Last week was the busiest week of the year for Doyle Doss. An advocacy group for the homeless called from St. Louis and bought his 12 Kandle Heeter candlesticks, which promised "candles dry and radiate space heat" for only $29.95 each. He also has a pile of laminated portraits of wild animals-priced at $14.95, the size can "make your refrigerator happy"-to put in the mail, there are many wearable hummingbird feeders, he had to hire part-time help Come build them.
Yes, you read the last sentence correctly: Mr. Doss’ small creative company Doss Products is located in a cold cowshed in southern Eureka, California. He proudly invented a hummingbird feeder, which he called:--2＜ : (Pronounced "eye 2 eye"). Priced at $79.95, this is a red helmet-style device that dispenses sugar water from a tube located between two eyelets. You put it on your face.
"American innovations and inventions are not dead," Mr. Doss, 62, wrote in an email that contained a link to a YouTube video, which he said proved his point. On them, hummingbirds hover two inches above people's nostrils, sticking their beaks into red, faintly scary masks.
Looking at them, you can't help thinking: If this is not America's weirdest ingenuity, what is it?
Prototype heard the opinions of hundreds of inventors in 2010, most of whom recounted a problem they encountered that they had to solve. Things that inspire their creativity include cleavage, ski accidents, a pair of worn blue jeans, complications from shaving, and the desire not to spill a cup of coffee when boarding the plane. The solution includes a variety of products and services: a bra and vest-like device (cleava.com), arch support (lovemystrutz.com), repair services for beloved jeans (denimtherapy.com), a shaver with a handle Shaver distributes shaving cream (ShaveMate.com) and portable cup holder (cup-pilot.com).
Many of these people are more inspiring than mere necessity or the hope of getting rich. In many e-mails, there are some more basic things hidden: the inventor needs to express himself, leave his mark, and communicate and connect with others, not by speaking or writing, but by constructing things.
"It's a sense of self," said Pam Starobin, another inventor who got in touch.
Ms. Starrobin, 55 years old, is a librarian living in Yonkers. She is a bit like a Renaissance woman, almost completing a master's degree in art history, and her previous career was writing computer software; she invented CostGuard, a restaurant and food service management program. But professionally speaking, her proudest achievement is that she invented the adult booster seat.
Ms. Starobin, you see, she is only 4 feet 11 inches tall. When she sat down, she was even shorter. Over the years, a trip to the theater made her stare at the back of people's heads and gnash their teeth. In some low-rise restaurants, her chin seemed to barely touch the tabletop. "I will boil instead of enjoying what I am doing," she said. "I thought: I can solve this problem."
Sitting Taller (sittingtaller.com) is the result. It is made of furniture-grade foam hidden in a leather shoulder bag, available in black, red or green, and is priced at US$129 for 2 ½ inches (US$139 for 3 ½ inches). Ms. Starobin sewed leather products for her, but all the pillows were made by herself. She said that since March 2008, she has sold hundreds of pieces.
Does she make money? "A little bit," she said. "I won't leave my job-let me put it this way." But she made up for her lack of remuneration with satisfaction. She received this letter: "As you know, this gift is the biggest blow to Hanukkah. You made a 96-year-old lady who still loves Philharmonic and theater very, very happy!"
"It's like, I helped someone," Ms. Starrobin said. "It's so cool."
gentlemen. DOSS is also driven by utility. "How can I help people stay warm in winter?" He said that this question opened up his invention career. The son of a farmer in Arkansas taught him "If it breaks, you fix it; if it breaks twice, you will find a way to make it better." Mr. Doss got his first prize since childhood. This erection device has been building things since the beginning. He is very proud of his candle heater and another heating device-the BluBox hot fan, which pumps the hot air that rises to the ceiling back to the floor-designed to save users money.
But Mr. Doss' wearable hummingbird feeder is not practical. This is purely a whim, he said that in the past 13 months, he has sold nearly 400 pieces. He attributed its popularity to people's desire to connect with nature-and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark posted a link to one of his videos on Twitter in the fall of 2009. The video was immediately watched by 300,000 people.
Where did Mr. Doss come from such a bizarre idea? All this can be traced back to a Sunday morning 30 years ago, when he walked onto the back porch of his parents' home in Northern California, and a hummingbird "fallen in front of me." At that time, Mr. Doss had a "huge red ZZ Top beard", and the bird found it irresistible.
"This is one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had with animals," he said. "I thought,'How can I recreate it and share it with others?'" After designing the perfect feeding tube, he started selling it online on heatstick.com, each of which is still handmade.
"There is this forest scene in the mask, so when you put it on, it is very thoughtful, contemplative. You stay still," he said.
He may be describing the invention process itself: "You will hear the sound of the hummingbird a tenth of a second before you. The first time this happens, you will freeze. But then the adrenaline surge will Slow down."