Inventing for the Fun of It : Jacob Rabinow

Rabinow invented for a living and to help out friends. But perhaps the greatest motivation behind his inventing was the fun he found in doing it. He had an enormous playfulness. A sense of fun permeated many aspects of his life. One time an Assistant Director of the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in charge of public information asked Rabinow to eliminate the humor that he was injecting into his work-related public speaking engagements. Rabinow immediately appealed to the Director, asking whether it was indeed NBS policy to forbid humor in public speeches by employees. The Director gave him permission to tell jokes.

Rabinow found an analogy for inventing in joke-telling. He wrote, “Perhaps an invention is funny because it is basically very similar to a joke. It has a punch line which is logical, but completely unexpected. And if that is the essence of humor, then inventions are indeed funny in themselves.”

Objects :
Multi-level Transparency Projector, ca. 1961
Focusing Aid for Copying Camera, ca. 1993
Model of Pick Proof Lock, ca. 1977
Three Pick Proof Locks, ca. 1977