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How did it all start and what exactly is all the mouse trap cars and other gadgetry about? |
Come follow with me on my yellow brick road made of cheese........ |
Whe
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I was between the ages of 10 - 12 years old, I had very few toys and I had to make a lot
of my own from bits of scrap materials and a few things found around the house. The
other kids in my neighborhood were in the same boat and there were times we had more fun
just watching each other create all kinds of very interesting things, using the magic of
our imagination. We never knew what boredom was. Every day was filled with fun and
laughter as most of our inventions either backfired on it's maker, or when the wheels
literally fell off. One day I found a mouse trap and eagerly tore away the wrapper. It was
not long before several amazing contraptions were made.
First a cannon that very accurately fired many 
rounds of cake flour or water bombs was born.
Over time their came mousetrap cars,
re-useable mouse trap fireworks, a weighing scale, remarkably
effective fishing gadgets using the pulley principle, "exploding" buildings,
rocket launchers, special effects items and many prank gadgets and gizmos. My mouse trap
career came to an abrupt end when I was 12. My school grades were dropping and my
mother threatened to "bop" me if I did not mend my ways.
Decades later my wife Doreen was enjoying the many
stories that I related about the mouse trap gadgets of my youth. 
Several times she tried
to persuade me to publish a book on it. I refused. My reason was simple.
I thought that friends, family and neighbors would laugh us off the face of the
earth. A grown man playing with mousetraps ? Eventually she won, and I agreed on one
condition, that I produce the book under an alias. Great improvements were made to my
earlier models and many new ones were born. My second name is Claude, and this name
together with the initial of my first name, became the perfect alias for the author. I
decided that we would send the first batch of books to the media far away from home, so as
to keep things relatively quiet. The first few homemade books rolled off our kitchen
production table in August 95, and I mailed a few copies to Florida and California.
By a one in a million chance, the Pulitzer prize
winning author and syndicated columnist, Dave Barry 
got hold of a copy of my book, liked it and chose it as the
literary choice for the Holiday Gift Guide in December 95. Over 40 Syndicated newspapers carried the story and my mailbox and telephone were never
the same again. It was not long when our local papers carried the story. Later several
great articles in the Bob St. John column in the Dallas Morning News appeared. Clearly the
cat was out of the bag and by that time, I was no longer embarrassed to tell people that I
wrote the book.
It was the Physicist, DR Roy Rubins at the
University of Texas, Arlington, who made me more aware of the rather unique teaching
applications relative to 
each of the mouse trap models. He was the one who calculated the speed of the
mouse trap slammer. The range of models were improved, and the range continued to grow.
Soon several schools invited me to run science workshops using my collection of
con-trap-tions, as well as teach school teams how to set up Mouse
Trap Fireworks. Several years ago I taught and was also involved in adult
education for over a decade. Soon a mousetrap science program developed. At
the time of writing I have addressed over 100,000 school students, not counting audiences
from PTA meetings, Boy/Girl scouts, clubs, churches, public libraries, teacher
conferences, etc.
The media exposure to all
this "mouse trap goings on" has been truly phenomenal i.e. radio, local TV News
stations, National TV and counting. Take a 
look at the world's largest mousetrap that helped us make
our mark in The Guinness Book of World Records®.
I am also greatly encouraged by the many letters I receive, from so people from all
over - people of all age groups. People who have not lost their sense of adventure, humor,
and their sense of WOW!
The world does not need a better
mouse trap as much as it needs an explored one.
Sincerely,
Mel Mc Daniel
AKA Prof. M.Claude
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