JJR512
New Member
I will forewarn you that there is very little, if any, point to this thread.
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In 1899, John Mast, from Pennsylvania, filed a patent on a type of mousetrap that is still today the most common type of mousetrap in the world.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited with saying, "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." When did he say this? Actually, he never said it all, but he died in 1882, some 17 years before what has proven to be the "better mousetrap" was designed. This quote wasn't even attributed to Emerson until seven years after his death, or ten years before Mast came up with the "better mousetrap". I wonder if a path was ever beaten to Mast's door?
Apparently, there are 400 patent applications filed each year related to mousetraps. The Patent Office has issued over 4400 so far.
What did Ralph Waldo Emerson actually say? It is most commonly considered that the prior quote is just a simplification of, "If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, then he will find the world has beaten a path to his door." Or something to that effect. In truth, Emerson never wrote anything about mousetraps. What he actually wrote was, "If a man has good corn, or wood, or boards, or pigs, to sell ... you will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house."
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In 1899, John Mast, from Pennsylvania, filed a patent on a type of mousetrap that is still today the most common type of mousetrap in the world.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited with saying, "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." When did he say this? Actually, he never said it all, but he died in 1882, some 17 years before what has proven to be the "better mousetrap" was designed. This quote wasn't even attributed to Emerson until seven years after his death, or ten years before Mast came up with the "better mousetrap". I wonder if a path was ever beaten to Mast's door?
Apparently, there are 400 patent applications filed each year related to mousetraps. The Patent Office has issued over 4400 so far.
What did Ralph Waldo Emerson actually say? It is most commonly considered that the prior quote is just a simplification of, "If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, then he will find the world has beaten a path to his door." Or something to that effect. In truth, Emerson never wrote anything about mousetraps. What he actually wrote was, "If a man has good corn, or wood, or boards, or pigs, to sell ... you will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house."
