A group of us were chatting about our summer activities when I mentioned that Frisbees happened by mistakes. She doubted me, but I relayed the faded memory from a book we read with our kids about inventions, that told about a man named Frisbee who sold homemade pies on college campuses. The students never got around to returning the metal plates, and he went to find out why. When he saw kids hurling pans on campus, he abandoned baking and invented the game. 

 

I hunted for the tattered book on our shelves and had fun revisiting the wonderful ideas. Another book, Mistakes that Worked is full of the surprising origins of things we take for granted now, like chocolate chip cookies, and ice cream cones, post-its and velcro.  

 

The text tells about the United States Patent Office, whose director in 1875 recommended that they close the department. 

 

"There is nothing left to create," he believed.

 

Granted, there have been some duds over the years, including a power operated pool stick cue, and an alarm clock that squirts the sleeper. There were mischievous ones, as well, like the portable inflatable fire hydrant that holds your parking space for you. But imagination is alive and throbbing in the minds of children and grown-ups who look for a better solution.