Origin of Everyday Things

by Johnny Acton, Tania Adams, Matt Packer

Guide for history buffs, science students, lovers of popular culture, and natural-born detectives. With background on the origins of more than 300 modern phenomena, objects, sayings, stories, and superstitions that most people take for granted. Complete with humorous illustrations and easy-to-navigate chapters, the eye-opening explanations and amazing anecdotes reveal the truth behind the birth and brilliance of the brown paper bag; the 4,000-year history of toothpaste and its torrid past; and the reasons for the staying power of popular puzzles from Rubik®s Cube to sudoku. Find out why we have nature to thank for velcro, valium, and the Guggenheim; why we get the blues and not the reds; and why Heinz has the Romans to thank for its saucy success. Describes the origin of more than 400 garments, machines, foods, sports, places, phenomena, and other everyday things that most people take for granted. Arranged alphabetically.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Trivia

318 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trivia books are always fun, though I often want to check individual articles against another source to be sure it's accurate. This one was great bedtime reading: not connected to anything else I was reading, not even connected one article to another. Each entry was independent of others. Most were short, less than a page. Occasionally a two-page spread would have 4 entries. Some articles had a drawing or other illustration, often a drawing from a patent application. Articles are arranged in alphabetical order so pogo stick is followed by popcorn.
I'll probably reread this one.

[Chris Seltzer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Count this among the books I think were obsolete by the internet. Certainly, there must be a website out there with a significantly better version of this content?

The book itself contains large type but small images, which are all in black and white. It's unclear how the objects included were selected, but I thought organizing them alphabetically was the wrong choice. Some sort of category system or linear timeline would have been better.

The content is fine, but I'm sure a quick search on Wikipedia would give you a more in-depth history than this book does.

[Bennett Rosner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love Origin of Everyday Things. Whenever i'm in that period between finishing a novel and starting a new one this is my go to book to fill in the gap. Its informative, not overly specific, and arranged in an easy to follow manner. Ive owned it for who knows how many years, but still every time I read it I learn something new.