Brush Creek Mill to highlight inventions of Hillman man

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In an attempt to stop the mess from his son's spilled milk, Edward Olsen invented the toddler tumbler during the late 1940s in Hillman. The invention is more commonly known today as the sippy cup.

The toddler tumbler was the first cup for toddlers that had a lid with a spout with holes in it.

Olsen's daughter, Laurene Potter, recounted the story from a newspaper clipping where her brother, Edward, found it was more fun to throw the cup than drink from it.

The invention's popularity grew and soon it was offered through H.J. Heinz, the ketchup and baby food manufacturer.

"The mothers would turn in 25 cents plus 10 labels from the baby food so they would get one of these cups," Potter said.

Olsen also had the product patented.

Olsen worked as a tool-and-die man in manufacturing plants during the Great Depression and learned the ins and outs of the then developing field of plastic injection. Olsen only had an eighth-grade education, which was typical of the era he grew up in.

His experience in different plants provided him with the background to make the tumbler. Although the tumbler was developed in Hillman, it was manufactured in Detroit at Detroit Plastic Products.

Olsen became aware that another company, Baby World, and later Fisher Plastics were manufacturing tumblers almost identical to his. Olsen pursued a lawsuit against Baby World which went to the U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit in New York. The court ruled that a patent of the item shouldn't have been issued because the technology required to make the product already existed.

After the lawsuit, the cup was distributed almost exclusively to H.J. Heinz, and Olsen spent a year recouping on Lake Avalon.

Potter said her dad didn't really talk about his inventions and the story behind the invention of the tumbler wasn't rediscovered until a few years ago. An article in the Montmorency Tribune cited Olsen as Hillman's most famous inventor.

Potter was asked by someone working at the Brush Creek Mill if Edward Olsen was her dad and when she said yes, Potter was then asked if she would like to create an exhibit for the mill.

"We started digging up all of this stuff," she said. Her sister collected most of the artifacts and her brother created the signs for the display.

The exhibit will be up through July and has been donated exclusively to the mill by Olsen's four children: Auleen Duffy, Edward Olsen, Paula Ray and Laurene Potter.

The exhibit includes the toddler tumbler along and other inventions with the original drawings and molds as well as papers documenting the lawsuit. There are photos of Olsen and newspaper articles and advertisements which marvel at the (then) newly created invention.

Olsen also created several other inventions, none of which were as successful as the toddler tumbler. He created a baby plate, which suctions to the tray of a highchair or a table, and has ridges around the top to help children eat. A rattle was also developed through H.J. Heinz that would have candy in the middle.

A few of Olsen's inventions were not child related, the Nik Nak Nook, which held glasses and other nik naks and a mooring device for boats. Olsen also created a non-splashing cocktail glass, however, Potter said she couldn't locate one for the Brush Creek Mill exhibit.

Olsen moved to Hillman because his wife Leona was from the area. Leona was a daughter of Paul and Paulena Krueger Elowsky of Hillman. They lived on Lake Avalon, which Olsen would include in the name of his company, "Avalon Products."

When he first moved to Hillman, Olsen launched a resort business and also, a hardware store, which he co-owned with Amos Elowsky. While Olsen lived in Hillman he started the Rotary Club.

"He was always impacting where he lived and what he did. He truly was very inventive," she said.

Crystal Nelson can be reached via e-mail at cnelson@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5693.