WEBVTT - Safety Pins

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the Shorty. I'm Josh, and there's

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<v Speaker 1>Chuck and there's Jerry. So let's get started. You must

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<v Speaker 1>be at least this tall to enjoy this podcast. Remember

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<v Speaker 1>the anxiety as a kid at amusement parks around that

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<v Speaker 1>I do you just wanted to be a little taller.

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<v Speaker 1>Now you look at it and you're like, wow, what

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<v Speaker 1>is that? Like? Is there are there? You know that's

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<v Speaker 1>there's kids that aren't that tall. It just seems so

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<v Speaker 1>short now. It was before it was like, oh man,

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<v Speaker 1>I hope I measure up. You'd like grow your hair out,

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<v Speaker 1>ye to like make that extra like half inch or

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<v Speaker 1>something like that. Get your blow outcome, get your throw

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<v Speaker 1>up high. That's exactly right. Although remember my story is

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<v Speaker 1>that I was scared of roller coasters until my father

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<v Speaker 1>finally said, I'm not taking you back here and paying

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<v Speaker 1>this money until you get on a roller coaster, and

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<v Speaker 1>then you weren't scared. Well, no, I just went on

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<v Speaker 1>because I was like, I don't want to not come back.

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<v Speaker 1>And then I loved it, of course, but he he

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<v Speaker 1>rolled the dice there, did you? Yeah? My dad took

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<v Speaker 1>me on Space Mountain when I was like five or something.

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<v Speaker 1>Like that, and I hate roller coasters as a result. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not big on it. You same, basically the same

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<v Speaker 1>thing happened to you me. I don't remember how old

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<v Speaker 1>she was, but um it was Space Mountain her dad,

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<v Speaker 1>and um we uh we went back to Space Mountain

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<v Speaker 1>like years ago to to conquer it, to conquer our fears,

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<v Speaker 1>and we did. We did it. You got hammered it

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<v Speaker 1>in Tomorrowland and got a board. But that has nothing

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<v Speaker 1>to do with safety pins. No, it doesn't. No safety pins.

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<v Speaker 1>Actually of a totally different, equally engrossing story, there was

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<v Speaker 1>a guy who's actually known as the inventor of the

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<v Speaker 1>safety pin, chiefly because he invented the safety pin. His

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<v Speaker 1>name is Walter Hunt, and there's a lot of different

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<v Speaker 1>interpretations of Walter Hunt. I think this house Stuff Works

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<v Speaker 1>article kind of misses the mark a little bit. So

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<v Speaker 1>he was one of America's great nineteenth century inventors. Number one,

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<v Speaker 1>um number two. He invented the safety pin. Which is

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<v Speaker 1>that just if he had just invented the safety pin,

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<v Speaker 1>that would be something. But he invented the safety pin

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<v Speaker 1>back in eighteen forty nine. And if you look at

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<v Speaker 1>his safety pin invention and the safety pin that you

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<v Speaker 1>would go by today. It's virtually the same thing. Like

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<v Speaker 1>the guy right out of the gate invented a perfect

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<v Speaker 1>version of his invention. Yeah, and this is one of those.

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<v Speaker 1>It's so brilliant and its simplicity. As I imagine, he

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<v Speaker 1>was just tinkering around with some wire, coiled it around

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<v Speaker 1>itself and said, hey, that acts as its own spring,

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<v Speaker 1>so it doesn't need to be two pieces, which is

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<v Speaker 1>sort of the genius of a safety pin. And then

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<v Speaker 1>the little clasp, the little safety class. That's why it's

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<v Speaker 1>called a safety pin keeps little fingers and big fingers,

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<v Speaker 1>I guess, and toes and toes from getting pricked and stuck.

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<v Speaker 1>And uh, it was just a genius little idea. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>was so he The legend goes that he was fiddling

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<v Speaker 1>around with that wire and inadvertently invented the safety pin

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<v Speaker 1>while he was just kind of keeping his hands busy

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<v Speaker 1>trying to figure out how to pay off a fifteen

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<v Speaker 1>dollar debt. It could not find what the debt was for,

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<v Speaker 1>but it was to a pal Okay, so okay, we'll

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<v Speaker 1>go with that. But then when he figured out this

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<v Speaker 1>this safety pin was a pretty good idea, he went

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<v Speaker 1>and patented it. But then he sold the patent to

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<v Speaker 1>either that friend or somebody else to pay off the

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<v Speaker 1>fifteen dollar debt. But he sold it for like four

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<v Speaker 1>hundred bucks. Which did you do the calculation there? No?

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<v Speaker 1>What is that today? I didn't? Do? You want me

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<v Speaker 1>to just talk for a minute while while you type?

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<v Speaker 1>I do? Can you do a little tap dance? Yeah?

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<v Speaker 1>But the point is is that four dollars back then,

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<v Speaker 1>and we'll get the number in a sec was it

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<v Speaker 1>was a great deal of money, but obviously nothing compared

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<v Speaker 1>to the riches that would have Befallen Walter Hunt. Had

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<v Speaker 1>he held onto that patent, it would be known as

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<v Speaker 1>the Hunt pin today probably, and he would his his

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<v Speaker 1>great great grandkids would be billionaires. Still, I would imagine,

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<v Speaker 1>oh yeah, if he if he earned royalties from it,

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<v Speaker 1>um and they had kept up the patent, heck, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>or the trademark or something. I'm not sure how they

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<v Speaker 1>would do it, but I do have a number, Chuck,

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<v Speaker 1>it's about twelve thousand dollars, which bad. It isn't bad,

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<v Speaker 1>but so here's the thing. So the guy sold off

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<v Speaker 1>his patented idea. Sometimes he's reported as not even having

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<v Speaker 1>patented it. Just sold the idea, which is wrong. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>But so he sold the patent for just twelve grand um.

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<v Speaker 1>He's often very much characterized as like shortsighted. Um. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>just maybe just like an absent minded inventor type or

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<v Speaker 1>something like that. Okay, maybe you can say that with

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<v Speaker 1>the safety pin. But he he also invented something pretty

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<v Speaker 1>huge to the sewing machine. And this is where it

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<v Speaker 1>gets kind of like a little cloudy to me. Should

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<v Speaker 1>we take a break? Yeah, let's all right, we'll clear

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<v Speaker 1>the clouds out and we'll be back right after this. Okay,

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<v Speaker 1>so the clouds are still over us, Chuck, we're about

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<v Speaker 1>to part them. Okay, I thought you were about to say,

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<v Speaker 1>we're gonna rain down some knowledge. Oh that's way better.

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<v Speaker 1>We should. We should retake this part cloudy with a

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<v Speaker 1>chance of knowledge. So so Walter Hunt invented the sewing

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<v Speaker 1>machine actually back in you a good almost twenty years

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<v Speaker 1>before he invented the safety pin, and it had like

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<v Speaker 1>a curved eye needle had to shuttle, just basically like

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<v Speaker 1>the Singer sewing machine would later be. He invented it

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<v Speaker 1>decades before anybody else was making these sewing machines. And

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<v Speaker 1>so yet again he's criticized for selling this idea without

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<v Speaker 1>pending it or patenting it and not doing anything with it.

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<v Speaker 1>He the story I saw was that he did come

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<v Speaker 1>up with this idea, and his daughter pointed out that

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<v Speaker 1>this machine would put a lot of um impoverished women

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<v Speaker 1>out of work, which worked a sewers, and he said,

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<v Speaker 1>oh well, I'm not gonna do anything with this, and

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<v Speaker 1>chose not to patent it and abandoned the idea so

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<v Speaker 1>that it wouldn't even be out there for anybody else

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<v Speaker 1>to pick up and and work with. Did he destroy

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<v Speaker 1>his machine? From what I saw, he didn't even make

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<v Speaker 1>this prototype. I didn't see that anywhere else but in

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<v Speaker 1>this article. Yeah, because in our our own article it

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<v Speaker 1>even specifically says his prototype was wooden, which would lead

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<v Speaker 1>me to believe that unless someone just you know, was willing,

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<v Speaker 1>nillly making things up, that's got to be true, right,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know, but this is what I'm saying. Things

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<v Speaker 1>are clouded. We we parted them some and then they

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<v Speaker 1>came back, all right. But either way, the reason that

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<v Speaker 1>you look at sewing machines today and don't see the

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<v Speaker 1>word hunt on them is just another sort of chink

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<v Speaker 1>in his armor as a really brilliant guy who didn't

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<v Speaker 1>see the big picture economically or didn't want to put

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<v Speaker 1>poor women out of work? Right, did I just overlook that? Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>so you're saying it was noble. That's that's how I'm

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<v Speaker 1>taking it. Well, I hope, so that would be a

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<v Speaker 1>great you know, I like that better than I didn't

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<v Speaker 1>think it was very good, right, exactly because it was

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<v Speaker 1>made of wood. If he did prototype it, I'll say, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>it was probably made of would. But the reason why

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<v Speaker 1>it's a Singer, uh, is because a man named Isaac

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<v Speaker 1>Singer came along. There were actually two dudes, two businessmen,

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<v Speaker 1>allies How Isaac Singer, and they were in a battle

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<v Speaker 1>with each other to control this patent in the eighteen fifties.

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<v Speaker 1>So what I couldn't tell is if they legit invented

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<v Speaker 1>the saying or if they ripped off Hunt somehow. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>not they It would have been Elias How He was

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<v Speaker 1>the one who held the patent, and Isaac Singer was

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<v Speaker 1>just making machines based on the same designs ignoring How's

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<v Speaker 1>patent because for some reason, somehow he knew that um

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<v Speaker 1>that it was actually William Hunt who had invented the

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<v Speaker 1>sewing machine decades before. So they went to court and

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<v Speaker 1>Isaac Singer said, Hunt, come in here and demonstrate that

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<v Speaker 1>you you did this, and you can get the patent,

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<v Speaker 1>and then I'll ignore your patent too, And the judge

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<v Speaker 1>actually ruled that he that, yes, William Hunt was indeed

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<v Speaker 1>the inventor of the sewing machine, but it was too

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<v Speaker 1>late to retroactively file a patent. I wonder if there's

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<v Speaker 1>enough here for a movie. They made one about the

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<v Speaker 1>guy who who created the intermittent setting on the windshie wipers,

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<v Speaker 1>and they made one what's her face Jennifer Lawrence was

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<v Speaker 1>in the movie about the inventor Lady, Oh yeah, Joey

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<v Speaker 1>man Ghana. Yeah, So maybe there's enough here. It would

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<v Speaker 1>like call it so what And at the end of

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<v Speaker 1>the trailer it's spelled out and you would hear the

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<v Speaker 1>sewing machine and it would sew it out the title

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<v Speaker 1>I don't, I don't. Maybe maybe this should just be

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<v Speaker 1>a trailer. So what seems like a working title right that,

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<v Speaker 1>like some producer comes in and changes and gets paid

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<v Speaker 1>a billion dollars for it. Right then it would be

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<v Speaker 1>called the Isaac Singer Follies So the other thing about

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<v Speaker 1>Walter Hunt, he invented plenty of other stuff to a

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<v Speaker 1>foot pedal alarm to warn people the street car was coming,

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<v Speaker 1>uh for sure, an antipodean walking device. Yeah, and that

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<v Speaker 1>I had no idea what that was. But apparently it's

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<v Speaker 1>like the human fly, like suction cup shoes. It's pretty

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<v Speaker 1>amazing and today, well not today, but say back in

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<v Speaker 1>the seventies, if you hung out with punks, you probably

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<v Speaker 1>saw a lot of safety pins. And you can thank

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<v Speaker 1>Walter Hunt for that little fashion accessory too. Yeah, what

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<v Speaker 1>was the deal they would It was just you would

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<v Speaker 1>put a bunch of safety pins. I was not cool

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<v Speaker 1>enough to do that stuff. So so there's a dispute

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<v Speaker 1>over who came up with this. Supposedly Richard hell one

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<v Speaker 1>of the original punk rockers. He accessorized a lot, and

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<v Speaker 1>he accessorized with safety pins. So some people say, well

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<v Speaker 1>as Richard Hellett came up with it, but apparently Johnny

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<v Speaker 1>Rotten from the Sex Pistols has disputed that and said

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<v Speaker 1>that it was actually out of necessity to keep the

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<v Speaker 1>rs on your trousers from falling off because they just

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<v Speaker 1>wore beat up clothes. Yeah, because they were gutter punks.

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<v Speaker 1>Didn't people actually put safety pins through their face? Some

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<v Speaker 1>people did. Walter Hunt did not like that. His ghost

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<v Speaker 1>was very upset by this um, but no one could

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<v Speaker 1>see that. Wow. So from the safety pin to the

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<v Speaker 1>sewing machine too, said Vicious. Yeah, that's the logical order

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<v Speaker 1>of operation. Really, it's American inventors. Toda. Uh if you

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<v Speaker 1>want to you got anything else? No, I just know

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<v Speaker 1>that I want to go out and get some antibody

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<v Speaker 1>and choose. Now I do too. Man, you just climb

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<v Speaker 1>up a building and say thank you, William Hunt. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>let's see. If you want to get in touch with us,

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<v Speaker 1>just go to our website, okay, stuff you should know

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. It's got all of our social media links

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<v Speaker 1>and you can also send us an email to Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>podcast how Stuff Works dot com