Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things (89 page)

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Authors: Charles Panati

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toast, drinking, 91–92

Wedgwood ware, 88–89

“Take the cake,” 94–95

“Talk turkey,” 95

Tappan Company, 126

Tarbes, Bishop, 188

Tartar steak, 399

Taun Ch’eng-shih, 173

Tea, 269–70

Teakettle, whistling, 119

Teddy Bear, 374–75

Teeth, whitening, 211–12

Teflon cookware, 105–7

Tennant, Charles, 156

Tertullian, 22

Thanksgiving, 6, 64–67, 391

“There Was a Little Girl” (nursery rhyme), 187

Thermos bottle, 116–17

Thimmonier, Barthélemy, 147

Thirteen, number, 11–12

“This Is the House That Jack Built” (nursery rhyme), 189

Thomas, Isaiah, 352

Thompson, Benjamin, 98

“Three Blind Mice, (nursery rhyme), 194

“Thumbs up” and “thumbs down”

gestures, 9–10

Tide detergent, 154

Time
(magazine), 364–66

“To Anacreon in Heaven” (song), 287

Toaster, 117–18

Toastmaster, 118

Toasts, drinking, 91–92

Toilet, flush, 203–4

Toilet paper, 204–6

Toiletries,
See
Cosmetics and toiletries Toilet water, 242

Toll House cookies, 415

Tombstone, 37

Toothbrush, 208–10

electric, 210

Toothpaste, 210–13

fluoride, 213

Top hat, 309

Top, 369–70

Totemism, 3

Tournament of Roses, 48

Towels, paper, 206

Toys and games, 368–87

board games, 376–77

checkers, 377

chess, 377

crossword puzzle, 375–76

dolls, 384–87

firecrackers, 383–84

Frisbee, 327–73

glow-in-the-dark toys, 381–82

hula hoop, 370–71

kites, 371–72

marbles, 368–69

Monopoly, 378–79

Parcheesi, 377–78

piggy bank, 382–83

roller skates, 382

scrabble, 379

Silly Putty, 379–80

Slinky, 380–81

Teddy Bear, 374–75

tops, 369–70

yo-yo, 371

Travers, Morris, 136

Trees

Christmas, 69–71

cults of, 6–8

Treneer, Maurice, 257

Trick-or-treating, 64

Trousers.
See
Pants

Tumblers, Tupperware, 129–30

Tupper, Earl, 129–30

Tupperware, 129–30

Tureen, 82

Turkey

“talk turkey,” 95

Thanksgiving Day, 65

Turnspit, 97–98

Tuxedo, 307–8

TV Guide
, 363–64

“Two Men in the Army” (song), 289

Umbrella, 318–19

superstitions surrounding, 16

Uncle Sam, 274–77

Underwear, 339–41

Underwood, William, 115

Vacuum cleaner, 138–40, 236–37

Valentine, bishop of Interamna (Saint), 50–51

Valentine cards, 51–53

Valium, 271–72

Van Houten, C.J., 415

Vasectomy, 336

Vaseline, 247–48

Veil, white wedding, 29–30

Velcro, 317–18

Verdun, Pierre, 114

Vernet, Charles, 309

“Vicar,” 42

Vick, Joshua, 253

Vick’s VapoRub, 252–54

Victoria, Princess, 28–29

Victoria, queen of Great Britain, 142, 324

Villafranca, Blasius, 419

Vinyl, 129

Vogue
(magazine), 355–56

Wagner, Richard, 28, 29

Wakefield, Ruth, 415

Walker, John, 108, 110, 354–55

Walker, Lewis, 316

Walker, William B., 117

Wallace, DeWitt, 362–63

Wallpaper, 149–50

Walnuts, 393–94

Walton, Frederick, 152

Ward, Samuel A., 288

Waring, Fred, 111–12

Waring Blendor, 111–13

Warner, Ezra J., 115–16

War of 1812, 282, 287–88, 290

Washers, clothes, 146

Washington, D.C., 281–82

Washington, George, 66, 212–13, 278–81,284, 290

Water softeners, 104–5

Wear-Ever cookware, 101

Webster, Noah, 350–51

Wedding customs.
See
Marriage and wedding customs

Wedgwood, Josiah, 88–89

Wedgwood ware, 88–89

Weely, Henry W., 143

Westinghouse, 118–145

West Point Military Academy, 290–91

Wham-O Company, 372–73

Wheat, brides showered with, 25–26

Wheelbarrow, 166–67

Whipped cream, 420–21

Whistling teakettle, 119

White House, 282

Whiteners, clothes, 154–55

Whiting, Richard, Abbot, 190

Wigs, 234–36

Williams, Edward, 151

Wilson, Samuel, 274–77

Wilson, Woodrow, 60

Windows

glass, 156–59

origin of the word, 158–59

Windshields, safety-glass, 158

Winson, Frederick Albert, 98–99

Wishbone, 5–6

Witches

black cats and, 14

Friday the thirteenth and, 13

horseshoes and, 5

Witch hazel, 251–52

Wolsey, Thomas, Cardinal, 185, 186, 188

Wonderful Wizard of Oz
(Baum), 181

Wood, Kenneth, 114

Wood, knocking on, 6–8

Woolley, Sir Leonard, 376

Worcester Magazine
, 352

Worcestershire Sauce, 403

Worth, Charles, 325

Wright, James, 379–80

Wrigley, William, Jr., 417

Wynne, Arthur, 375–76

Xenophon, 224

Xmas as abbreviation for Christmas, 71

XXX for kisses, 52

“Yankee Doodle” (song), 286–87

Yawning, covering one’s mouth when, 19–20

Youth’s Companion, The
, 280

Yo-yo, 371

Zahm, Matthew, 70

Zeolite, 105

Zippers, 316–17

Other Books by Charles Panati

SUPERSENSES

THE GELLER PAPERS

(
editor
)

LINKS

(
a novel
)

DEATH ENCOUNTERS

BREAKTHROUGHS

THE SILENT INTRUDER

(
with Michael Hudson
)

THE PLEASURING OF RORY MALONE

(
a novel
)

THE BROWSER’S BOOK OF BEGINNINGS

PANATI’S EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINS OF
EVERYDAY THINGS

PANATI’S EXTRAORDINARY ENDINGS OF
PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY

This book was first published in 1987 by Harper & Row, Publishers, under the title
Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things
.

PANATI’S EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINS OF EVERYDAY THINGS
. Copyright © 1987 by Charles Panati. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.

First
PERENNIAL LIBRARY
edition published 1987. Reissued 1989.

Designer: Erich Hobbing

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Panati, Charles. 1943–

Panati’s extraordinary origins of everyday things.

“Perennial Library.”

Includes index.

I. Encyclopedias and dictionaries. I. Title. II. Title: Panati’s extraordinary origins of everyday things.

AG6.P37 1989 031 8945180

ISBN 0-06-096419-7 (pbk.)

05
RRD H
40 39 38 37 36

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