The House of David is responsible for the
invention of a number of very important items in
American History. Beginning around 1903 they welcomed
visitors into their kingdom in the town of Benton
Harbor, Michigan. Quickly they began to construct
several buildings to house their members; a building to
generate their own electricity; a building to house
their printing operations which were so vital to getting
their message out to the rest of the world; and an ice
cream building which is where they began to serve their
famous ice cream that was created by an early Austrian
member. With the popularity of the ice cream, and the
fact that they wanted to attract attention to the newly
opened Amusement Park, they figured out a way to make a
waffle cone, and in no time, the visitors were coming to
the park asking to try this new invention. It was such a
big hit that they took it to the St. Loius World's Fair
in 1904 and kicked off what is still today one of the
most popular ways to eat ice cream!
Then around 1920, with the loss
of one of their own cruise ships on Lake Michigan,
Benjamin Purnell asked his craftsmen to design a way to
make sure a ship could not be capsized by an incoming
wake while travelling on the high seas. So soon after,
the House of David and Benjamin invented and patented
the first cross-propeller system for cruise ships, to
keep a ships pressure against a large incoming wave, as
not to allow it to tip with the pressure.
The cruise ship industry embraced this newly designed
system, and used it up until recent years.
In approximately the early
1920's the House of David was one of the most frequented
amusement parks in the country, and with nearly 1/2
million visitors a year, they did everything in their
power to keep the mass amounts of guests happy. At that
time, they built small bowling alleys in the park, and
soon found out that it was too much work for them to
have to have one of their members constantly setting the
bowling pins back up everytime someone bowled the ball.
With some serious thought and engineering, the House of
David invented and patented the very first Pinnsetter,
which with the pull of a tall arm, would go in and pick
up the standing pins and prepare for the next shot.
Luckily one of these original pinn setters was donated
and saved, and is now on display at the Bowling Hall of
Fame in St. Louis, Missouri.
By the late 1920's the House of
David Baseball Teams were America's favorite attraction,
and at the time, they fielded 5 or more teams each year,
that would be booked for over 100 games each. This was a
huge money maker for the colony, and a great way to get
their message out to the rest of the world. As the
players took the field, a House of David member was
always working the stands passing out literature about
the colony and selling photos of the players and of the
Amusement Park. But one thing the House of David didn't
like was that when it became dark, the game had to end.
There were no lights anywhere in the country that lit up
stadiums. So with that in mind, the House of David
figured out a way to make a telescoping, portable
lighting system, mount it on the back of several large
trucks, and began to travel the country with their newly
invented lighting system in the spring of 1931. For the
very first time all across the United States, all of the
teams that played the House of David for an evening game
were given the pleasure of playing what was soon to be
called "NITE BASEBALL"!! At the House of David
Museum there is an article that states all of the cities
across the country that played their Night Game under
the newly invented House of David Lighting System! No
longer did a game have to end when dusk set in, and soon
stadiums around the country began to construct their own
lighting systems. Many old players were interviewed and
asked about these lights, and they not only loved the
lights, but also remembered the loud humming sound from
the massive generators that were mounted on the backs of
the House of David trucks!
In approximately 1944 the House
of David was approaced by the Welch Grape Juice Company
and asked if they could help in trying to create a way
to put Grape Juice in a can. They had been unsuccessful
to this point, and had to resort to selling their
product in bottles. So the House of David, with the use
of their very own Cold Storage Facility, which was the
largest of its kind in the world, invented the first
process of successfully being able to put grape juice in
a can. They calculated out at what temperature they had
to lower the fruit to, and what the particles of the
grape would do. At a certain temperature, the grape
juice was no longer acidic, and no longer was a threat
to the lining of the tin can. Thus, at this temperature,
the juice could be placed in a can, the can sealed, and
once back to room temperature, would not deteriorate the
inside lining. To this day, the Welch Grape Juice
Company still incorporates the same techniques that the
House of David invented so many years ago!
In and around 1970 the House of David
was approached by NASA to help them figure out a way to
allow astronauts a way to take an entire meal into space
but only take up a very small area. So with the help of
Tom Dewhirst and the House of David Cold Storage, the
two entities were able to calculate a way to make an
entire meal shrink down to simply powder, and then
sealed these Space Meals so they were air tight, thus
the very first of their kind to accomplish this feat for
our Astronauts. In approximately 1922 the House of David
invented what was to be called the Pepper Game in
Baseball, and would go on to become one of the most
famous parts of early baseball history. More on this
subject can be learned by going to our page on
"Sports", with movie footage of one of these
games being played! In approximately 1923 the House of
David Art Department, because of the massive amount of
demand for their fabulous artwork, were forced to find a
way to keep their statuary from breaking. They soon
invented what was to be called "Hydrostone",
which is a manmade stone, and is used today by many
dentists when creating a fake tooth. The material is
extremely strong, and can withstand moving, etc. without
a chance of breakage. More can be learned about this
wonderful invention by viewing our page on
"Artwork"!
