FEELIN' FAT?

 Well, Yes, I'm feelin' fat these days.  My eating is out of control.  It could be a reflex action against the instructions I received in preparation for a colonoscopy next week.  Uhg!

All this concern about obesity made me think of Blimps.  You know, the airships we see at sporting events and the like - emblazoned with Goodyear Rubber Company.   How did they get here?

Well, the rubber company got into the blimp-building industry many years ago.  You see, in 1839, Charles Goodyear stumbled onto the process of adding sulphur and heat to rubber which we call vulcanizing.  (Notice the reference to Vulcan, the god of fire.)  Interestingly, Charley spent his life trying to raise capital and defending his patent for his new rubber.   The company was founded 1898 by Frank Seibeling in Akron, Ohio.  Charles was never involved though it bears his name.

We'll ignore the tire business today and talk about how they got into the blimp business in 1917.  They built at least eight different styles of blimp before they got the U.S. military interested in the 1930s.  Just before and during WWII, the Navy bought a whole fleet of blimps to use as ship and sub hunters.  They ran up and down our coasts looking for enemy ships during the war.  

Right now, I'm not only feeling fat but tired.  I'll continue this interesting subject another day.