Inventions and Reinventions 2

acqueducts
balconies

breach of promise (before the 30s, you could sue a man who let you believe your relationship would end in marriage and then reneged)

bubble cars

cabin trunks
closed-plan living (saves heat)

disabled-friendly taps as standard
dog toilets

exams (no cheating possible)
giant Austrian porcelain stoves
insulated baths

jettied houses with projecting upper storey for more space

kitchen/living rooms (you don’t put the kitchen down one end – you build a large kitchen and move in a table, chairs, a telly and a sofa)

kitchenette, breakfast nook
lifts and escalators in all tube stations
mistresses – with a flat, a living wage and diamond bracelets

nylon stockings
observation cars on trains
outside staircases to flat roofs

paid companions
pawnbrokers (happened)
phone numbers containing letters
polytechnics (happening)
porthole windows

room dividers
rooms that open out of each other (no more narrow, dark corridors wasting space)
record one channel while watching another (Back with digital.)

Scottish broch with 3ft thick stone walls (that would be really warm inside)
small porch area inside/outside front door to insulate, and leave coats and boots
small schools
soap dishes that drain

State Enrolled Nurses (without degrees) The best hospitals are reinventing them according to Camilla Cavendish in The Times Sept 29 11

streets
summer time all the year roundtemperance bars
terraced bungalows

the paperback – 6in by 4in, half an inch thick (about the size of a Kindle), fits in a bag or pocket, doesn't weigh you down

the WWII rumour department - use it to spread useful information

turn children’s desks to face the blackboard

two-year degree courses
verandahs
wall units
wood panelling for room insulation

Inventions
All counters to have an overhang so you can sweep your change into your hand

toilets in tube stations

bike shed/park for all new houses

disabled friendly stapler

disabled nights at galleries and museums with free wheelchairs and pushers (and lots of extra seats)

Europe-wide electricity grid

insulated mugs

lighter money "The ridiculously heavy currency" Andrew Sullivan notices what’s changed and what’s stayed the same since he left the UK Sunday Times July 2011 ("The general low-level alcoholism of almost everyone is as recognisable today as ever.")

Make all languages spoken in the UK GCSE subjects (Punjabi, Yiddish, Romany, Yoruba).

non-wobbly credit card reader stand

phone handset shoulder rest (Somehow no one managed to invent one before they were made unnecessary by email.)

Phones should show their own local number and the number of the person who’s calling.

Serve airline food in hospitals.

water grid

Reinventions 4
Reinventions 3
Reinventions 2
Reinventions 1

Useless inventions