A million dollar idea...

...or so it seemed when the inventor of the battery operated, voice activated zipper filed for the patent in 1957.

His patent* was granted the following year but sadly the invention never caught on....mostly because the alkaline batteries were so small that people had trouble handling, let alone replacing them.

Despite attempts that don't work or aren't a commercial success, many inventors continue to struggle on.

Thomas Alva Edison once said, "I haven't failed: I've found 10,000 ways that don't work!"



* Fictional invention, courtesy of PS