Mike du Jour by Mike Lester for January 17, 2024

They rode in stagecoaches

Cans had a metal strip below the top, and a key attached to the can. You fit the key into the end of the strip and turned it to remove the top. The strip was prone to breaking and an alternative was invented.

My dad grew tomatoes for Campbell Soup. We got cases of soups without labels, dented cans, etc., and learned the codes stamped on the end. Never had trouble finding the can opener.

My knife had a blade for opening cans.

Chef Boy-R-D invented canned spaghetti in 1803 and his great-great-great granddaughter, Madame Curious, invented the can opener in 1858. Tragically, she died from eating the contaminated spaghetti later that same year.

The backseat driver has been around since the chariot days.

If we had been around at the dawn of automobiles, my wife would have been screaming at me for going 15 mph on a dirt road.

“Sideseat” drivers were invented with the horse and wagon.

“That’s like inventing the backseat driver before the car.”

1) Did horse-drawn wagons have back seats?

2) Also before the golf cart.