Archive for February, 2008
Delighted by Fairy Floss
On February 28, 2008 in Intellectual Property, IP- A strategy tool, General
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Image by jalefkowit via FlickrThe best part of being a parent is that you sometimes almost accidentally discover the child in yourself- as alive and curious as the little one besides you whom you are supposed to showing, teaching, and the works! I had one of such ‘aha’ moments a few days back. It all happened very innocuously, at a mall where I had taken my 5 year old to play a few video games, last Saturday. After the games were over, on our way back, he saw a cotton candy machine and insisted he wanted to have cotton candy. I don’t really fancy such stuff but I didn’t see any reason to deny him this simple request (demand!), and ordered for one of these delicacies. As the candy man switched on the machine, I found myself completely mesmerized by the entire process. I watched in total glee and rapt attention as the cotton candy machine came to life. I pulled up my son to see the working of this neat wonder machine. And two pair of curious eyes saw, at first almost invisible, and then as eyes got accustomed to the scene, the magic like creation of thin, delicate pink colored webs in the hollow of the machine. Next, the candy man, with great delight took out a stick and twirled it around to gather these webs and the cotton candy grew and grew till my son could not resist any more and started to yell..I want it ..I want it….
On my way back, I couldn’t help noticing my fascination for this neat, magical, and simple looking machine. And I digged up a bit about the cotton candy machine, that has delighted almost every child across the globe.
It all seemed to have started in late 1800s and early 1900s when the process of making cotton candy or fairly floss and the machine to do so came into existence.
Wharton and Morrison from the state of Tennesse, USA are credited for the first patent for a machine for making cotton candy (Patent #618,428, January 31, 1899). Apparently they were in the candy making business when they came up with this invention. Their patent has 3 independent claims, and in my view, these are really broad. The first claim states “a rotated perforated vessel and a heating attachment, or a burner” - this seems to cover all the subsequent generations or versions of the cotton candy machine.
After obtaining the patent in 1899, Wharton and Morrison successfully introduced their machine in 1904 at a fair at St Louis World’s Fair where the fairy floss became a great hit. There are a couple of more patents filed around 1905 and 1907 that include specific improvements or enhancements to this machine. Patenting activity has continued in this area and it is still active even now! However, one company brought about significant improvement in these machines in 1949 by introducing spring bases that increased the reliability and life of the machines. This company, Gold Medal Products, Cincinnati, Ohio, supposedly is a sole manufacturer of cotton candy machines in USA. They have 50+ patents covering different aspects of these machines.
Moving on from the machine, to the process of making cotton candy… A gentleman by the name of Thomas Patton seemed to have stumbled upon the technique to make cotton candy while he was experimenting with caramelizing sugar formed threads using a fork. He used a gas fired rotating plate to spin cotton candy threads and also received a patent on this process in 1900.
So thanks to the diligences of Whartons, Morrisons, Pattons, employees of Gold Medal Products and all other unknown promoters of this really tasty, fantasy delight, fairy floss is here to stay in our lives and lives of children.
Sources:
http://www.kitchenware-manufacturers.com/cotton-candy-maker.html
http://www.candyusa.org/Candy/cottoncandy.asp
http://www.cottoncandy.net/invention.html
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki
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