Have you ever looked at a random item in daily life (say, a soda cap or the hole in the top of a pen cap), and thought to yourself, wait… why is this designed like this? Not like a real existential thought, but rather like, huh, that’s bizarre, did someone really intentionally design it that way? After which, you likely forgot about it all together, and your brain filed it away and moved on.
Here is the thing: a lot of weird design aspects?… not necessarily random. Someone, somewhere, consciously thought about that. It has a reason for that weird bump or notch or hole or groove or whatever it is. Like… most of us just never knew. Somewhere, in the 1970s, the information may have been distributed and we all collectively forgot. Who knows.
Anyway, I found a bunch of these, and some of them are really wild. Stuff you probably use every single day without knowing it has a hidden purpose in embedded in the design. Fifteen, to be exact. Let’s just say after this you may look at your stuff a little differently. Or not. It is up to you.
1. Hole In Pen Cap
Have you ever wondered why many pen caps have a small hole in the top? When pens began being manufactured, companies soon realized that pen caps could pose a huge choking hazard for children. As a result, they designed caps with a hole in the top so that, if the cap was swallowed, children would still be able to pass air through.
2. Soda Can Tab
The majority of soda can tabs have a hole in the middle of them. This isn’t so you can fit your finger underneath; rather, it serves as a placeholder for your straw!
3. Gas Light Arrow
If you look at your vehicle’s gas light, you should notice an arrow beside the gas pump icon. This arrow serves as a reminder for the driver of which side the gas tank is on.
4. Paper Margins
We’re all familiar with the wide margins on lined sheets of paper. Did you know that the margins were originally developed to protect what was on the paper? Since mice and rats used to be extremely common in people’s houses, the margins were meant to protect the documents from chewing pests.
5. Long Bottle Necks
The long neck seen on glass beer and soda bottles was actually designed to encourage the drinker to hold the bottle by the neck. That way, the heat generated from their hand wouldn’t warm up the liquid in the bottle.
6. Pot Handle Hole
If your pot handles have a hole in the end, it’s not for decoration. This hole is actually meant to serve as a spoon holder!
7. Small Jeans Pocket
Have you ever wondered why your jeans have a fifth, extremely small pocket that’s far too small to store anything in? Well, this pocket was originally designed to house pocket watches!
8. Solo Cup Lines
The lines on a red Solo cup actually help measure standard alcohol quantities. The bottom line represents a shot of hard alcohol, the middle line corresponds to a glass of wine, and the top line equals a glass of beer.
9. Ladle Hole
If your pasta ladle has a hole in the center, this is because that hole actually measures the appropriate serving size for spaghetti!
10. Wooden Hangers
While wooden hangers look more stylish than plastic or metal ones, that isn’t actually their intended purpose. Manufacturers originally made wooden hangers from cedar because it naturally repels pests, reducing the chance of moths chewing on clothing.
11. Tiny Lock Hole
If a padlock has a tiny hole beside the lock mechanism, it’s so that water can pass through the hole and drain out if the lock becomes exposed to water.
12. Fast Food Ketchup Containers
You know those small, ribbed ketchup containers you get at fast food restaurants? Well, you can pull those ribs outward to expand the container and hold a lot more sauce.
13. Fabric Patches
You may have bought a piece of clothing that comes with extra buttons and a tiny patch of fabric. While you can use this piece of fabric to patch a hole, its intended purpose is to let you test cleaning products without ruining the entire garment.
14. Chinese Takeout Containers
Those odd-shaped Chinese takeout containers actually serve a genius purpose. When you get your food home, you’re supposed to unfold the sides to have an instant paper plate that your food is already sitting on.
15. Removable Headrests
The removable headrests in your car are actually an important survival tool. If you ever become trapped in your vehicle, you could remove the headrest and use the two metal prods to smash out a window.
In any case, it’s sort of crazy, right? All of the little design details that you had never really seen the why of—or, maybe, you had for a second, then immediately expressed acceptance and moved on—actually had a point. Or still do. Somebody somewhere said, hey, let’s put a hole here or a weird fold there, and, we just went along without any real scrutiny. And now, all of the sudden, you are looking at your jeans pocket, and you’re thinking, oh… that’s not just decorative uselessness, awesome.
But maybe this is all just something that stays with you if you are the kind of person who gets distracted at red lights wondering why the gas symbol looks like it does. If you aren’t, no harm done. You will likely forget half of this by the time you wake up tomorrow. Or you will remember them all at once when you’re trying to explain to someone why a Solo cup has lines, and they are looking at you like you have truly lost your mind. Which, to be real, is sort of the fun of it.
