top of page
Writer's picturemadmysha

Who invented the fly swatter?

I'm visiting my nephew this week, so Daily Doodles seem much more difficult to fit into my day. Fortunately, I was at my aunt's house today with the little man when she told me about her great-granddaughter calling a fly swatter a bug masher... which brought my attention to the fly swatter as an obvious Daily Doodle object.


As far as history goes, there were medieval woodcuts which might have been insect swatting devices, or were at least similar in style. The modern day fly swatter we know was invented by Frank H. Rose, a school teacher, in 1905, though he called it a "fly bat". Rose was inspired by a man named Dr. Samuel J. Crumbine. Dr Crumbine was on a mission to rid Kansas of flies. Crumbine was also the man who renamed it the "fly swatter".


At one point in my life I was a master fly killer, anymore I'm much too slow and not nearly patient enough... or maybe it's just that my patience has shifted. I currently get rid of flies with a vacuum hose... it's actually quite entertaining, and not nearly as messy or gruesome.




8 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page