Groundbreaking Military Tech That Became Popular Consumer Products

Originally Used by: US Servicemen
Currently Manufactured by: S.C. Johnson & Son
Average Product Cost: $10-$12*

Originally developed in 1924, the patent for the first aerosol spray can was granted to Norwegian chemical engineer Erik Rotheim in Oslo in 1927. Four years later, in 1931, the United States granted a patent for the invention and later purchased the rights for 100,000 Norwegian kroner. The idea of atomising droplets of liquid with the use of low-pressured liquified gas was first used by the US military in the South Pacific during World War 2. 

Aerosol Bug Spray ©Dmitry Syshchikov / Shutterstock.com

The insecticide was used in order to protect the US servicemen from disease-carrying insects and they fittingly referred to it as “bug bomb.” The first mass-produced aerosol valve was invented by the founder of PVC (Precision Valve Corporation), Robert Abplanalp, who filed the patent in 1949 with it being subsequently granted on Saint Patrick’s Day in 1953. Wisconsin based S. C. Johnson & Son are the most notable of the many companies around the world that manufacture aerosol bug spray today.

Originally Used by: Military Doctors
Currently Manufactured by: Loctite Super Glue
Average Product Cost: $5-$6*

In 1942 GR filed the first patent for cyanoacrylate, a substance that was discovered by Harry Coover Jr. and his team of scientists while attempting to design new gun sights for military rifles. Finding that the substance was of no use for their project due to its advanced adhesivity, Coover Jr. and his team set it aside, for the time being.

Super Glue ©Everything You Need / Shutterstock.com

By 1951 Coover Jr. found himself working for Eastman Kodak and rediscovered cyanoacrylate along with colleague Fred Joyner. Under the name of “Eastman #910,” superglue was sold in 1958 for commercial use for the first time. Loctite purchased cyanoacrylate from Eastman Kodak in the sixties, and by the end of the decade it was being used by military doctors, as a spray, to seal wounds as quickly as possible during the Vietnam war. The uses of super glue are so plentiful that today there are numerous variations of super glue manufactured by companies from all over the world.

Originally Used by: Developed by the Quartermaster Corps
Currently Manufactured by: Kellogg’s
Average Product Cost: $1-$1.50/Tube*

With over one hundred flavors sold in more than a hundred and forty countries, Pringles have become a worldwide hit. It is hard to believe that their origins came from a military funded project. In the 1950’s the USDA and the Quartermaster Corps started a project that was based on finding a way to dehydrate potato flakes in order to reshape them into chips at a later date. Science fiction writer/mechanical engineer Gene Wolfe, helped design and develop the machine that would later cook these chips.

Pringles ©8th.creator / Shutterstock.com

Chemist Fredric J. Baur was assigned to develop a new kind of potato chip in 1956, one that would not break so easily. After more than two years on the project Baur had developed the design of the chip as well as the tubular can that would hold them. What he could not do however, was get the chip to taste good. The groundwork was already completed by the time Procter & Gamble researcher Alexander Liepa took over the project in the mid-1960’s. All he had left to do was improve the taste. In 1968 Pringles hit the shelves. After forty-four years of manufacturing these saddle-shaped chips, P&G sold Pringles to Kellogg’s in 2012.

Originally Used by: Restaurants
Currently Manufactured by: Galanz
Average Product Cost: $75-$100*

Heating substances with the use of high-frequency radio waves had been possible since the early 1920s, thanks to the use of vacuum tube radio transmitters. While testing a military-grade magnetron Raytheon’s, Percy Spencer, the man who is generally credited with inventing the modern microwave, accidentally melted the peanut bar that was in his pocket. This gave him an idea. Placing eggs and popcorn kernels under the magnetron and watching them cook and pop, Spencer knew that he had something special.

Microwave Ovens ©NavinTar / Shutterstock.com

Percy Spencer filed for patents in 1946 and later that year the first commercial microwave ovens, which were intended for restaurant use only, were unveiled. The first consumer microwave went on sale in 1955 for $1295 (that’s close to $11,000 today). By 1967 the price as well as the size of Raytheon’s new designs were a fraction of what they were, coming in at just under $500 and being able to fit on a countertop.

Originally Used by: US Infantry
Currently Manufactured by: Nestle
Average Product Cost: $10-$12/lb*

Japanese chemist Satori Kato was working in Chicago in the year 1901 when he discovered a way to successfully make a coffee powder that was soluble. Almost a decade later in 1910 George Washington (no relation) began production of ‘Red E Coffee.’ This instant coffee became one of the more important provisions for US military men during World War I.

Instant Coffee ©Dmitriev Mikhail / Shutterstock.com

The result was the United States government attempting to get their hands on upwards of thirty-seven thousand pounds of coffee powder a day for its many troops. This was no small order as, at the time, the daily national average was just six thousand pounds a day, but the coffee lifted the spirits of the troops and gave them some much needed relief. Today, Nestle produces almost forty-five percent of the world’s instant coffee.

Originally Used by: US Navy
Currently Manufactured by: Teltonica
Average Product Cost: $30-$40*

According to NASA, the original use of the Global Positioning System technology was to help the US Navy track nuclear missile-carrying submarines. This was done by using a combination of radio signals and satellites and was meant to help overcome previous limitations to the existing navigation system at the time.

GPS Trackers ©MicrostockStudio / Shutterstock.com

In 1973 the initial GPS project was officially launched. It was originally a series of twenty-four satellites that were spread across Earth’s orbit. Although civilian use was allowed as early as the 1980s, it was not until 1995 that the system became fully operational for the US military. The US Space Force is currently the GPS’ operating entity.

Originally Used by: Convair
Currently Manufactured by: The Rocket Chemical Company
Average Product Cost: $8-$10*

The line of rust-preventing solvents and degreasers which The Rocket Chemical Company first set out to develop in 1953 has now become one of the most commonly found products in households across America. After thirty-nine failed attempts to perfect the formula, the company’s fortieth try was the one which would prove to be successful.

WD-40 ©Ismail Sadiron Pictures / Shutterstock.com

WD-40 was originally used by aerospace contractor Convair, in order to protect the Atlas Missile’s outer skin from rust and corrosion. It was not until a few years later that, in believing that consumers would also find a use for the product, founder and President of The Rocket Chemical Company Norm Larsen, had the idea to put the product into aerosol cans. The product made it into homes just five years after its conception, hitting the shelves in 1958.

Originally Used by: Us Military
Currently Manufactured by: Motorola
Average Product Cost: $50-$75/pair*

While working for CM&S in 1937, Canadian inventor Donald Hings created the first portable radio signalling system in order for pilots to be able to communicate more effectively with each other. Two years later, using a backpack to allow for the radio to be more easily accessible, the Galvin Manufacturing Company (now known as Motorola) developed a two way radio system, which would be used by the US military on the battlefield during World War II.

Walkie Talkies ©FabrikaSimf / Shutterstock.com

At almost five pounds and seventeen inches in length, the original ‘walkie talkie’ was a groundbreaking achievement. By the 1970s both the size and the weight of these two-way radios decreased significantly and became a lot more prevalent in households and work places everywhere. In 2012 Motorola Mobility was sold to Google for $12.5 billion.

Originally Used by: US Military
Currently Manufactured by: Kimberly-Clark
Average Product Cost: $3-$4/box*

Following the successful transition of Cellucotton from gas mask filter to women’s hygiene product during World War 1, Kimberly-Clark began looking into other uses for the super absorbent material that previously found success in the making of Kotex pads. Upon flattening and thinning out the cellucotton and marketing it as a cold cream and make-up remover for women in 1924, Kimberly-Clark was certain they had discovered another gold mine.

Kleenex ©RustyR / Shutterstock.com

However, people started using the thin tissue to blow their noses and Kimberly-Clark re-marketed the product as a disposable handkerchief replacement. Kleenex has become so popular over the years that the brand name has since replaced the item’s and tissues are now widely known as Kleenex.

Originally Used by: Quartermaster Corps
Currently Manufactured by: PepsiCo
Average Product Cost: $4.50-$5.00/lb*

The United States military did not personally oversee the creation of Cheetos. But their funding was responsible, however, for one of the central ingredients that directly led to its creation: cheese powder. Towards the beginning of World War II, the United States government began a spree of dehydrating and compressing foods by removing the water from within the item. This was meant to allow for larger quantities and longer-lasting rations for the troops. More than a hundred million pounds of cheese was purchased in 1944 alone for use by the military.

Cheetos ©calimedia / Shutterstock.com

Needing to find a way to reduce the weight but not the amount of the product, led by the Quartermaster Corps’ Subsistence Research Laboratory in collaboration with the USDA labs, the research on cheese dehydration got underway. Using the dehydrated cheese that the military had developed, Cheetos in the form which they are known today, were created by Frito Company employee Charles Elmer Doolin in 1948. Now owned by PepsiCo. subsidiary Frito-Lay, Cheetos have been a popular snack food ever since.

Originally Used by: US Army
Currently Manufactured by: Coca-Cola
Average Product Cost: $3.50-$4.00/lb*

In order to ensure that soldiers were receiving enough Vitamin C during World War II, the USDA had a team of scientists develop frozen concentrated orange juice. Unfortunately for the troops the frozen juice did not make it to the front lines as it was not until 1945 that the USDA developed the process for evaporating liquid from fresh juice. 

Frozen Juice Concentrate ©Keith Homan / Shutterstock.com

In 1945, the US Army made a requisition for half of a million portions of the frozen drink concentrate, resulting in the Florida Food Corporation being born, in order to fill the enormous order. In 1946 Florida Foods became Vacuum Foods and started marketing the orange juice concentrate as Minute Maid. In 1948, with Bing Crosby promoting Minute Maid five days a week on the radio, the product began to take off. Coca-Cola purchased The Minute Maid Company in 1960 and has been providing homes with an assortment of frozen juice concentrates for more than half a century.

Originally Used by: US Military
Currently Manufactured by: Conagra Brands Inc.
Average Product Cost: $1-$2/can*

When Hector Boiardi first opened his restaurant in New York, there was no way that he could have imagined what was to follow. The demand for his pasta sauce was so great that he opened a factory in order to bottle the sauce on a larger scale. The first product that his factory would mass produce was a kit that contained uncooked pasta, a container of grated cheese and, of course, tomato sauce.

Chef Boyardee Canned Ravioli ©Kyle Oster / Shutterstock.com

Boiardi’s company was commissioned by the US military to produce upwards of two hundred and fifty thousand cans every day which resulted in five thousand workers being hired in order to complete the task. In 1946 Boiardi sold the company for $6 million to American Home Foods and it has since been purchased by ConAgra Foods which continues to deliver Chef Boyardee products worldwide.

Originally Used by: US Military
Currently Manufactured by: Canon
Average Product Cost: $100-$150*

Originally developed for military and medical uses the digital camera technology is being used, in one way or another, military wide. Digital cameras have been used in collaboration with drones to capture images of military importance and in more recent days, in order to capture images from Mars.

Digital Camera ©Triff / Shutterstock.com

The late 1990s saw the first consumer digital cameras arrive in stores and at the start of this Millenia, the occasional mobile phone was fitted with a low quality camera. In 2021, almost everyone who owns a cellular phone has a digital camera built into it. Digital cameras have taken over the still photography market as those who use film cameras are fewer and further between these days. 

Originally Used by: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
Currently Manufactured by: N/A
Average Product Cost: $50/month*

During the Cold War, the United States government found it not only necessary, but essential, to have the capability for communication links between universities and the military. They needed a method that neither enemy spies nor bombs could disrupt. That method would inevitably become the Internet as we know it today. 

The Internet ©Vizilla / Shutterstok.com

In 1968, the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was created and the Internet was subsequently born. April 30th 1993 is a day that will be spoken of by historians for centuries to come. It was the birthday of the world’s first web browser: WorldWideWeb. Now, in 2021, more than half of the world’s population is connected to the internet and surfing on the WorldWideWeb.