Uncommon History of Common Things, An

by Bethanne Patrick, John M. Thompson, Henry Petroski (Foreword)

Pop culture fans and trivia lovers will delight in National Geographic’s highly browsable, freewheeling compendium of customs, notions and inventions that reflect human ingenuity throughout history. Dip into any page and discover extraordinary hidden details in the everyday that will inform, amuse, astonish, and surprise. From hand tools to holidays to weapons to washing machines, this book features hundreds of colorful illustrations, timelines, sidebars, and more as it explores just about every subject under the sun. Who knew that indoor plumbing has been around for 4,600 years, but punctuation, capital letters, and the handy spaces between written words only date back to the Dark Ages? Or that ancient soldiers baked a kind of pizza on their shields— when they weren’t busy flying kites to frighten their foes?

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Reference, Science, Trivia

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

BETHANNE PATRICK maintains a storied place in the publishing industry as a critic and as @TheBookMaven on Twitter, where she created the popular #FridayReads and regularly comments on books and literary ideas to over 200K followers. Her work appears frequently in the Los Angeles Times as well as at The Washington Post, NPR Books, and Literary Hub. She sits on the board of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation and has served on the board of the National Book Critics Circle. She is the host of the Missing Pages podcast.

Reviews

[Scott Klemm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really was intrigued by the idea of a book dedicated to explaining the antecedents of common everyday things, and bought the book with great anticipation. I ended up a little disappointment. First it was not as thorough as I would have liked. For example, the article on the telephone retells the familiar story of Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Watson. It then goes on to relate how an operator from a central switchboard was needed to connect all calls. But, here it ended until the topic of the cell phone was picked up a few pages later. When did the rotary dial come into use and when was it replaced by push-buttons? I would have liked to have seen a more thorough examination of each subject even if it necessitated reducing the total number of topics.

I also found some errors that to me indicate “sloppy” scholarship. In a section about locks and keys entitled “Uncommonly known…” it states that the modern lock used by most Americans for home security today was invented by Linus Yale in 1848. Actually the mortise cylinder lock was patented by Linus Yale Jr. on June 27, 1865. Could the 1848 date then refer to a lock invented by his father? This is still not a match. Linus Yale Sr.’s lock was patented in 1844 and was mainly used in banks. The erroneous date appears to have come from a Wikipedia article.

In the book’s section devoted to the doorknob, the authors, Patrick and Thompson, acknowledge that doorknobs had been in use for centuries, but were re-invented in 1878 by Osbourn Dorsey. His invention, we are told, “changed the way most Americans opened and closed their doors.” How did Dorsey’s invention change the way people opened and closed their doors? He made an improvement in the manufacturing process – not the design. (I’m sorry, but I’m not seeing the connection.)

Again, the authors appear to have gotten their information from Wikipedia which stated that Dorsey’s 1878 patent was “the first documented invention” of a door handle or knob. Actually Lewis Michaels of Covington, Kentucky received a patent for “attaching knobs to latches” on January 7, 1873, and Carpenter and Young of England had patented a lock with knobs as early as January 18, 1830.

Occasionally the authors allowed some outright fanciful assertions to be presented as fact. In explaining the origin of the religious term “amen,” they alleged that the term originated in ancient Egypt and meant “by Amun!” Similarity in sound does not prove etymology. Although written as Amun or Amon in English books, Egyptologists transliterate the hieroglyphs as imn. Egyptian writing does not use vowels so actual pronunciation is a matter of speculation. The first hieroglyph (transcribed as an i with a diacritic mark) in the name Amun is called a semi-vowel and corresponds to the Hebrew yodh.

In spite of the above listed criticisms, I do not mean to disparage the work. The book contains much interesting material, and I believe most of the information is reliable. Everything in this world has a beginning. For the average reader, An Uncommon History of Common Things will encourage them to thing about those objects, customs and holidays that are encountered daily - but seldom given a second thought.

[Eastofoz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent. It has the most unusual information that's presented in a reader friendly way with only essential facts and figures and some attractive pictures. It's well organized and makes for some great conversation. It's the type of book you could have lying around on a coffee table and pick it up every so often to find out something new. Great to give as a gift for the avid reader who has just about everything or for the history/popular culture buff.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pirate flags (aka "Jolly Rogers") didn't display the skull and crossbones. The first traffic light was installed in London in 1868 and exploded soon thereafter, injuring its operator. Ethiopians first discovered coffee by making energy bars out of the beans rolled in animal fat, but it was the Arabs in the 11th Century who first made coffee into a hot drink in the Yemeni port of Mocha.

I've been savoring these facts and other trivia from An Uncommon History of Common Things for the last 9 months or so. It's a book best sipped and savored slowly. Then you can amaze your friends and loved ones by dropping these scintillating facts into your casual conversation. Or perhaps you're ready for "Jeopardy." In either case, you'll enjoy this delightful compendium of the extraordinary stories behind ordinary things.

[Mike Shultz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another reviewer said that most of the entries are "rather bland" and that pretty much nails it. When you've got half a page to a page to give the coolest facts about ordinary items, why waste it on fluff? I had some specifics in mind, but honestly I can't be bothered to go get the book. Also (and a big also), I found errors in any entry about which I already knew a lot. Quick examples: the x-rays entry talks about electrons from a CRT shooting across the room. No they didn't. The electrons struck a surface and produced x-rays (duh, the topic of the entry.) The picture of someone holding a bow has the arrow on the wrong side. And on a page with lots of pictures of water bottles, their photo for a "waterskin" is a modern bota bottle, same one I had as a kid. This is mixed in with true antiquities. Weird. And sad. Lowered my trust in National Geographic. Shoddy work overall.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mildly interesting book put out by National Geographic that explores the history of "common" things with little three to five paragraph blurbs and sectioned off into categories. I always wonder how authors choose what things like this to profile. Frankly, most of the entries were fairly bland and contained info I already knew. That's partly what you get I guess when you have only a single column or two of text to explain the history of the safety pin, hot dogs, Thanksgiving, etc. Perhaps next time I'll try a more in depth history of just a single item.

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of those books with fascinating, random tidbits of trivia and information. So, if you relish knowing that Frank Lloyd Wright's son came up with the idea for Lincoln Logs, that the Japanese inability to say the "l" sound helped ferret out those trying to infiltrate Allied forces in the Phillipines, and why we practice so many of the customs and traditions that we do-- this book is for you.

...now, where's that Trivial Pursuit game...?

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I thought would be a fun little book with triviata and anecdotes turned out to be rather encyclopedic. Although learning about the history of items such as the safety pin is interesting a whole lot more whimsy would have been welcome. This is not a book which should be so dead serious. Handy as a reference to the obscure.

[Nathalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fascinating book for my future coffee table, this time from National Geographic because it's best sample bits at a time. This covers the gamut from foods, holidays, customs, toys, tools, medications, you name it and at $40.00 a pop, still one I will check out again and again from my library.

[Don LaFountaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book about the history of things we tend to take for granted.

The book is broken down into nine general subjects, which are further broken down into sub-categories that have a number of items described in them. As an example of what to expect when you are reading this book, here are some items taken directly from the pages, which I think will give the best description of it:
1) Food & Drink:
a) Cereal - wheat flakes that became Corn Flakes were originally served to the patients of a health sanitarium that was run by William and John Kellogg.
b) Ketchup - original ketchup was from the Chinese ki-tsiap, "a savory, fermented fish sauce".
2) Seasons & Holidays:
a) Father's Day - the holiday was originally celebrated in Spokane, Washington in 1910, but did not become an actual holiday until 1972.
b) Halloween - a serious and sacred ritual to honor Saman, the lord of death.
3) Ceremony & Customs:
a) Hand over mouth while yawning - people thought one's soul could slip out or evil spirits could slip in.
b) Coffin/Casket - they are used interchangeably, but mean different things. A coffin is specifically designed to hold a human corpse, while a casket is actually a box used to contain something precious.
4) Symbols & Markings:
a) Peace Symbol - though it is often associated with hippies of the 60's, it was created as a symbol for protesters to use in the antinuke protest.
b) Tattoos - the earliest known tattoo appeared on the body of a frozen Bronze Age man, dating 5,000 years ago.
5) Hearth & Home:
a) Flush Toilets - dates back about 2,700 years and were uncovered during an excavation at Lothal in India's Gujarat province.
b) Doorbell - the electric doorbell was invented in 1831 by the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
6) Garments & Accessories:
a) Dress - men and women both wore dresses, as it wasn't until the 16th century in Europe that men began to wear pants and trousers.
b) Umbrella - was first used by nobility as a means to protect themselves from the sun
7) Medications & Potions:
a) Toothpaste - to clean their teeth, the Romans used to use urine.
b) Cough Drops - medicine to suppress coughs date to 1200 B.C. in Egypt, as hard candies.
8) Toys & Games:
a) Parcheesi - comes from royal Indian game known as pachisi, played outdoors in a courtyard, using 16 beautiful harem girls as pieces.
b) Dolls - the earliest known dolls stem from 2,000 to 3,000 B.C., and were Egyptian paddle dolls.
9) Tools & Innovations:
a) Wheelbarrow - first made in 200 A.D. in China, as a solution to 2 wheel carts that were always tipping over into the rice paddies.
b) Pregnancy Test - around 1350 B.C., a pregnancy test consisted of a woman urinating of wheat and barley seeds. If the barley grew, she was pregnant with a boy; if the wheat grew, she was pregnant with a girl. If neither grew, she was not pregnant.

I very much enjoyed this book and reading about the history of so many different things. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes history, as well as anyone who wants quirky trivia knowledge of common items.

[Cheryl Gatling]

Most of the time, the history of common things is not that uncommon. Most of the time, a thing dates back to the time of the ancient Greeks, or the Etruscans, and then morphed into what we use today. But this book is fun to read. You can dip into it randomly, or pick it up when you only have a few minutes, and don't want to have to worry about losing a storyline, for example, when you want to read something, like, oh, I don't know, in the bathroom. It's excellent for that. And it has bright Dorling Kindersley style illustrations (although it is not a DK book, but published by the National Geographic company).

Here are a few of my favorite random tidbits:

TV dinners were invented in 1953 when for some reason the turkey market had misjudged how many turkeys would be needed for the holidays and there was a big surplus of leftover turkey.

Salsa has surpassed ketchup as America's favorite condiment.

Tea bags were invented when a Poughkeepsie tea merchant sent out samples of his tea in little silk pouches. Customers threw them in the water that way, and then started to ask for them.

Spoons were originally seashells.

Chopsticks were invented because fuel used to be scarce, so they cut the food up in bits so it would cook more quickly, then speared it with a stick.

And that's just from the food section. There are chapters on holidays, traditions, clothing, houses, toys and games, medicines, and more.

Daylight savings time was first suggested by Benjamin Franklin to make people wake up early, so they wouldn't burn as many candles at night. It was first adopted during WWI and then WWII as a fuel saving measure.

The chuppah at a Jewish wedding represents the groom's house, and the brides entering it (although I had elsewhere read that it represented the blessing of heaven). "The open sides of the canopy mean that the couple will establish a home that's always open to guests and generous in hospitality."

The peace symbol is a combination of the semaphore flags for N and D, standing for "nuclear disarmament," and was designed for a 1958 protest march.

Silly Putty was invented during WWII when the government was looking for artificial rubber. This particular batch was not what they were looking for, but it was fun to play with. An engineer brought some to a party where an advertising man was also attending, and the rest of that is history.

Velcro (beware, the name is trademarked) was inspired by burrs on a dog, and first bought by NASA for use on spacesuits. They put a patch of the hook stuff inside the helmet for the astronaut to scratch his nose on.

Petroleum jelly was gooey stuff that kept clogging up the equipment of men drilling for oil in Pennsylvania. The workmen put it on their skin. Robert Chesebrough marketed it as Vaseline.

And so on, and so on.

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Now, i'm a trivia fan. Useless information seems to stick in my brain much more effectively than useful stuff, so i had high hopes for this book. Some of the book was quite informative. Some of it was just common sense (Porches were created to keep people out of the hot sun.). The problem is, many of the things were so common that there was just no way to make their history interesting. So you end up with a whole lot of not so interesting history of a lot of not so interesting things.

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book from National Geographic. They seldom disappoint me. I found out some amazing trivia about common things and celebrations came to be. Sometimes you find yourself wanting more, but you can then reference these elsewhere to satisfy your avid curiosity. I found the writing to be engaging and the photos to be very well done.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

All about how modern-day items and foods came to be. Was very interesting to see how umbrellas were invented or why four leaf clovers are considered lucky. I'm hoping to one day use this knowledge in a project for school or to tell to my friends if it were to come up.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone who this type of book would interest, it will be seen as a collection of fairly common knowledge. It is a fun read. And truth be told, there are some errors. All in all, I enjoyed the journey.

[Marcie Lovett · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of an encyclopedia than a book to read straight through. Pick a section and learn about a particular item or event.

[JZ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bathroom book.

[Attika · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was bathroom reading material, and inadequate even in that capacity.

2 stars.

Firstly, the fact that the items being covered are "common things" means that the subject matter itself is somewhat dull. Socks. Underwear. Cold cuts. Belts.

ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz. ZZZZ*snort**grunt*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Secondly, so many of these items were invented so long in the past no one really knows much about their initial history. So you get tons AND TONS of introductions like this:

The earliest examples were probably . . .
For untold millennia, men and women have . . .
Evidence suggests that . . .
This item most likely dates back to . . .
According to ancient legend . . .
Some Biblical scholars maintain that . . .
Historians generally believe that . . .
No one is entirely sure how . . .
It is simply not known when . . .

Thirdly, some of the material the authors chose to include/exclude leaves one scratching one's head.
Take cowboy boots, for example.
If you look at Wikipedia, even they comment that "the shaft also protected the lower leg and ankle from rubbing on the stirrup leathers, as well as fending off brush and thorns, particularly if also worn with chaps or chinks. While dismounted, the shaft helped protect the leg and foot from rocks, brush, thorns, and rattlesnakes."
Rattlesnakes? RATTLESNAKES!!! Now HOW COOL IS THAT!?!?!
But does the book mention this?
No.
Instead, they comment: "Soon, artisan bootmakers like Tony Lucchese were stitching everything from horseshoes to presidential monograms onto the shafts of custom-made kicks."
What, THAT sounded more interesting (and was included) rather than RATTLESNAKES?
AUTHORS, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS? Are you TRYING TO MAKE YOUR BOOK BORING???

Fourthly, there are some egregious errors evidenced.
Take the "Skiing" entry for example.
Now anyone who knows anything about hitting the powder in the United States (and elsewhere?) KNOWS that there is an ongoing feud on the slopes between snowboarders and skiers, with it being mostly a "class" issue -- skiing lessons, lodging, and equipment are expensive, and resorts tend to cater to the clientele that has the money.
So for the photographic image the authors choose for "Skiing," guess what they use?
Yeah, you got it.
A snowboarder.

If they get something as simple as that wrong, you have to wonder about the rest of the material in the book.

Sigh.

2 stars.

[Bistra Ivanova · Rating 2 out of 5]

За съжаление на тази книга само заглавието й звучи интересно, иначе е от досадния за мен тип "за всекиго по нещо". Категориите, в които the common things са разделени, са най-различни - храна и напитки, празници, обичаи, символи, спорт, сгради, аксесоари, инстументи и още. Четеш, четеш имена, години и "любопитни факти", но друго, освен че ръкуването се е наложило като обичай, защото по този начин хората са показвали, че не носят оръжие, с което да разсмееш приятелите си, няма да получиш.
Подразниха ме изключително две неща: че книгата е АМЕРИКАНСКА и както всички американски неща, говори само за и на американците; второто е свързано със самите статии - разбирам, че те неминуемо ще бъдат кратки, както във всяка енциклопедия, но още в първата глава много ме възмути статията за маргарина, където се споменават какви ли не глупости, но не и това, че той се прави от нефт, че съдържа транс мазнини и в някои развити държави е направо забранен (Дания, Канада; ЕС също обсъжда тоталната забрана на транс мазнините, тоест и на тези маргарини). С една дума - статиите са едносстранчиви и недостатъчно информативни.
Още повече - в епохата на уикипедията, не виждам за какво би му била на някого тази тежка книга с твърди корици, лъскави, нечетивни на лампа, страници, лигави снимки и цена от ~80 лева. Освен за подарък някой да се излъже, друго не виждам. (Точно така стана и в моя случай, между другото, защото си я четях в книжарницата от време на време и един ден отивам... и някой просто я беше купил :-))

[Larry Hostetler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compendium of "how things came to be." Separate into nine sections, food, holidays, symbols, home, medicine, sports, and clothing, among other things. The book covers many things from the development of accessories (for clothing) to zippers.

Each page has one or more item discussed, with sidebars relating to either a timeline of the history or some other historical fact or oddity on the item. For instance, on the two pages that contained information on three items (toilet paper, tissues, and tampons) was a sidebar about Cleopatra. She illustrates the early use of cosmetics, and the next pages tell us more about the history of eyeliner and lipstick, both of which Cleopatra used. Also on the two pages with tissues and toilet paper is a "little known fact" about the development of baby wipes.

So the book has a lot of interesting information. But each of the nine sections has a heading that I ceased reading about halfway through as they didn't seem to add any new information, just present what was to follow to fill space. And at the beginning of each item's entry was a very short synopsis of content as well, although every so often there was something added that wasn't in the item history. Because of the duplication I couldn't give this otherwise interesting book a five star rating.

Not the kind to be read in one sitting, it was still a good read.

[Kristina Moses · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book had many interesting facts, though I had two main complaints. One, that the pictures included with each entry had no description, they were just stock photos to make the page look pretty, but could have been used to show more about the item, or what it looked like in the past. And two, that the editing was horrible. I found many awkward sentences, and some incorrect or misspelled words, I would be embarrassed if I was the editor of that book.

[Bekah Atkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

From an educator's standpoint this book has value for quick reference knowledge. Holidays and household items are covered, along with some other mundane foods and goods. While some history is obviously left out and some facts are questionable in their authenticity, the book serves its purpose. I would recommend this for use in a classroom library for younger students, or for quick reference and daily factoids. I would not, however, go out of my way to obtain a copy.

[Cindy Melcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the library and after an afternoon of "browse reading" I ordered my own copy. This book will help me as a teacher add those fascinating side notes to my teaching. Where to you get those great stories Mrs. Melcher? Now you know

[C.A. Craven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually knew many of these things already, but I still learned a lot more!

[Renee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to confess that I haven't read this book all the way through, I picked and chose the parts I wanted to read. I really liked this book, it would make a good coffee table book.

[Jan Polep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating factoids about everyday things. Only downside...really a lot to read so I skimmed most of it.

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating tidbits. A wonderful book to pick up and browse during commercials or when you can't focus on anything heavier.

[Saadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and informative

[Abranch71 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting facts, most I knew already.

[Bonnie Ustaszewski · Rating 2 out of 5]

So much potential.....but it fell short. I was intrigued by the chance of learning some interesting facts, but there was so much crammed into this book that each item was really just glossed over.

[B.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating!