Wishful Tinkers

Union-Tribune:

Necessity wasn’t the mother of Sheldon Levinson’s invention. Nobody really needs a machine that makes bubbles.

But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth doing, or that the machine isn’t fun to play with, or that the process of turning Levinson’s idea into an actual product won’t make for good TV.

Levinson, who lives in San Carlos, is one of 12 inventors – and one of two local residents – featured on the second season of the reality series “Everyday Edisons.”

The series is a celebration of American ingenuity. Not the ingenuity of corporate R&D departments, but the ingenuity of the garage tinkerer who decides one day that there has to be a better way – a better alarm clock, a better bandage, a better skateboard, a better dog leash.

Levinson, 60, remembers being amazed as a child by foam he saw on a beach in New Jersey. The water had been whipped into froth by a hurricane.

“That image stayed with me for years,” he said.

As an adult, he saw bubbles in a fountain, and that mesmerized him, too. His father had been in the toy business, so he understood the value of play. He thought bubbles would be a great thing to play with.

Photo by K.C. Alfred.

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