Slavoljub Eduard Penkala
Slavoljub Eduard Penkala (April 20, 1871 – February 5, 1922) was an engineer and inventor from Croatia. Educated at the University of Vienna and the Technische Universität Dresden, he earned a doctorate in organic chemistry. Among many other things, Penkala developed the mechanical pencil and the first solid-ink fountain pen. He and Edmund Moster founded a pen and pencil factory still in existence and called TOZ-Penkala. Penkala’s first patented invention was the hot water bottle, a personal favorite of mine.
A hot water bottle is a container filled with hot water and sealed with a stopper, used to provide warmth, typically whilst in bed, but also for the application of heat to a specific part of the body.
Called “hotties” in New Zealand, hot water bottles come in many different shapes and sizes and with all kinds of fashionable covers. You can keep all that. On days like today with temperatures in the lower 4os and snow forecast, the old-fashioned rubber hot water bottle is one of life’s little luxuries I wouldn’t want to do without.
Ironically, Penkala died in Zagreb at the age of 51, after catching pneumonia on a business trip. He should have invented a travel version of his hot water bottle.
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