You have Pittsburgh to thank for Jeeps, Mr. Yuck stickers, Big Macs and gas stations

In the Steel City, we have our share of software and robotics companies developing technology to make the world a better place. Yes, the founders and technologists involved are a credit to themselves, but they also follow a long tradition of innovation.

From Ferris wheels to the polio vaccine, many inventions with staying power came from Pittsburgh.

Here’s our latest roundup of Tech Throwback Tuesday editions from the Technical.ly newsletter. And yes, it’s not Tuesday, but is it ever too late for a history lesson?

Jeeps

Did you know that one of the most recognizable cars in the world was invented 33 miles from Pittsburgh? Picture it — the year was 1940, and the US Army presented 135 tractor and auto manufacturers with a challenge: Design a four-wheel drive, 40-horsepower, 1,300-pound vehicle that could haul soldiers and heavy artillery alike. The added catch was that this had to be finished in 49 days. No pressure.

The two companies willing to take on the challenge were the Butler-based American Bantam Car Company and the Ohio-based Willys-Overland Motors. Since Bantam completed the task in 45 days, it walked away with the Army contract and created a staple in teen beach movies for decades to come. As the story goes, the original prototype, called the Bantam Reconnaissance Car or BRC, was sent to Camp Holabird, Maryland for testing. Over time, the vehicle went from being called the BRC to the Jeep — an abbreviation for GP, meaning general purpose.

Unfortunately, the company struggled to keep up with the Army’s demand that it produce 75 Jeeps per day, so the Army gave Bantam’s blueprints to Ford and Willys, and they fulfilled the Army’s contracts for 600,000 Jeeps for World War II.

After 2,675 Jeeps, Bantam shifted its efforts to cargo trailers, torpedo motors and other items until the company closed in 1956. The rest is history, so think of Butler, PA the next time you see a hero without a cause riding in a Jeep in a ’90s movie.

Mr. Yuk Stickers

We cover a lot of life sciences companies working on new innovations to expand patient healthcare options. But in 1971, Richard Moriarty, a pediatrician and clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, was concerned that skulls and crossbones weren’t the most efficient way to communicate to children that a product was poisonous. At the time, skulls and crossbones were associated more with pirates than sickness, and thus, doctors worried, could have the opposite intended effect.

So Dr. Moriarty (no relation to the Sherlock Holmes villain) got to work on an alternative, and the result is the green sticker that can be found in many a classroom and supply closet. Before unveiling the sticker to the public, Moriarty used focus groups consisting of young children to decide which color and design combination best signaled that kids should not ingest a substance. For good measure, the sticker included the national toll-free number — 1-800-222-1222 — or in some cases, the number to children’s hospitals.

Ultimately, the first batch of Mr. Yuk stickers would be distributed by the Pittsburgh Poison Center, which Moriarty founded. The physician just passed away in September.

That’s all for now, but feel free to let me know if there are any other inventions with Pittsburgh origins you want me to spotlight.

Big Macs

Now, being a vegetarian, this reporter has only been eating veggie burgers for the past few presidential administrations. Still, I can’t discount the reach of the Big Mac, the burger that’s become synonymous with the McDonald’s franchise, which came to be in the Greater Pittsburgh area. Let’s go on a trip back to 1967.

Jim Delligatti, who owned a handful of restaurants in the Pittsburgh area, was searching for a way to convince the steel workers who frequented his locations to come to McDonald’s as opposed to its main competitor, Eat n Park. After a hard day of physical labor, Delligatti realized a simple cheeseburger wasn’t enough to fill up his best customers, so he started brainstorming. The end result was two patties instead of one, in addition to pickles and onions of course.

The first customers to try out the first iterations of the Big Mac were those who frequented the McKnight Road location, and soon enough, it was a hit. The burger, originally called the Aristocrat and the Blue Ribbon Burger, became so popular that it spread beyond Pittsburgh locations to being available across the country by 1968. The rest, as they say, is history, so the next time you have a Big Mac, thank a steel worker.

Gas stations

Now, take a trip with me back to the 1880s.  Did you know that without the Steel City, there’d be no gas stations?

In 1885, a man named Sylvanus Freelove Bowser invented the kerosene pump and sold it to the owner of a grocery store in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Roughly 20 years later, Bowser’s invention, which measured and dispensed kerosene, evolved into the first drive-in, fill-up gas and service station, which was built in 1913 at Baum Boulevard in East Liberty. The service station was built by the Gulf Refining Company, which had its HQ in Pittsburgh at the time, and the endeavor was bankrolled by the Mellon family’s fortune.

Full disclosure, there are a few other cities (such as St. Louis) that claim they had the first gas station, but according to a plaque in East Liberty: “At this site in Dec. 1913, Gulf Refining Co. opened the first drive-in facility designed and built to provide gasoline, oils, and lubricants to the motoring public.”

Are there any notable Pittsburgh inventions we haven’t covered yet that we should? As always, if you have thoughts to share, reach out at pittsburgh@technical.ly.

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