Great Moments

1897

First Automatic Lawn Sprinkler Invented

By Elijah McCoy. And about time! Because standing out in the middle of the lawn with a pail between your legs, spreading water around with a tin cup for hours was getting really old.

1967

Bookmobile First Launched

Traveled suburbia promoting reading and literature. By mid-1970s most bookmobiles had hit the scrap heap -- as consumers discovered that, unfortunately, reading takes effort (e.g., keeping your eyes open), and that sitting on your new La-Z-boy in front of your new color TV using that cool new remote control, eating TV dinners, is a lot easier and way more fun.

3000 B.C.

Patio Furniture First Introduced

By Egyptians. Wicker. Used by royalty outside their palaces. Also used in burying their dead -- though presumably the dead (and buried) enjoyed their wicker experience less heartily than those who sat in the wicker above ground, on the piazza, served grapes by slaves who would soon join the buried, though in a somewhat lower-grade coffin (i.e., dirt).

1933

1st Drive-In Theater Opened

In Camden, NJ. Popularized making out among teens (and adults without sofas) and insured that Hollywood's worst movies would receive regular distribution in out-of-the-way weed infested fields throughout suburbia for nearly half a century.

1883

1st Landscape Architect Firm Founded

In Brookline, MA, by Frederick Olmstead. Paved way for sweaty dirt-stained bandana-clad leaf blowing gardeners appearing daily (before 8:00 AM) on suburban streets all across America.