The prosperity pool

When my son, Thomas, was a boy, he enjoyed playing in a neighborhood swimming pool with Pool Noodles. These are simple devices: brightly colored polyethylene shaped into cylinders about three feet long and about three inches in diameter. Being brightly colored, they're easy to see. Being polyethylene, they're highly buoyant in water. And being brightly colored and highly buoyant, Pool Noodles are fun for children in swimming pools and a source of comfort for parents whose children play with them.

One day, while I was watching Thomas grab one of these Noodles, it struck me that these toys did not exist when I was a boy in the 1960s. Pool Noodles weren't invented until the 1980s. And, even then, it took a while for retailers to assume the risk of offering them for sale. It is probably not surprising that Wal-Mart led the way.