An angle jig for use with electric hand drills. The arms would telescope as the bit entered the work; graduations would indicate the depth drilled.
By R.Knudson, Hanover, N.H.
May 1963
You can purchase a modern-day angle jig from Amazon…
Creative Ideas From The Past
Easy-to-handle-fishing gear – fishing net, boat hook, and gaff designed as snap-on heads so that you could use them all with a single pole.
Idea by Anthony J Santoro, Farmingdale, N.Y., May 1963
What is a fishing net and when was the first recorded invention?
A fishing net is a device used to prevent fish from swimming away while hooked up to the pole. The first net was invented in the 11th Century A.D. in Europe and consisted of a mesh trap suspended from the end of a fishing line to capture large fish. The mesh was very fine and prevented the fish from swimming through. The mesh is set to approximately one inch or less for this reason. The earliest fishing nets were made from bamboo.
Purchase your own on Amazon!
I couldn’t find multi-use fishing gear on Amazon, but you can purchase a telescopic pole fishing net…
Bug bombs for phone booths that would spray at the drop of a coin. I’d gladly spend a penny to get rid of insects drawn by light at night.
By C.Petzold, Runnemede, N.J.
May 1963
You can purchase your very own bug spray from Amazon…
This is an idea for a chemical hardener for an earth fill. You could pour it into a double-walled blow-up mold and make an adobelike shelter.
By F.M.Scott, Leonia, N.J.
May 1962
Windproof cigarette holders for convertible owners. This idea for a funnel-shaped holder with side vents and a lid might slow the combustion when driving along with the roof down to that of a normal smoke.
By G.Nattboy, Brooklyn.
May 1962
You can buy cigarette holders from Amazon, pretty sure that they’re not wind proof though…
Road maps could be placed on microfilm with a tiny viewfinder built into the dashboard of the car. Only a small area of the map would need to be viewable on the screen.
By G.A.Mayerchak, Brooklyn Park, Minn.
May 1962
These days, you would no doubt use a GPS system instead, such as these available from Amazon…
A cooking pot designed for both left and right-handed people. Simply by adding pouring lips to both sides of a cooking pot would make it easy to use for both right and left-handed people.
By Marjorie Hill, New York City.
May 1962
A cooking pot that could function with either right- or left-handed people.
This concept was invented by a woman named Karen Sussman who owns a product design firm in Massachusetts. Sussman came up with the idea when she became frustrated with a saucepan that she could use but not for the left side.
“The saucepan had an L-shape handle on it, and when I wanted to cook or heat food on my left side I had to set the pan aside and move the handle,” Sussman told ABC News. “I would like a two-piece saucepan that could operate equally well for me in either direction.”
The idea is simple but the engineering challenges are great. Sussman said the design started with three key elements — a two-piece handle, a tight lip to fit on the pot, and a hinge mechanism that would allow users to control the angle of the pot and release pressure on the pot.
“We need the ability to control the heat level of the food without having to remove the lid, or we’re not cooking properly,” she said.
The goal of the new handle is to allow people to control the heat without the need to put their whole hand on the handle. The handle is ergonomically shaped and features a flat surface near the bottom to rest flat against the counter and a raised area near the top to hold on to for controlling heat.
The lip on the handle would seal the pot when closed and allow users to use the handle as a heat diffuser. The hinge would attach the pot to the handle for easy transfer of heat.
In the testing, Sussman said the team found that their design actually worked better than their original design. The testing process involved the pot being heated to 400 degrees.
You can purchase a pot a double-handed pot from Amazon…
A roll-up patio roof housed in a rustproof cylinder. In the summer, you would mount it on a house wall, pull it out, and prop it up. In winter you would be able to lift it completely off for storage.
By W.E.Seiler, Lutherville, Md.
May 1962
You can purchase motorized sun shades from Amazon…
Small water pumps for pipes leading to a shower or a garden-hose faucet to keep the pressure constant if the water is drawn elsewhere in the house.
By Kurt Alverson, Tonawand, New York.
May 1961
You can purchase small water pumps on Amazon…
Pipe caps, in both pointed and flat-end designs. Hammering a flat one would drive pipe under a sidewalk to carry cable for outdoor wiring.
By Steve Hullcranz, Oak Park, Ill.
May 1961