Arnold N. Nawrocki died on June 30th at his home in Sun City, Arizona.
He has been credited with being the inventor of the first practical instance of a packaging method, now widespread, which enabled the distribution of a specific product which has become closely identified with postwar America. Mr. Nawrocki first experimented with a coated wood substance; later he made his inroads using a previously patented cellulose product. One of the results of his innovation in packaging was the ability of the army to more efficiently distribute this product to soldiers in the field.
Mr. Nawrocki could not, apparently, take credit for being the first to attempt this particular packaging idea, but competitor Vincent L. Zehren, when interviewed by the Associated Press, noted that "his was the first practical apparatus...The company I work for, we were able to do it much better...But this was the beginning. This was the first." Zehren also said, "You can have some of these inventions and they have no practical use."
What product -- still widely sold today, using an adapted version of Mr. Nawrocki's packaging -- did his invention make practical?
First correct answer posted to comments wins my rare extended dance remix of Burt Bachrach's theme from The Blob. No Googling or consultation of your archive of old Popular Science articles. One guess per comment, please, although you may comment as often as you like.
**crickets**
Posted by: BT on July 18, 2003 10:54 AMHow does one package crickets?
Not a question that daunted Mr. Nawrocki, I guess.
I'll say "Spam"
Posted by: Scott on July 18, 2003 11:06 AMPringles.
Posted by: teenidol on July 18, 2003 11:13 AMCheeze whiz.
Posted by: teenidol on July 18, 2003 11:14 AM"Seargent, I need you to return to the front pronto! The men are desperately low on Cheeze Whiz and Pringles... Oh, and how about a little ol' bottle of plasma, too?"
Posted by: teenidol on July 18, 2003 11:20 AMCigarettes?
Posted by: Scott on July 18, 2003 11:23 AMAll good guesses, but none right.
Posted by: BT on July 18, 2003 11:24 AMSpam, Pringles, Cheez Whiz, and cigarettes. Is anyone else having a college flashback?
Posted by: Scott on July 18, 2003 11:26 AMA friend of my dad's told me of his days in Korea:
"We'd get this frozen tuna noodle salad. We'd put it on the engine of a jeep to thaw it out, then we'd throw it out."
So I'll say, frozen food.
Posted by: Jonathan on July 18, 2003 11:49 AMCandy coating allowed the army to give soldiers M&M's, so that chocolate wouldn't make their trigger fingers sticky.
Posted by: Jonathan on July 18, 2003 11:58 AMegg cartons
Posted by: teenidol on July 18, 2003 12:02 PMBig Macs
Posted by: Jonathan on July 18, 2003 12:05 PMhot dogs.
Posted by: Scott on July 18, 2003 12:06 PMThough with even the tiniest bit of reflection, the idea of hot dogs -- or most of this stuff -- in coated wooden packages is preposterous.
(Having refuted my guess, it'll probably turn out to be right.)
Posted by: Scott on July 18, 2003 12:07 PMMilk.
Posted by: Scott on July 18, 2003 12:08 PMNnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn...o.
Posted by: BT on July 18, 2003 12:09 PMPotato chips shipped in bags made of waxed paper.
Posted by: Jonathan on July 18, 2003 12:09 PMMatchbooks (Turn on WCWM before striking.)
Posted by: Jonathan on July 18, 2003 12:25 PMIndividual boxes of breakfast cereal?
Posted by: Velma deSelby Bowen on July 18, 2003 12:33 PMIngenuity abounds, yet correctness eludes even Velma.
Posted by: BT on July 18, 2003 12:36 PMCheez Whiz makes me think -- Kraft cheese slices? They're plastic wrapped for your convenience!
(I wonder if cheese racing can be done in the microwave the way it can be done on a grill. And I still haven't found the "patriotic" spangled Peeps this summer.)
Posted by: Velma deSelby Bowen on July 18, 2003 12:44 PM(My mind is skittering, and I only have a few more weeks to blow things up in the microwave for the college interns at the office. If I don't have Peeps, I may have to use plain marshmallows, instead. And Ivory soap, of course. Suggestions are welcome.)
Posted by: Velma, again on July 18, 2003 12:47 PMDon't blow up those Peeps -- hand me the pliers!
V is for Victory and Velma, for the second time, as she correctly identifies Arnold Nawrocki as the innovator who made the individually wrapped cheese slice possible. Kraft seems to have popularized, rather than trailblazed, this All-Amurrican Food Product, but as far as we're concerned your answer is in the gold.
Hats off to the man himself. Full obit here.
Plastic-wrapped cheese? Whodathunkit?
You mean I can stop buying these waxed-box individual cheese slices? Think of the space I'll save in the fridge.
Posted by: teenidol on July 18, 2003 01:18 PMPlus, it'll be so much easier to supply them to your troops in the field, teenidol.
Posted by: BT on July 18, 2003 02:01 PMCuidado de los Blob!
Isn't Kraft cheese made out of oil? Gosh, the circle of lifecheese.
Posted by: bootsy on July 18, 2003 04:41 PMThere you may be confusing Kraft cheese with Kraft Process Cheese, Cheese Food,
or Cheese Spread. Cheeze Whiz, if I understand correctly, is the gravel at the
bottom of the food pyramid. Anyway, time for a wholesome snack.
Late to the party, and here I was thinking prophylactics. "Closely identified with postwar America." I mean, what else but sausage protection?
Posted by: Ed on July 23, 2003 03:53 AM