Read Online Uncle John's Great Big Bathroom Reader by Bathroom Readers’ Institute - Free Book Online
Authors: Bathroom Readers’ Institute
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Their lack of enthusiasm showed up in test-marketing. It failed miserably.
STUCK ON YOU
Fry’s boss couldn’t believe that they wouldn’t succeed if marketed properly. After all, they were using thousands of them at 3-M. The company decided to try a one-shot test-market blitz in Boise, Idaho. Their sales reps blanketed Boise with free samples and order forms. The result: a 90% reorder response from the companies that received samples—more than twice the 40% the company considered a success.
Post-Its went into full national distribution in 1980 and caught on across America. They’ve since become an international hit as well.
“The Post-It was a product that met an unperceived need,” says Fry. “If you had asked somebody what they needed, they might have said a better paper clip. But give them a Post-It Note, and they immediately know what to do with it.”
----
“Too bad 90% of the politicians give the other 10% a bad reputation.”—Henry Kissinger
----
Q&A: ASK THE EXPERTS
Everyone’s got a question or two they’d like answered. Here are a few of those questions, with answers from some of the nation’s top trivia experts.
M AKE A WISH
Q: How do trick birthday candles (which keep relighting after being blown out) work?
A: “The wicks are treated with magnesium crystals. The crystals retain enough heat to reilluminate the wick after the candles are blown out. Because the magnesium-treated wicks retain heat so well, experts recommend extinguishing the candles permanently by dipping them in water.” (From Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses? , by David Feldman)
FOILED AGAIN
Q: Does it matter which side of the aluminum foil is used?
A: “The dull and shiny sides of the foil have no special meaning; they are simply a result of the way that the foil is made. In the final rolling step of the manufacturing process, two layers of aluminum foil are passed through the rolling mill at the same time. The side that comes in contact with the mill’s highly polished steel rolls becomes shiny. The other side, which does not come in contact with the heavy metal rolls, comes out dull.
“Shiny or dull, it does not matter.” (From Why Does Popcorn Pop? , by Don Voorhees)
UMM...WHAT WAS THAT?
Q: Is it true that elephants never forget?
A: Believe it or not, yes. “We know this because of an experiment many years ago by a professor in Germany. He taught an elephant to choose between two wooden boxes, one marked with a square, the other with a circle. The box with a square had food in it, the other didn’t.
----
What’s your favorite? One of every three Girl Scout cookies sold are Thin Mints.
----
“It took 330 tries before the elephant figured out that ‘square’ meant ‘food.’ Once it got the idea, though, things went a lot quicker. Soon the professor could put any two markings on the boxes. The elephant would experiment a few times, figure out which sign meant ‘food,’ then pick the right box from there on out.
“The professor came back a year later and tested the elephant again using the old markings—circles, squares, and so on. Amazingly enough, the elephant still remembered which markings were the signs for food.
“That’s why elephants are so popular in circuses. It may take them a while to learn the act, but once they’ve got it, they’ve got it for good.” (From Know It All! , by Ed Zotti)
TEE-HEE
Q: Why don’t we laugh when we tickle ourselves?
A: “The laughter which results from being tickled by someone else is not the same as laughter that comes from being amused. When someone tickles us, the laugh is a reflex action [that] is really a cry of distress, essentially begging the person to stop stimulating our sensitive skin. When we tickle ourselves, we’re not at the mercy of someone else. If the feeling becomes too intense, we stop. Therefore, no distress signal is needed.” (From A Book of Curiosities , by Roberta Kramer)
OIL’S WELL
Q: What’s the world’s
STUCK ON YOU
Fry’s boss couldn’t believe that they wouldn’t succeed if marketed properly. After all, they were using thousands of them at 3-M. The company decided to try a one-shot test-market blitz in Boise, Idaho. Their sales reps blanketed Boise with free samples and order forms. The result: a 90% reorder response from the companies that received samples—more than twice the 40% the company considered a success.
Post-Its went into full national distribution in 1980 and caught on across America. They’ve since become an international hit as well.
“The Post-It was a product that met an unperceived need,” says Fry. “If you had asked somebody what they needed, they might have said a better paper clip. But give them a Post-It Note, and they immediately know what to do with it.”
----
“Too bad 90% of the politicians give the other 10% a bad reputation.”—Henry Kissinger
----
Q&A: ASK THE EXPERTS
Everyone’s got a question or two they’d like answered. Here are a few of those questions, with answers from some of the nation’s top trivia experts.
M AKE A WISH
Q: How do trick birthday candles (which keep relighting after being blown out) work?
A: “The wicks are treated with magnesium crystals. The crystals retain enough heat to reilluminate the wick after the candles are blown out. Because the magnesium-treated wicks retain heat so well, experts recommend extinguishing the candles permanently by dipping them in water.” (From Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses? , by David Feldman)
FOILED AGAIN
Q: Does it matter which side of the aluminum foil is used?
A: “The dull and shiny sides of the foil have no special meaning; they are simply a result of the way that the foil is made. In the final rolling step of the manufacturing process, two layers of aluminum foil are passed through the rolling mill at the same time. The side that comes in contact with the mill’s highly polished steel rolls becomes shiny. The other side, which does not come in contact with the heavy metal rolls, comes out dull.
“Shiny or dull, it does not matter.” (From Why Does Popcorn Pop? , by Don Voorhees)
UMM...WHAT WAS THAT?
Q: Is it true that elephants never forget?
A: Believe it or not, yes. “We know this because of an experiment many years ago by a professor in Germany. He taught an elephant to choose between two wooden boxes, one marked with a square, the other with a circle. The box with a square had food in it, the other didn’t.
----
What’s your favorite? One of every three Girl Scout cookies sold are Thin Mints.
----
“It took 330 tries before the elephant figured out that ‘square’ meant ‘food.’ Once it got the idea, though, things went a lot quicker. Soon the professor could put any two markings on the boxes. The elephant would experiment a few times, figure out which sign meant ‘food,’ then pick the right box from there on out.
“The professor came back a year later and tested the elephant again using the old markings—circles, squares, and so on. Amazingly enough, the elephant still remembered which markings were the signs for food.
“That’s why elephants are so popular in circuses. It may take them a while to learn the act, but once they’ve got it, they’ve got it for good.” (From Know It All! , by Ed Zotti)
TEE-HEE
Q: Why don’t we laugh when we tickle ourselves?
A: “The laughter which results from being tickled by someone else is not the same as laughter that comes from being amused. When someone tickles us, the laugh is a reflex action [that] is really a cry of distress, essentially begging the person to stop stimulating our sensitive skin. When we tickle ourselves, we’re not at the mercy of someone else. If the feeling becomes too intense, we stop. Therefore, no distress signal is needed.” (From A Book of Curiosities , by Roberta Kramer)
OIL’S WELL
Q: What’s the world’s
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