The quality of life that modern society has become accustomed to is dependent on various products and utilities. People tend to take these conveniences for granted as the average person has never had to go without them. What many people are unaware of is that these objects have a rich history of development through decades of expert craftsmanship and experimentation to get them to the standard that they are now. Overtime, the demands and needs of society are constantly shifting, thus meaning that the objects that society is reliant on must also change. The list that follows will skip the obvious immense advancements in technology such as phones or computers and instead focus on the inconspicuous objects that still hold significance in most people’s lives. Here are the top ten objects that have drastically changed throughout history.

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10 Makeup

Makeup has played a very important role in various cultural cosmetic standards throughout history. The earliest record of the use of makeup was during the first Egyption dynasty in 3100-2907 BC. Men and women during this time would use skin care solutions and store them in clay containers called unguent jars. The people of Egypt would later develop dark green powders that women would use to decorate their eyes. These were created by powderized minerals such as antimony.

Makeup nowadays is much more instrinctly produced and widely utilized. There are many more ingredients involved in creating makeup that are both non harmful and much more effective in altering one’s appearance. For example, lipstick is now created by melting wax and oil together while later adding color pigments and a solvent solution.^[1]

9 Toilets

Everyone perceives toilets as a basic necessity in one’s home or public establishments. As a result, people fail to realize that the comfortable and more dignifying models that they utilize on a regular basis are actually recent innovations. For example, in Rome during 315 AD, public restrooms consisted of wooden seats with holes dug underneath them. There would be no barrier separating occupants and public restrooms housed up to 144 people.

Romans would view going to the restroom as a social interaction opportunity and used the time to chat with their friends or even complete strangers. It wouldn’t be until the 20th century where the toilet models that people have become accustomed to would begin to be invented. Around this time, toilets with flushable valves and water tanks resting on the top of the toilets themselves were available for the masses.^[2]

8 Shoes

Shoes are seen nowadays as a fashion staple as opposed to the necessity for function they were used for in the past. When shoes were first created, they needed to be durable and practical for the vigorous physical activities the wearer had to perform. For instance, the earliest discovered model of footwear was in the stone age, around 3300 B.C. The shoes were made from deerskin with a sole made from bearskin. For support they were also stuffed with hay.

With the limited tools that they had at their disposal, their shoes were quite the impressive feat of ingenuity. Overtime, as the masses stepped away from physical labour occupations shoes became methods of aesthetic expression. During the renaissance, a period of immense innovation, shoes were crafted from expensive materials and were used as status symbols.^[3]

7 Chainsaws

The invention of the chainsaw has had an immense impact on the trade industry. In the past, timber industries relied on sharp tools such as axes to chop down trees. This caused immense strain on workers overtime and even resulted in fatalities due to inaccurate swings causing trees to fall in unpredictable directions. In the 19th century, saws were used by Europeans to cut down trees more efficiently. Around this time, German doctors also used the earliest models of an “endless” revolving saw in medical procedures to cut through bones. These required the manual turning of a handle to keep the teeth of the saw moving.

The first electric chainsaw was invented in 1926 which was quite bulky and required two people to use. Finally in 1959, a chainsaw available for the wide public was produced which resembled the models used today.^[4]

6 Guns

Firearms have drastically impacted warfare, politics, and culture since their early inception. Around 850 AD, chinese alchemists utilized the explosive properties of gunpowder to create weapons that could project objects at a lethal velocity. This led to the creation of the earliest models of the cannons and grenades. Eventually, handheld firearms were invented which consisted of hollow bamboo tubes, packed with gunpowder and small projectiles. These were ineffective at long ranges so they were mostly used within close quarters.

As time progressed, other countries began using gunpowder for munition purposes. In the 13th century, major innovations of the firearm spread from Asia to Europe through the creation of flintlock firearms. Western contributions to the innovation of firearms really progressed when Americans first settled. American settlers used long rifles with twisted grooves in their barrels which caused the lead bullets to spin when fired. This resulted in a much straighter and accurate shot.^[5]

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5 Eye Glasses

Eye glasses have gone through a number of developments throughout the course of history. Despite the fact that vision impairments are incredibly common, proper optical support has not been widely available for those in need until recently. Previous models of glasses were uncomfortable and unavailable to the mass public. As a result, many people experienced worsened eyesight and even blindness overtime. Romans first discovered the ability to utilize glass to view small texts or things at a distance. As a result, they created the first prototypes of glasses which were magnifying glasses in the shape of spheres. It wouldn’t be until the early 1700s that the familiar pair of glasses we see now came to exist.^[6]

4 Bikes

Bikes are one of the most cost effective and widely accessible methods of transportation used today. However, the durable and fast bikes owned by millions across the world presently are a result of years of constant innovation. The first reported model was created by a German inventor in the early 19th century who made a steerable two handed apparatus. It did not have a chain, brakes, or pedals; it was propelled using manual force from a rider’s legs. In the 1860s, French inventors began adding wheels, chains, and pedals to their bikes. These however were incredibly uncomfortable to use and were hard to control. Finally in 1885, bikes with equal sized wheels were available to the wide public that were much more fluid to control.^[7]

3 Sewing Machines

The production of clothing is an intricate and delicate process that requires competent equipment and workers to be done correctly. Before the creation of sewing machines, this process was much less efficient. Clothing was only made using hand sewing which was much slower and a skill trait that needed to be trained. In 1790, the first model of the sewing machine was designed which was powered by a hand crank.

This idea wouldn’t be brought to fruition until 1834 where an American innovator created the first functioning sewing machine. However, this creator believed that it would cause unemployment for many so he decided to avoid patenting his product. Alas, in 1851 sewing machines began finally being massively manufactured for clothing companies based on lost and found patents. These used threads from two different sources which avoided jams that made previous models unviable.^[8]

2 Lamps

Indoor lighting may seem like a very basic invention, but the modern lighting devices used in most homes have gone through a number of alterations throughout the years. The first lamps used were created around 70,000 BC. These were very primitive and involved a hollow rock being filled with a burnable material soaked in animal fat.

The biggest innovation for lamps happened in the 18th century when central burners were invented. Central burns had fuel sources tightly enclosed in metal. An adjustable metal tube was used to control the intensity of the fuel burning which in turn changed the brightness of the light. Modern electrical bulbs were introduced to the public in the 1870s from Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan inventing the first electric incandescent lamps.^[9]

1 Tractors

Finally, the last entry in our list is known for revolutionizing the agriculture industry and has significantly changed overtime. The invention of tractors drastically speedlined the process of farming by eliminating the need to manually plant, cultivate, and fertilize crops. The invention of the product itself was vital to supporting the exponentially growing population after the industrial revolution. Despite the ingenious applications of the original model of the tractor, it has still been tweaked throughout the years to make it even more efficient.

In 1897, the first factory dedicated to the production of steam powered tractors opened. These tractors were innovative for the time but were designed for off field driving as well. This made manufacturers have to sacrifice useful features such as larger plows for farming, thus making them less effective. In 1910, Henry Ford began producing gasoline powered tractors used exclusively for farming. These were much larger and had larger plows which in turn produced greater yields during harvesting seasons.^[10]

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Everything changes eventually and fruit is no exception to this rule. Here are 10 different fruits that have changed either in reputation or in their entirety.

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10 Banana

Many have wondered why banana flavoured candy does not taste at all similar to an actual standard banana: it is instead far more flavourful and sweeter. The taste difference is due to the fact that bananas in the early 20th century were rather different to the ones that we have today. The modern common banana that can be found in most stores today is a breed known as Cavendish, which rose to prominence after the Panama disease came and its fungus wiped out the then-popular Gros Michel banana. Many types of banana have become extinct in this way since the 19th century, with certain fungi complicating the lives of banana farmers, but no recent incident has had as much of an impact as wiping out the Gros Michel did. Despite the taste of common bananas having been different for over half a century now, the candies still have the exact same flavour, due to them being so popular.^[1] The change in taste is nothing compared to what bananas once looked like, though, as they once contained large, hard seeds that would make eating on them far more difficult than it is today.^[2]

9 Apricot

The apricot was once a staple of the food supplies given to troops in the Second World War, known for its ability to make the body feel fuller for longer. After a series of engine failures and technical issues on tanks that were transporting the fruit, the apricot gained an unfavourable reputation. Before long, the fruit was no longer allowed inside military vehicles, due only to the superstitions of the Marines who had witnessed such issues. The truth of the matter is: all rations were divided equally among each shipment, meaning that if a tank were to break down, one would most certainly find apricots present amongst the supplies. A staff sergeant when questioned about this superstition confirmed that it was still alive and well, even years after the Second World War. “I’ve heard from around the Corps that you should never bring any apricots in the vehicle with you” he stated, before joking “I don’t know where the hell you’d be getting apricots from in the middle of Afghanistan…”^[3]

8 Durian

The durian fruit usually plays a part in many Southeast Asian dishes as well as medicines and sweets. However, it is best known for its terrible odour. In 2020, a post office in Schweinfurt, Germany, was evacuated and emergency services were called because a Durian fruit sent in the post had sent the staff and customers into panic. The fruit resulted in six of the workers being rushed to hospital, due to the suspicion that the pungent smell was a type of dangerous gas.^[4] The fruit’s unbearable quality has led to the rules being changed in the Rapid Mass Transit in Singapore, with it being banned without exception on its underground. Durians now appear on signs forbidding smoking, food and flammable goods. Scientists charged with researching the fruit and its peculiar nature have discovered that it is the combination of many different chemicals that produce the scent, with four of those chemicals being previously unknown to science.^[5]

7 Peach

Selective breeding has changed the peach over the centuries to be many times larger than they were originally. Once multiple times smaller than the stone at the centre of a common peach, generations of farmers have manipulated the fruit and highlighted its more favourable qualities. It is said that the original peach, which is presumed to have been no larger than a cherry, was far more in line with the taste of a lentil than it was sweet.^[6]

6 Tomato

Perhaps the most obvious on this list, the tomato is the item that has changed most drastically in terms of reputation. For the longest time, it was commonly known to be a vegetable, before the fact that it was indeed a fruit rose to prominence. Nowadays, the saying “wisdom is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, whilst knowledge is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad” is said rather mockingly. In the 18th century, however, the tomato was a dreaded fruit, known as a “poison apple” due in part to its similar appearance to the common household apple, in both size and colour and the affect that it had on aristocrats. It was ultimately revealed that the reason why it had such an adverse effect on the upper class was because the acid in the tomato brought out the lead in fancy cutlery, causing the user to fall ill after consuming the fruit.^[7]

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5 Watermelon

The watermelon has not always been smooth and red once opened up. How is this known? Well, the artist Giovanni Stanchi painted a variety of fruit, including that of a freshly cut watermelon. It only takes a glance at the painting to notice that the watermelon depicted looks vastly different to the more modern versions of the fruit; this is because since the 17th century, it has been domesticated and selectively bred to produce as much food as possible. Another vital change that has occurred is the change in colour from a dark shade to a brighter, more vibrant red. Through Stanchi’s painting, the fruit has been perfectly preserved for hundreds of years: if only in image.^[8]

4 Apple

Whilst many of the fruits on this list differ greatly to the form that they once took, the common apple shares many traits with its predecessor. It is in taste that it differs so greatly, as the fruit that we regularly purchase from our supermarkets is far sweeter than what could be found prior to the domestication of the apple. Whilst few facts are known about the beginning of this fruit’s specific timeline, one detail that has survived is the fact that it once tasted far more sour than it does today. One very important factor it does share in common with its predecessor is the deadliness of its pips. Apple pips contain a chemical that converts to cyanide in the human body and so should be avoided in large quantities.^[9]

3 Eggplant

The eggplant has a rich and varied history, during which they have taken the form of many different colours and sizes. Whilst the modern eggplant is commonly known to be purple, previous incarnations of the fruit have been green, yellow and white. One key difference between the modern and the former eggplant is the fact that it used to contain a rather prominent spine that ran from the bottom of the fruit to the root. This aspect has been abandoned for similar reasons as to why the watermelon became fuller and larger: to allow for more food to be taken from each crop. They used to be far rounder, similar to the shape of a tomato, rather than being the large, long fruit that they are today.^[10]

2 Blueberries

In the majority of berries grown in the US exist small transparent worms. These bugs began to appear in these fruits in 2008 and are known to scientists as ‘Drosophila suzukii’, an edible worm that are no harm at all. Over time, these worms grow into a particular type of fruit flies, unless eaten, of course. Once again, these animals are harmless! The worms are small and white, often described as essentially transparent and they only become fruit flies once the fruit has rotted, allowing the worms inside to drop below into the soil. They may be an issue to farmers, but to everyday fruit pickers the worms are not a problem. They can be consumed as any other fruit can be, without issue.^[11]

1 Kiwi

Many associate the kiwi with New Zealand, but in reality the fruit originated in China. It was simply a marketing trick that transferred the credit to the South Pacific nation, which went so far as to change the name of the fruit in question. Originally, the kiwi was known as ‘the Chinese gooseberry’, which when in its original Chinese meant the ‘macaque fruit.’ Macaques are a type of monkeys found throughout Asia specifically and it was their love for the kiwi that resulted in it being named after them. The adoption of the kiwi by New Zealand has been referred to as a “botanical hijack”, since it involved seeds being brought into the country from China, initially by Mary Isabel Fraser in 1904, who gave them to a New Zealand farmer who planted them and tended to the tree. It was not until 1910 that the first kiwis grew in the country and it was only fifty years after that that they were rebranded as ‘kiwifruit’, in 1959. The intention of this rebranding was to rid the fruit from the far less desired ‘gooseberries’ title. Needless to say, kiwis became popular and are still a staple of fruit bowls to this day. Fun fact: New Zealanders refer to themselves (and their national bird) as “kiwis” and to the fruit exclusively as “kiwifruit”.^[12]

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About The Author: Pop culture fan and writer from Liverpool, UK.