Unheralded Innovations of the Twentieth Century

As Historians look back on the innovations that shaped and influenced our lives this century, television, radio and the automobile will get plenty of play. Those were big things. A few people's lives were affected. Likewise computers, X rays, the telephone--you can't imagine the past 100 years without them.

But there's other stuff, too, less heralded inventions that have had, in their own quiet ways, surprisingly profound effects on our everyday lives. Here are a few of them:

Recliner

Encouraging the supine posture of a Roman emperor, the recliner is not simply a place to sit but a retreat. As women's lib endangered the traditional nesting places of men, a man needed to preserve a sanctuary in his own home. Positioned directly in front of the TV, the recliner became that sanctuary--a kind of tree house in the living room, allowing a man to stay home and hide in plain sight.

Zipper

The modern zipper was refined by Gideon Sandback in the early part of the century. It was first dubbed a zipper when B.F. Goodrich introduced it on rubber boots in 1923. It soon found a more wanton home in the boudoir, as inspiration for that intoxicating phrase, "zip me up, would you, darling?" But what makes the zipper such an integral part of the century is its capacity to be unzipped. The very word unzip is onomatopoeic, an intimate story; "un" represents her making the decision, "z" is the sound of the downward trajectory of the clasp and "ip" is her gleeful surprise at what pops out.

Cordless Drill

Its shape and capabilities make a domestic cowboy of any man who carries one. Like Paladin or Bat Masterson, a man packing a cordless drill becomes a gun for hire, putting fear in the heart of the drywall, making studs quiver in their joints.

Phillips-Head Screw

This tiny refinement, invented by Henry Phillips in the Thirties, transformed manufacturing. Machines could screw! And once they could, like a dog licking its balls, they haven't stopped. The Phillips also gave the domestic handyman more margin for error when he was screwing. Get the driver even close to the crotch of the screw and it engages, slipping into place as if by magic. It stays neatly nestled in the groove until the screwing is complete.

Car Radio

Cars transformed America. The radio transformed the car. Developed by William Lear, the jet designer who also gave us (continued on page 264) Innovations(continued from page 218) eight-track tapes, the car radio provides a soundtrack to the greatest movie of all: just driving around, taking in the landscape, the endless mystery of the American road. It's also part of one of the most serene moments in cinema, when Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen, as the two young killers in Badlands, stop on a back road and dance together in the headlights to Nat "King" Cole on their car radio.

Backyard Barbecue Grill

By-products of the GI Bill, the barbecue and the backyard came along together. Standing by his grill, flipping burgers or grilling steaks (bacon that he brought home), a man easily imagines himself squire of his estate. The barbecue reestablished man's place as the original cook, drawing on skills that date back to the Cro-Magnon caves, his own culinary domain. You may be Barney Fife around the kitchen stove, but you're Dirty Fucking Harry at the barbecue.

Panties

The evolution from the ponderous epic poem of bloomers to the exquisite haiku of panties is one of the most sublime and delightful developments of the century. No other refinement has so captured the male psyche. The glorious paradox of panties is that a woman is sexier in them than in nothing at all, more naked with them than without. That the verb "to pant" has insinuated itself into the word is clearly no accident.

Bikini

After the advances in science and medicine, the bikini is unquestionably the most important invention of the century. It was introduced by two French designers in 1946 and it immediately swept Europe. Puritanical America was late in catching on, needing the insipid beach movies of the Sixties to provide inspiration. But once it arrived, the bikini indelibly changed the landscape of every beach and swimming pool in the nation. Fortunately, with few exceptions, bikinis are beholden to their own natural selection. Those who can wear them, do. And those who do, wear them well, leading one to conclude that, like champagne and Elmore Leonard novels, there is no such thing as a bad bikini.

Women's Beach Volleyball

An important aesthetic evolution can be seen in the transition from roller derby to women's beach volleyball. These are majestic athletes--tall, lithe, skilled and powerful. The demands of the sport seem in collusion with a fan's desire to see the players stretch, leap and dive, the sand sticking to their firm, glistening thighs. There is no other sport like it, no other spectacle of feminine strength and agility. These are our 20th century Xe-nas, our Dianas, goddesses of the hunt.

Instant Replay

Once television became the primary stage of sporting events in America, something had to replace the fresh air, the smell of spilled beer and the roar of the crowd. It came about in the early Seventies with instant replay, which changed the way we look at any sporting event. Even at the stadium, we feel cheated if we can't see that slide into home a second time. Some argue that the instant replay radically alters the zeitgeist of sport, the sense of immediacy, the temporal nature of competition. On the other hand, it took years for the newsreels to glorify Willie Mays' catch of Vic Wertz' fly. But Carlton Fisk, waving his ball fair in the 1975 Series, became an icon in only one night.

Remote Key

We now own not only our cars, but also the space around our cars--an invisible "car zone" that we rule with the scepter of our remote key. Our cars bend to our regal will, open willingly and unconditionally, with the slightest movement of our fingers. The accompanying beep is reassuring. When you leave your car, it says, "Don't worry about me. Go have a good time." And when you return, it welcomes you like a dog's bark or a lover's purr of delight.

Sneakers

Keds were the first in 1916. Converse followed not long after. They were shoes designed just for sports. Now you would be hard-pressed to find a person without a pair. Sneakers have become a sociopolitical statement, a billion-dollar industry. And though each generation of "athletic shoe" reflects advances in design and material, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50 points a game in one season, and Rod Laver won the Grand Slam, in nothing but canvas, cotton laces and rubber soles.

Six-Pack

Icon of the "real America," emblem of the no-nonsense Babbitts that have been a force of unsophisticated honesty and ignorance throughout our history. Joe Six-Pack. An arbitrary number that has become mythic. You buy six beers, you drink six beers.

Step-in Ski Bindings

It's no coincidence that after the invention of step-in bindings, skiing became the dominant winter sport--and excuse for meeting cute girls. Fewer broken bones, more maneuverability, ease of engagement.

Scuba Gear

The Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus was invented in 1943 by Jacques Cousteau. Scuba tanks have enabled millions of people to experience the undersea world. They also gave us Jacqueline Bisset swimming in The Deep, the ultimate wet T-shirt.

Paperback Book

You don't read Kerouac in hardcover. Or Richard Farina. Or Brautigan. You can't shove a hardcover into the back pocket of your jeans or in the storage space under the seat of your motorcycle. Paperbacks made reading more egalitarian. In the Forties and Fifties lurid covers adorned books by every writer, from Flaubert to Raymond Chandler. Like all those impenetrable Gallic intellectuals, paperbacks did not distinguish between high and low culture. Nabokov's Lolita first appeared in paperback. Need we say more?

Electric Guitar

If one icon represents everything American in this century, it may well be the solid-body electric guitar. Les Paul invented it, and soon the guitar became the symbol of cool. Slung over the shoulder, the pickups hanging somewhere around your crotch, the guitar was the great equalizer, transcending every ethnic and social boundary. Before the electric guitar, music was about talent. After, it was about attitude. All you needed was an amp, three chords and a dream.

Television Remote Control

Sociologists used to worry that the television would control us as we sat passively in its mesmerizing grip. Now, we control TV. With the remote, we concoct our own programs--a collage assembled from what's being broadcast at that moment. Television now is about juking and feinting around commercials and bad shows like a Walter Payton dodging linebackers. How can women call that passive?