Sometimes a new invention is so cool it sticks immediately, and we cannot even dare to think about our lives without them. Think like, a potato peeler or a taco-making machine. Glorious! However, other inventions began their careers with purposes completely different from the ways we use them now. And, if you’d be interested to learn more about these repurposed inventions, stick around and read what cool discoveries people shared on this awesome Reddit thread talking about just that.
If you’re still wondering what the heck we are going on about here, we can give you a couple of examples of reinvented inventions. So, spoiler alert, and here we go. Have you heard about Play-Doh? While we all know it as this colorful stuff for kids and adults to play with, it was originally created as a wallpaper cleaner. That’s right! Speaking of wallpapers - did you know that bubble wrap was intended to be a textured wallpaper? Sounds pretty weird, huh? Then we have things like Kleenex, Coca-Cola, a bazillion medicines, and plenty more cool inventions that were intended to be used in a whole different way, yet failed at that but found their glory in a completely unexpected place.
So, ready to learn more about these famous repurposed inventions? If so, you know what to do; no need to invent anything new! Once you are done reading, please give your favorite submissions a vote (thanks again, people on AskReddit!), and share this article with your friends. Oh, and if you know of other famous inventions that were intended for an entirely different purpose, share your knowledge in the comments section!
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“For every pipe cleaner that actually cleans a pipe, 500,000 get twisted into children’s art projects.”
My school tried to change the name to “chenille sticks” because somebody thought they would encourage kids to smoke pipes 😂
"Paintball guns; they were originally called paintball markers and were invented as a way for loggers and park rangers to mark trees for trimming, cutting down, etc. without having to walk up to each tree with spray paint or something. A couple of dudes who were using them started shooting at each other for fun and paintball as a sport was born. In fact some people still call them 'markers' to avoid the stigma some associate with the word 'gun'."
Iamfree25 wrote:
"Penicillin. It was a happy accident, but one nonetheless."
Make_me_a_turkey replied:
"Yeah, pretty much. He was culturing bacteria and noticed that one plate was contaminated with a fungus. He was about to throw it out when he noticed no bacteria grew around the fungus.
And thus, modern antibiotics were born."
HomegrownMO wrote:
"WD-40 aka Water Displacement the 40th attempt. WD-40 was invented to keep the outer skin of missiles from rust and corrosion."
wildyaz replied:
"Fun fact, he worked at Boeing when he discovered WD-40. Boeing had a policy that if you invented something while working for them you had to give up the patent for it. He quit and released it about a year later."
“Mysterion_x wrote: ‘Playdough. Was supposed to be a wallpaper cleaner originally.’
moreorlesser replied: ‘Now it serves as a delicious appetizer.’
Najmul190 added: ‘wait, what?’”
Still does be used as a cleaner, have known people to use it to clean out dust/debris from small spaces in home/car.
"The best man at a wedding was the best swordsman the groom could afford. If anyone objected to the wedding, the best man would duel him.
The honeymoon lasted a whole month after the wedding, where the bride's father would supply the groom with all the mead he could drink."
“Pizzas. They were originally made for poor people who weren’t able to afford food regularly. It was flatbread with cheese and tomato.”
clofas1 wrote:
"MTV, a.k.a. Music Televison."
HorseMeatSandwich added:
"And TLC, or "The Learning Channel." Not a lot of learning happening on that channel these days, unless you enjoy "learning" about the daily lives of morbidly obese people, and idiots marrying morons from different countries in a matter of weeks."
Food Network used to be shows that taught you how to cook and had the occasional trivia show like Unwrapped, now it's cooking competitions and glorified vlogs.
Ghoulak21 wrote:
"Duct tape: meant to cover holes in ammo boxes, so the ammo doesn't get wet."
BADMANvegeta_ replied:
"And now I use it to put my 1998 Camry back together so it runs for another 10 years."
the universal appliance. I think they might have actually taken a version of it to the moon.
“Beer. Originally to make questionable water ok to drink and to give monks nutrition during fasting. Bud Light accomplishes neither of these things.”
Why is drinking Bud Light like making love in a kayak? They're both f**King Close to water!
"Microwave transmitters were originally created to transmit radar signals in WWII. When a worker noticed that being near the transmitter melted a candy bar in his pocket, it led to the development of the microwaves that we use in our homes today."
"Not really an invention but IQ test. They were never meant to figure out how smart you were, they were for identifying students who may need additional help."
IQ is also not really all that telling of your intelligence. It's heavily biased against anyone with learning disabilities.
Commenter No. 1 wrote:
"Listerine mouthwash- it used to be a floor cleaner."
Fjompen321replied:
"Probably why it burns the tip of my tongue."
rode_the_short_buss added:
"When I was in my early 20's I had my tongue pierced. Before they would pierce it I had to swish Listerine around my mouth for 2 full minutes. That pain was worse than the actual piercing."
“Facebook was designed as a platform where college students could connect and stay in touch. Nowadays virtually no college students use Facebook and it’s just a site full of fake news, divisive political opinions, and grandparents sharing content that was posted on other social media 4 weeks ago.”
Facebook was *originally* designed as a site for Zuck and his buddies to "rate" their classmates. But it did one valuable public service: it destroyed MySpace.
"Graham crackers. Originally created by Sylvester Graham who wanted to create a diet that was devoid of pleasurable foods. It is now used to create delicious snacks and is almost used exclusively for its pleasurable flavor."
Phzko wrote:
"Crystal meth was made by Germany in WW2 to help soldiers last longer without sleep I'm pretty sure."
John_Browning1 elaborated:
"It’s pervitin, there’s a story about a soldier who went on a 2-week killing spree because he took his whole platoon's pervitin supply drop."
Commenter No. 3 asked:
"Didn’t that guy just ski for two weeks and not kill a single person?"
zibatha replied:
"Yep, must have been quite a ski trip."
"Copyright. It was supposed to ensure that people were sufficiently rewarded to produce original works that there was a steady stream of new works and after a reasonably short period of time others would be free to use those works to build new ones and increase the supply of creative works in society. Now's it's a device designed to protect a steady stream of income for corporations and their shareholders for 100 years or more."
Not sure how true this is but I once read that whenever the Disney characters would get close to no longer being copyright protected Disney would petition to extend the length of time a copyright can be held. Each time they succeeded, of course.
“Malls. Originally, the mall was to be more than stores. It was intended to have things like schools, apartments, a park, and even medical facilities. Basically, like a mini town where people could live. But only the store part was ever made.”
Read a story about a mall (Wisconsin?) that turned the stores into apartments. The food court is still there and open.
"Maybe it's been said already: Coca-cola and Dr. Pepper were originally marketed as medicine and health tonics. I believe Dr. Pepper's original name was something like 'Dr. Pepper's health elixir.'"
"Menstrual pads. They were invented to soak up blood in bullet wounds. After the war, Kotex had several hundred tons left over and found that nurses had been using them as feminine hygiene."
"Amazon used to sell only books."
And now Amazon helps destroy the Amazon by producing 321 million kilograms of paper waste per year
“Slinky was originally meant to be used as springs inside sensitive boat devices.”
"The Meyers-Briggs test. It was originally invented by a mother-daughter team who had no experience in either psychology or the so-called "hard sciences." And while it did build somewhat on Carl Jung's personality archetypes, even he had said that humans are far too complex to be categorized neatly like that. The test was never meant to be taken as seriously as it is. It doesn't tell you who you really are, what kind of work you're good at or that you can do, how or if you'll fit into a company culture, who you're compatible with, what you need from a relationship, or anything useful. It's not scientific (even if it claims to be), and you can take the same test more than once and get different results.
Now we have people using them to make hiring and admissions decisions. Using them to make decisions about whom to date. Introducing themselves with it."
Now I 'm taking the Meyers Briggs and Statton test. Being smart enough to start a lawnmower after a long winter without breaking an arm
"Denim - used to be a hard-wearing trouser made from cotton that was loomed by hand and would last people years of hard work. Now it's made with stretch fabric that is just not as durable."
“Your cars glove compartment. Used to store gloves to protect your hands from splinters in the ol days of wooden steering wheels. Now used to store various paper work, band aids, and spare air fresheners.”
Vyzantinist wrote:
"High-heeled shoes. They were originally for men and used for horse riding, as the heels were supposed to keep the feet more secure in the stirrups.
Now, they're just fancy women's shoes."
PiesangSlagter replied:
"Also used by butchers so they didn't stand in blood."
Reddit_Teddit_Redomp wrote:
"The smaller pocket in jeans."
knottyK8 replied:
"Coin pockets are generally in the right side pocket. Harley Davidson jeans have them in the left pocket so you can get change out to feed the toll and still keep one hand on your motorcycle."
"Go fund me. It was purposed to fund anything but now it’s a staple for funding the American health care system."
jimmyneyugn wrote:
"Jägermeister used to be a cough/cold medicine to help keep mountain climbers in the alps warm. To be fair, it still can keep you warm and it still tastes like cough/cold medicine."
Vinniam replied:
"Jäger is a big one here. It is actually a kräuterlikör, a kind of bitter alcoholic drink used to aid digestion in small quantities, and used to be seen as a drink for old people until a huge remarketing campaign.
Now it's what college students get wasted off of."
So is Bénédictine and Chartreuse ( the last one distillated only by monks at first)Édit: I forgot the awful Fernet Branca
ozair04 wrote:
"Cotton buds. Not meant for ears but for cleaning bacteria and removing dust."
isoprovolone replied:
"'cleaning bacteria' -- Hold still, little streptococcus, I need to scrub you with this cotton swab!"
"The dashboard. Originally it was a literal board of wood used to protect people from mud and debris from when their horse drawn whatever would travel at gallop speeds.
Now it gives me information about my vehicle's current state and provides audio entertainment."
Now it constantly informs me that my tires are low on pressure and I need to somehow "check" my engine.
"Radar was conceived when labs tried to concentrate radio waves to shoot enemy planes out of the sky. That didn't work, but it did allow them to detect incoming enemies. This is where the myth that carrots improve eyesight stemmed from, the RAF launched a propaganda campaign claiming that their pilots had enhanced vision due to tuber consumption to cover up the discovery of radar."
Nope, it was developed as a method for detection, not to "shoot planes out of the sky". Rudimentary systems were already being tested and to some measure deployed before WW2. in 1935 Robert Watson-Watt was asked by the Air Ministry to verify a German claim about a radio-based "death ray", that turned out to be just a piece of propaganda or disinformation. During his study of the physics behind the claim he had a few bright idea that allowed to improve the use of radio waves for detection, and went on to develop in record time the first large scale practical application of RADAR, mostly thanks to funding provided by increasing fear of military conflicts.
“Frankly, air conditioning. It’s initial purpose was making air dry, and coldness was a side effect.”
"Gasoline and petroleum jelly (Vaseline) was originally the leftover and often wasted byproduct of petroleum refinement. Kerosene was the intended product."
The remains of ancient sea creatures, great for your lips in dry weather.
"Nalgene bottles - the plastic water bottles that are popular with hikers/campers/other outdoor activity folks were originally created for use as medical/scientific lab equipment as a lighter, shatterproof alternative to glass."
"Phones. They're hardly used for making phone calls anymore."
Should have kept the prefix “tele” instead of the suffix, since they “cover distances,” and “tell” on us.
“The Monopoly game was intended by it’s inventor (Elizabeth Magie) to be an educational game teaching the theories of economist Henry George. Monopoly’s modern version also represents major streets in Atlantic City... Some of which no longer exist.”
notathrowawayoris wrote:
"Electric Pen by Edison are now tattoo machines."
Naptownfellow replied:
"Not sure if this is correct but the tattoo artist who did one of my tattoos told me the gun machine has not changed since invented. It’s exactly the same since Edison Invented it."
"Irn Bru (A Scottish soft drink popular in the UK) was originally marketed as a health tonic because of the large amount of iron in the drink. In 1949 they had to stop calling it iron brew, because of restrictions from the government on what could be marketed as having vitamins or minerals, and it became the legally distinct irn bru."
"Uber. It was supposed to be an app where you could hitch a ride with someone going the same place or in the same direction as you, with an option to pay for their time/inconvenience. This was a great idea since hitching a ride rather than ordering a taxi is better for the environment and would be cheaper as the driver presumably was going in that direction either way. Then it became a cheap taxi company whith low standards and insurance problems. In addition drivers "working for uber" will now drive around picking up people to make money, destroying any chance of environmental benefits."
Wasn't also Airbnb related to a kind of free couchsurfing at its beginnings?
“A regular deck of cards was originally used like a tarrot deck. 4 suits = 4 seasons, 13 ranks (Ace, King, etc.) = 13 full moons per year, 52 cards per deck = 52 weeks in a year, etc.”
"Kleenex. Its original purpose was to act as insulation in gas masks during World War I. After the war, its parent company advertised it as a way to remove makeup."
"QWERTY Keyboards. Originally meant to reduce chances of type heads getting stuck to each other on typewriters, now persist in touchscreen keyboards."
"Salad spinners. A stupid waste of kitchen space for an unnecessary utensil, but OTOH a great way to equip your underfunded nonprofit lab with a $20 centrifuge."
“Handshakes. Originally to show the other person you didn’t have a knife up your sleeve.”
"Benadryl was developed as a sleep aid but it's antihistamine properties were better."
"Plastic bags were meant to be reused to stop cutting down trees to make the paper ones. Now the cotton bags are promoted as "green" and the amount of water needed to make one bag like that is ridiculous."
“Rogaine (or the active ingredient if you want to be picky) was originally used as a medicine to lower blood pressure. It worked but a side effect was hair growth.”
"Car bumper.
They are not designed to bump into anything nowadays with out self destructing and causing lots of damage. Most have expensive sensors and cameras built into them. Old ones were solid steel with springs built into them to bump things off of."
Commenter No. 1 wrote:
"Daily newspapers. Before TV and even before that radio became so widespread they used to be the fastest way of getting news and information to people. Nowadays, their emphasis is significantly more on serving as advertising tools, gossip columns, social commentary, etc. than reporting factual news without the extra serving of bullsh*t on top."
Gorf_the_Magnificent replied:
"I’m old enough to remember a newspaper strike in the 1960’s. It was almost as crippling as a transit strike. No one knew:
what the local theaters were showing or when.
what TV shows were on at what times that night (there was no such thing as channel flipping in the pre-remote era, you planned out your viewing in advance; and since there was only one TV, you had to negotiate your viewing schedule with the rest of the family)
how the local sports teams were doing, compared to the rest of their division.
what sales were on at all the stores.
There’s more, but I can’t remember them all. Mostly, it was annoying not to have anything fresh to read when you came home from school or work.
The local TV news focused primarily on whether the newspaper strike would ever end."
The fact that I actually remember the age of the TV Guide makes me realize I'm older than I thought...
“The drug Accutane was originally developed to fight fast developing cancers. It’s now prescribed for acne.”
Many drugs have been found to work for quite different things. Eg, I am on two antidepressants that are also prescribed to help me sleep, and for chronic pain management
Lynke524 wrote:
"Those old time clothes pins. You know the ones with the nobs at the end and no spring (those ones are still used), but the others are used in arts and crafts. Pipe cleaners too."
DuneChild replied:
"I was going to say clothespins in general. I haven’t had a clothesline in decades, and I don’t know anyone who does."
Commenter No. 3 added:
"They're used a ton in the film/tv production industry to do anything from clipping gels to lights or holding fabric together. They're called C-47's on set."
Gaurav8646 wrote:
"Treadmills were used as a torture device in the past, now they are used to lose weight."
fubo replied:
"Invented not as a torture device, but as a way to power a mill (for grinding grain) by treading."
I thought they were invented as a way to keep prisoners active while doing nothing as a form of punishment. They were to think of all the bad they had done and it was a part of their penance- the whole penitentiary thing.. IDK. I should Google that but I'm lazy.
"Saxophones. Invented in the mid-1800s as an orchestral instrument. Now used almost exclusively in jazz and rock music."
The Soviet composers (Prokofiev, Shostakovich, etc.) wrote for them because they were a break from the past.
“The microplane was initially developed as a wood rasp, but now it’s used pretty much exclusively for zesting lemons and grating parmesan cheese.”
"The pound sign.
Edit for non- US folks: the hashtag- we used to call it the pound sign. Sort of still do, but mostly on automated phone calls."
"A lot of the ones created by the military (Internet, GPS for ex.)"
"Mustard gas used in ww1. They found it whitened the sheets of those soldiers who were exposed. It is now Clorox."
“The Wankel engine. It was made famous by Mazda in their RX7 series of cars on the 80s. The Wankel was originally a fan design for smelting metals out of raw ore; late 1800s if I recall correctly.”
Invented by a Nazi, uses 70% of its energy just moving itself, and spits out uncombusted raw gasoline. Hard pass
"Dynamite. The original purpose was to be used in quarries, but we know how that turned out."
Nitroglycerin pills as fast-acting anti-arterioscleroitics: medical researchers expected explosives factory workers to have high levels of stress-related illnesses, but discovered that they were pretty chill dudes due to the chemical’s effects.
"Bed warmers.
They used to be filled with hot coals from the fireplace to warm beds at night. Now, they're mostly hung for decorative display."
"Mechanical clocks were intended for naval navigation. So was the practice of dropping a ball to mark time (like Times Square at NYE). Portable time pieces were not originally very accurate, and local harbor masters would drop a ball from the harbor tower at 1pm (noon in the USA) so the ship captains could synchronize their clocks, and know exactly when the local high/low tide was."
“Margarine was originally developed to be a cheap turkey feed but after it failed somebody added yellow colouring and now it’s fake butter.”
Surprised noone said Viagra; originally was for hypertension and angina.
Surprised noone said Viagra; originally was for hypertension and angina.
