In the U.S., plenty of Chinese restaurant fare features produce that doesn’t grow in China, such as broccoli. Thus it shouldn’t be terribly surprising that Americans also took liberties with how Chinese food is packaged. While plastic containers are utilized to hold delivery and takeout dishes in China, diners in the States prefer a folded, six-sided box with a slim wire handle. Chicago inventor Frederick Weeks Wilcox patented this “paper pail” on November 13, 1894. Borrowing from Japanese origami, Wilcox elected to make each pail from a single piece of paper. This decision eventually proved critical in the transportation of Chinese cuisine, lessening the likelihood of leaks and allowing steam from hot foods to escape through the top folds. Another probable source of inspiration was the oyster pail, a wooden bucket with a locked cover that people used to carry raw oysters in the 19th century. Shortly after 1900, the company Bloomer Brothers started mass-producing Wilcox’s design specifically for toting oysters. 

The Great Wall of China was partly built from rice.

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One of the modern Seven Wonders of the World was made with help from grains. When portions of the Great Wall were constructed, the world's first composite mortar — a blend of heated limestone, water, and sticky rice — served as the binding agent for bricks.

As Americans began taking more advantage of suburban living and consumer conveniences after World War II, Chinese food delivery became an increasingly popular dinner option, with Wilcox’s containers of leftovers soon lining refrigerator shelves. During the 1970s, a graphic designer at Bloomer Brothers’ successor, the Riegel Paper Corporation, embellished the boxes to include a pagoda and the words “Thank You” and “Enjoy” — all in red, a color that represents luck in China. The Riegel Paper Corporation evolved into Fold-Pak, the world’s top producer of takeout containers, which assembles millions of cartons per year. Composed of solid-bleached-sulfate paperboard and boasting an interior polycoating, each food carrier expands into a handy plate if you remove the wire handle. 

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When considering a final resting place, most people ponder the conventional options, such as a coffin or, for those who prefer cremation, an urn. Not Pringles inventor Fredric Baur, whose devotion to his innovative packaging method (which stacks his perfectly curved creations in a tall tube) was so intense that he had his ashes buried in a Pringles can. “When my dad first raised the burial idea in the 1980s, I chuckled about it,” Baur’s eldest son, Larry, told Time of his father’s wishes. But this was no joke. So after the inventor died in 2008, his children made a stop on their way to the funeral home: a Walgreens, where they had to decide which can to choose. “My siblings and I briefly debated what flavor to use,” Larry Baur added. (Sour cream and onion? Barbecue?) “But I said, ‘Look, we need to use the original.’” Baur’s ashes now rest, in the can, at his grave in a suburban section of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Pringles used to have a different name.

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The chips were originally sold as Newfangled Potato Chips, but the name didn’t last. Some believe “Pringles” was taken from a street name in an Ohio telephone book, though this has never been confirmed.

Baur is far from the only person to choose an unconventional burial method — and many new choices have emerged across the world in recent years and decades. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s ashes were launched into space, a fitting resting place if ever there was one. Some people in Korea, meanwhile, have opted to have their ashes turned into sea-green beads that are placed in bottles or jars; the process is not unlike turning sand into glass. Those who prefer an environmentally friendly option, meanwhile, have encouraged the green burial movement, which prohibits spending eternity in nonbiodegradable containers — meaning that a Pringles container probably wouldn’t fly.

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The brothers behind your favorite frozen waffles took a while to iron out the details of their signature product. Working in their parents’ basement in San Jose, California, in the early 1930s, Frank, Anthony, and Sam Dorsa first whipped up their own brand of mayonnaise. Since the base ingredient of mayonnaise is egg yolks — and the brothers took pride in using “100% fresh ranch eggs” — they christened their fledgling company “Eggo.” Despite launching the business during the Great Depression, Eggo mayonnaise sold like hotcakes, motivating the Dorsas to extend their product line. Soon, they were selling waffle batter — another egg-based product. To simplify shipping, they also whipped up a powdered mix that required only the addition of milk. 

Since Waffle House locations are open 24/7, they do not have locks on their doors.

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Locks are in place to protect each restaurant when it's under construction prior to opening day. Once customers start visiting, the locks are used during rare closures such as a remodeling or when, in March 2020, 418 outposts temporarily shuttered in response to COVID-19.

When the frozen food industry took off in the 1950s, the brothers wanted to take advantage of the rush to the freezer aisle. Frank Dorsa (a trained machinist) repurposed a carousel engine into a rotating device that could anchor a series of waffle irons, each cooking a breakfast treat that was flipped by a factory employee. The machine allowed Eggo to prepare thousands of freezer-bound waffles per hour. These debuted in grocery stores in 1953 under the name Froffles, a portmanteau of “frozen” and “waffles.” Customers referred to them simply as “Eggos,” and the Froffles moniker was dropped within two years. Now a Kellogg's-owned brand, Eggo serves up waffles as well as other frozen breakfast treats, with mayonnaise — and the name Froffles — but a distant memory.

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