New Ideas

Fake Wheels. To cash in on the sports car fad, Los Angeles' Calnevar Co. brought out a "simulated wire wheel," a stainless-steel, spoked disk which can be snapped on in place of the conventional hubcap. Good for any U.S. car (except Studebaker, Lincoln and the Nash Ambassador), Calnevar's sporty gadget covers the entire wheel, looks like the real thing. Calnevar has orders for 50,000, expects to sell 250,000 in 1953. Price: $99.50 to $109.50 for a set of four (real wire wheels cost $300 extra a set). But the company may find the competition hot since half a dozen other companies have similar disks.

Fabrics for Refrigerators. International Harvester's new Decorator Model refrigerators will have fabric-covered doors designed to: 1) eliminate the chipping of enamel or porcelain door finishes; 2) let the housewife match her refrigerator with her kitchen decor. The changeable washable fabrics will be available in a variety of patterns, with window curtains to match.

Plastic Painkiller. Larson Laboratories of Erie, Pa. put on sale a spray-on plastic to make easier the removal of adhesive bandages. Squirted on the skin before tape is applied, the Adhesive Balm Spray (containing Monsanto's Santicizer No. 8) forms an antiseptic, stainless plastic film, later permits dressings to be peeled off with almost no pain to the patient. A 12-oz. can: $3.

Theft-Proof Wheat. The Roosevelt Stockman's Association put on sale confetti to foil wheat thieves. (For the last few years there have been several big wheat thefts a year in Roosevelt County, Mont.) Packaged with a code number printed on each piece of paper, the confetti is mixed with the farmer's wheat, and the code number recorded by elevator men when the wheat is traded. If the wheat is stolen, the code number makes it easy to identify when resold.

Double-Barreled Paint Gun. Chicago's Binks Manufacturing Co. announced a new paint gun with two nozzles which speeds the drying of paint. While the paint (Glidden Co.'s new resin, Nu-Pon A) is shot from one spray head, a fluid catalyst issues from the other, quickly combines with the paint to help it dry quickly. The gun is necessary because the reaction will only take place when paint and catalyst meet at the moment of application. Price of the gun: $147.

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