1,000 Makers of the Century” by the London Sunday Times.

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Do you have an interesting idea for a newsletter article for Jim Crowder’s Newsletter? The topic should about some aspect of Colorado life: it’s history, people, places to visit, restaurants, parks, museums, etc. Jim loves “Top Ten” lists! Send on email to Jim at jim@crowder.com and let him know. We’ll even give you credit for suggesting the topic if we use it.

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