Verdun, Pierre, 114
Vernet, Charles, 309
“Vicar,” 42
Vick, Joshua, 253
Vick’s VapoRub, 252–54
Victoria, Princess, 28–29
Victoria, queen of Great Britain, 142, 324
Villafranca, Blasius, 419
Vinyl, 129
Vogue (magazine), 355–56
Wagner, Richard, 28, 29
Wakefield, Ruth, 415
Walker, John, 108, 110, 354–55
Walker, Lewis, 316
Walker, William B., 117
Wallace, DeWitt, 362–63
Wallpaper, 149–50
Walnuts, 393–94
Walton, Frederick, 152
Ward, Samuel A., 288
Waring, Fred, 111–12
Waring Blendor, 111–13
Warner, Ezra J., 115–16
War of 1812, 282, 287–88, 290
Washers, clothes, 146
Washington, D.C., 281–82
Washington, George, 66, 212–13, 278–81,284, 290
Water softeners, 104–5
Wear-Ever cookware, 101
Webster, Noah, 350–51
Wedding customs. See Marriage and wedding customs
Wedgwood, Josiah, 88–89
Wedgwood ware, 88–89
Weely, Henry W., 143
Westinghouse, 118–145
West Point Military Academy, 290–91
Wham-O Company, 372–73
Wheat, brides showered with, 25–26
Wheelbarrow, 166–67
Whipped cream, 420–21
Whistling teakettle, 119
White House, 282
Whiteners, clothes, 154–55
Whiting, Richard, Abbot, 190
Wigs, 234–36
Williams, Edward, 151
Wilson, Samuel, 274–77
Wilson, Woodrow, 60
Windows
glass, 156–59
origin of the word, 158–59
Windshields, safety-glass, 158
Winson, Frederick Albert, 98–99
Wishbone, 5–6
Witches
black cats and, 14
Friday the thirteenth and, 13
horseshoes and, 5
Witch hazel, 251–52
Wolsey, Thomas, Cardinal, 185, 186, 188
Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Baum), 181
Wood, Kenneth, 114
Wood, knocking on, 6–8
Woolley, Sir Leonard, 376
Worcester Magazine, 352
Worcestershire Sauce, 403
Worth, Charles, 325
Wright, James, 379–80
Wrigley, William, Jr., 417
Wynne, Arthur, 375–76
Xenophon, 224
Xmas as abbreviation for Christmas, 71
XXX for kisses, 52
“Yankee Doodle” (song), 286–87
Yawning, covering one’s mouth when, 19–20
Youth’s Companion, The, 280
Yo-yo, 371
Zahm, Matthew, 70
Zeolite, 105
Zippers, 316–17
Other Books by Charles Panati
SUPERSENSES
THE GELLER PAPERS
(editor)
LINKS
(a novel)
DEATH ENCOUNTERS
BREAKTHROUGHS
THE SILENT INTRUDER
(with Michael Hudson)
THE PLEASURING OF RORY MALONE
(a novel)
THE BROWSER’S BOOK OF BEGINNINGS
PANATI’S EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINS OF
EVERYDAY THINGS
PANATI’S EXTRAORDINARY ENDINGS OF
PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY
Copyright
This book was first published in 1987 by Harper & Row, Publishers, under the title Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things.
PANATI’S EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINS OF EVERYDAY THINGS. Copyright © 1987 by Charles Panati. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.
First PERENNIAL LIBRARY edition published 1987. Reissued 1989.
Designer: Erich Hobbing
* * *
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Panati, Charles. 1943–
Panati’s extraordinary origins of everyday things.
“Perennial Library.”
Includes index.
I. Encyclopedias and dictionaries. I. Title. II. Title: Panati’s extraordinary origins of everyday things.
AG6.P37 1989 031 8945180
ISBN 0-06-096419-7 (pbk.)
* * *
05 RRD H 40 39 38 37 36
EPub Edition © JANUARY 2013 ISBN: 9780062277084
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Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things Page 63