Patently Silly's First Animation!: a Better Mouse Trap

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posted on 5/26/2009

I am really excited to launch Patently Silly's first animation, in conjunction with my new book Patently Silly: From the Collapsible Walker to the Incinerating Toilet, the Craziest Inventions Ever Devised! I've been obsessed with the Portable Electrical Mouse Trap since I first came across its improbable illustrations in 2005. There was a complete story in the sequence of patent drawings that had to be animated!

Ralph Waldo Emerson is attributed with saying, "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door."

Inventor Charles Jordan's door deserves a steady stream of knocks -- if not from vermin-ridden homeowners than by art gallery owners.

His counter-intuitive design gives mice a choice between two powerful instincts: a sensible fear of sharp-fanged housecats and an unquenchable addiction to stinky cheese. Basically, it kills the idiots and the junkies.

And if you enjoyed this animation, you would definitely like my book, Patently Silly: From the Collapsible Walker to the Incinerating Toilet, the Craziest Inventions Ever Devised.