MEANWHILE...MOBILE Episode-1 Innovators & Inventors

Welcome to Meanwhile…Mobile! We are so glad you could join us on our adventure exploring little known and forgotten history of the Port City.

For our first episode, we thought we would keep things lighthearted and introduce you to some of Mobile’s innovators and their inventions.

New episodes of Meanwhile…Mobile drop bi-weekly and we can’t wait for you to hear the incredible forgotten history of the Port City we’ve uncovered with some very special guests.

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If you have questions, comments, or suggestions for future episodes, we’d like to hear from you. Email us at MEANWHILEMOBILE @ GMAIL.COM.

Additional Resources:

 Audio: 

 Hear inventor Miller Reese Hutchison

Recommended Books:

Mobile Aviation by Billy Singleton

Books by Miller Reese Hutchison

Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Baron & Don Tate

 A Streak of Luck: The Life and Times of Thomas Alva Edison by Robert E. Canot

Edison: His Life and Inventions by Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin

Videos:

 Meet the Inventor of the Super Soaker: Lonnie Johnson

Super Soaker XP Commercial

Copyright 2026 * Soundworks, Inc / Meanwhile...Mobile

Transcript

Welcome to Meanwhile...Mobile

Kathy Richardson 0:00

Meanwhile Mobile Welcome to Meanwhile Mobile, the podcast that climbs into the attic of history and opens a trunk filled with hidden, lost, or forgotten pieces of the puzzle that make Mobile Alabama unique. I'm Kathy Richardson, and along with author Joe Cuhaj and producer-engineer Dennis Gould, let's open the trunk.

Kathy Richardson 0:27

Ah, what's this? Innovators and inventors.

Kathy Richardson 0:31

It's 1908. For the first time, a wooden and iron ball with 100 lights is dropped from a flagpole in New York's Times Square. Ushering in...

Crowd 0:43

Happy New Year!

Kathy Richardson 0:45

Meanwhile, a Mobilian invents one of the most annoying but useful automobile accessories of all time.

Miller Reese Hutchison-Inventor

Joe Cuhaj 0:54

His name is Miller Reese Hutchison. Miller was actually born across the Bay in Montrose. He attended college at the Marion Military Institute, Spring Hill College, Auburn University, and the Medical College of Alabama. While at the medical college, Hutchison becomes friends with a fellow student who became hard of hearing after a childhood battle with scarlet fever. Inspired, Miller sets about creating his very first invention, the Akou phone, the first electric hearing aid. And it works. His friend's hearing improves greatly. Problem was, it's large, about seven and a half inches wide, seven and a half inches tall, and weighs up to three and a half pounds with the battery. Eh, it's not very portable. Still, it's a huge success. He even sells one to Queen Alexandra of England, and her hearing improves by 90%.

Dennis Gould 1:50

Okay, picture this. It's 1908, same year as the first New Year ball drop, and Miller Hutchison is walking down the street in New York City during a ferocious rainstorm. As he begins to cross the street from out of nowhere, car speeds around the corner and comes within inches of killing him. He decides cars need a warning device. This incident spawns his most famous and annoying invention.

Joe Cuhaj 2:16

The Klaxon, or Ah-oo-gah horn. The name comes from the Greek word "klezo," meaning shriek. And to give you an idea of how long ago this was, the first ad for the Klaxon horn appears in Horseless Carriage Magazine. We weren't even calling them automobiles or cars yet. In 1911, Hutchison begins working with Thomas Edison, where he developed the bulk of his other inventions, including batteries for submarines. When asked about Hutchison, Edison replied,

Actor 2:47

He developed the Klaxon horn in order to deafen people so they would have to buy his hearing aids.

Lonnie Johnson-Super Soaker Inventor

Kathy Richardson 2:52

1982. War erupts as Argentina invades the British-controlled Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. After 74 days of fighting, Britain reclaims the islands. Meanwhile, a Mobilian invents one of the most popular toys of the last 35 plus years, and something a lot less lethal than the weapons used in the Falklands - the Super Soaker.

Super Soaker Commercial 3:27

The Super Soaker XP 75. Where XP means extra power. It shoots twice the water and reloads quicker than regular Super Soakers. This is the Super Soaker XP 75. One of the most powerful super soakers in the world. Do you feel lucky? Super Soaker XP's the next generation. Available in 75, 150, and 250 models.

Joe Cuhaj 3:50

The Super Soaker is the brainchild of Mobile's Lonnie George Johnson. Lonnie earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering, a master's in nuclear engineering, and an honorary PhD from Tuskegee University. Johnson had an incredible career with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL, in Pasadena, California, working on the Galileo space probe that studied Jupiter's moons. He was also the acting chief of the Space Nuclear Power Safety Section for the Air Force. His famous invention didn't start in a lab. It began as a home DIY project. He was playing around with a home heat pump in his bathroom and thought, as all inventors do, what if? What if the unit used water and air pressure instead of Freon?

Dennis Gould 4:42

So he rigs up this new gizmo, turns it on, and the water shoots out at amazing speed across the bathroom and down the hall, and the super soaker's born. Johnson makes enough money to start his own research facility studying and developing new green technologies and wins a lawsuit against the Hasbro Toy Company. Yep, he soaks them for $75 million for failing to pay him the agreed-upon annual royalty.

Joe Cuhaj 5:08

Hey, hey, look what I got.

Hosts 5:10

Hey, hey! Quit it, man!

Johnson and Hutchison Commonality

Hosts 5:11

.

Kathy Richardson 5:14

You know, Lonnie Johnson and Miller Reese Hutchison had something in common.

Joe Cuhaj 5:19

Really?

Kathy Richardson 5:20

Johnson started developing green technologies in the nineties, right?

Dennis Gould 5:24

Yeah.

Kathy Richardson 5:24

Well, 70 years earlier, Hutchison was working on reducing carbon dioxide emissions caused by gasoline combustion.

Dennis Gould 5:32

Let's give Mr. Hutchison a final thought.

Miller Reese Hutchison 5:36

We are indeed living in the day of miracles, which is now and will ever be associated with the name of Thomas Alva Edison.

Fosko Soda

Dennis Gould 5:51

In 1905, Einstein's theory of relativity is published.

Actor 5:56

E equals MC squared.

Joe Cuhaj 5:59

Meanwhile, in Mobile, another formula is taking shape. Walter Bellingrath owns the largest Coca-Cola bottling facility on the Gulf Coast. But it isn't the only bottling company in Mobile. The E. Carre bottling company at 610 North Franklin Street bottled cider, mineral water, and soda water. In that same year, 1905, an employee at E. Carre, John Carlton Wilkins Sr. concocts a new drink- Fosko. The original Fosko is mixed in huge vats, then stored in old wine barrels, which gives the drink its advertising tagline...

Actor 6:36

Its winy flavor is great.

Kathy Richardson 6:38

The Fosko recipe contains not only carbonated water and flavorings, but also cocaine and alcohol, common for early 20th-century drinks. He also creates a root beer, cream soda, and sasparilla and bottles them under the name Fosko. For years, Fosko is the preferred soft drink by Mobilians. The several flavors of Fosko are so successful that it's the only brand of soft drink served at Hartwell Field on Virginia Street during Mobile Bears baseball games. In 1930, Wilkins buys out Carre and renames the company the Fosko Bottling Company, and it continues to be sold on the Gulf Coast until 1941. The family retains the formula and the rights to this very day. The original directions for making Fosko include:

Joe Cuhaj 7:30

Allow to age three days with frequent agitation, then allow to age three days without shaking, then by using a rubber tube, the middle portion can be siphoned off clearly.

Dennis Gould 7:41

Sounds delicious. My friend Denny Wilkins is JC Wilkins' grandson, and he told me that his granddad and grandmother used to make the Fosko formula in a large vat in their home on Broad Street in the early days. And as Kathy said before, it had many ingredients that wouldn't be legal today.

John Fowler-Mobile's First Aviator

Kathy Richardson 8:04

1890. The Dayton Tattler, Dayton's first weekly African American newspaper is published by Paul Lawrence Dunbar. Famed African American poet and novelist who is 16 years old. He starts the newspaper to promote the interests of African Americans in southwestern Ohio. The paper is printed by the fledgling company of Dunbar's high school acquaintances, Wilbur and Orville Wright.

Joe Cuhaj 8:31

Meanwhile, in Mobile, another invention is really taking off. Pun intended.

Dennis Gould 8:36

A young man named John Fowler sets up shop in his backyard in Mobile. The Mississippi-born Fowler, a watch, clock, and sewing machine repairman, also has his eyes to the skies. Literally. John Fowler's flying machine is a self-built manned glider. The contraption uses a rubber band to turn a propeller, and its first flight is from a beach on Mobile Bay, flies a distance of 15 feet. It was powered by a rubber band, after all. A second flying machine is built by Fowler in 1895 at a shop near the Jewish Cemetery on Virginia Street. This time he uses a two-cycle motorcycle engine to turn a propeller he developed himself. However, it never flew.

Joe Cuhaj 9:32

In 1899, behind a tall wall on property adjacent to the old Monroe Park, near where Brookley Field is today, Fowler works on a third flying machine, another glider, in secret. By now, he has developed sophisticated wings and controls for the contraption. He tethered his glider to a tree at Arlington Park, and when the wind is right, cuts it loose and it soars through the air. And he starts to profit from his invention. He charges the public 15 cents to watch the flights. Around 1900, one of the Wright brothers visited Fowler and discussed his work on wings and controls. Whether the Wright's visit occurred or not is still debated, but according to the Mobile Airport Authority History Department, they swear by it.

Kathy Richardson 10:09

In 1903, the Wright brothers make the first manned powered flight on the dunes at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Did any facet of Fowler's invention affect that first flight? In any event, John Fowler is remembered as Mobile's first aviator.

What's in a Name? Sidney Phillips

Kathy Richardson 10:27

You know, William Shakespeare said, What's in a name? And sometimes we wonder that too.

Dennis Gould 10:36

And the name is Sidney Phillips. Driving west on Old Shell Road, on the left, just before you get to I-65, is Sidney Phillips Preparatory School. When I wrote the first draft of this piece, I was sure that the school was named for Sidney Phillips Jr., the family physician, author, and marine made famous by his appearance in the Ken Burns PBS documentary, The War.

Kathy Richardson 10:58

Natural Assumption.

Dennis Gould 10:59

But before we published this episode, I got a call from Kathy who said, Stop. Sidney Phillips Preparatory School is named for Sidney Clark Phillips Sr., who I learned was a well-respected educator. You know, the kind of person they name schools after. Sidney Phillips was born in 1893. In 1915, he entered Alabama Polytechnic Institute in Auburn. Since 1960, known as Auburn University. During his junior year, 1917, he enlists in the Army. By May of 1918, Second Lieutenant Phillips is in France. Seriously wounded at the Battle of the Argonne Forest, he is hospitalized and returns home to Mobile in May of 1919. In September of that same year, he returns to Auburn and receives his B.S. in 1920. In 1921, he begins a teaching career that lasts until he becomes headmaster at Murphy High School from 1941 to 1945. From there, Mr. Phillips went on to be assistant superintendent of the Mobile County Public School System. He died in 1950. Sidney Phillips Preparatory School opened in 1989 and has earned a place on the top 10 list of the best middle schools in Alabama, a fitting legacy for a beloved teacher.

Dennis Gould 12:17

Now let's not forget my almost gaff at attributing the school's name to Sidney Phillips Jr. Well, remember Sidney Sr. is headmaster at Murphy High School in 1941, right? Well, Sid Jr. attends Murphy while his father is a teacher there and graduates in June of 41. Six months later, on December 7th, the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. The next day, December 8, 1941, Sidney Clark Phillips Jr. enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps. He sees combat as a mortar man in a number of battles, including the Battle of Teneroo during the Guadalcanal Campaign and the Battle of Cape Gloucester. It is while at Cape Gloucester that Sid decides to become a doctor. So after the war, he enrolls in Spring Hill College, then on to medical school, where he earns his medical degree and begins the life of a family physician. In 2005, Dr. Phillips is introduced to Ken Burn's writing team and was able to provide needed information about the lives of Marines in combat for the PBS documentary, The War, while his sister Catherine provided stories about life on the home front here in Mobile. They both had a lot of screen time and were terrific. And I loved her sweet Southern accent when she would say...

Kathy Richardson 13:31

"The Woa." She became a star from that.

Dennis Gould 13:33

In 2011, Sid's memoir, "You'll Be Sorry", an account of his experiences in the Marines in World War II, is published. Dr. Sidney Clark Phillips Jr. died in 2015. He was 91. Affectionately known as Mr. Wonderful, Sid's patients loved him as their caring doctor who always went the extra mile. So the next time you drive past Sidney Phillips Preparatory School, remember two Mobilians named Sidney Phillips, father and son. Two brave men of the highest integrity who dedicated their lives to the education, health, and well-being of the people of Mobile.

Remembering Martin Johnson

Joe Cuhaj 14:21

I imagine this is the same for both of you as well, but when I first came to Mobile, I only knew the basic Mobile history, you know, the major events that shaped the city. That all changed when I met a fellow by the name of Martin Johnson. Martin was a quiet man, and he would come into our studios at WUNI to record a weekly half-hour show, "Your Social Security".

Martin Johnson 14:43

Good morning, everybody. May I come in? Thank you very much. And do you realize this is the last part of November? Perhaps we better review those changes in Social Security.

Joe Cuhaj 14:55

After recording, we would chat and he would tell me stories about growing up in Mobile. One story that stuck with me was when he was growing up. Many of the dirt roads in Mobile were originally paved with pine logs, a corrugated road. And when they would become saturated with one of our famous Mobile rainstorms, he and his friends would jump on the logs on one end of the street and watch the logs ride a wave to the other end. He also broadcast Midnight Mass from the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception. His knowledge of the church, its traditions, the history behind each stained glass window, the ornaments, and the statues, it was riveting.

Kathy Richardson 15:32

I remember Martin Johnson too. That was when we worked at WUNI, then WMML together in the mid-80s. We don't need to go into the entire story, but I remember he would come in every week to record this show. And he was so retro. He stepped out of the 1950s. The car he drove, it was, I know, his original car that was probably a nineteen forties or fifties automobile. He would step out in a fedora, he would wear a fedora hat, and it was like watching someone come out of a time machine. He was the nicest guy, I remember that. And he talked about Social Security as if it was something really important to people's lives. Hey, wait. It is.

Martin Johnson 16:18

Thank you for letting me visit with you this time. And I say from the heart of it, I mean God bless you all, every last one of you in a very hearty and heartfelt. Goodbye.

Conclusion

Joe Cuhaj 16:32

I wish that history was this much fun for kids today. You know, back in my seventh grade history class, I had a teacher named Mr. Clough. And I swear to you, this man was Groucho Marx's twin. He had a big bushy mustache, round-rimmed glasses. In every class, he would have one forgotten and hilarious piece of local history to share.

Dennis Gould 16:52

You know, Kathy and I have a new history teacher.

Kathy Richardson 16:55

The Creighton Leprechaun?

Dennis Gould 16:57

No, Joe Cuhaj, our partner. He's sitting right there. All of the research for this and many upcoming episodes of Meanwhile Mobile was done by Joe and comes from his book, Hidden History of Mobile. Available at local bookstores, even CVS and Walgreens, and Amazon. Check out Joe's website, Joe-Cuhaj.com. And while Joe's name is pronounced Koo-Hi, it is spelled C-U-H-A-J. So that website is J-O-E-C-U-H-A-J.com. Be on the lookout for Joe's books. They really do make history fun.

Joe Cuhaj 17:33

Oh, thank you, Dennis. That's way too kind.

Kathy Richardson 17:36

While we're talking about history, at the very moment this podcast is being launched in the United States, history is in the crosshairs with politics and agendas wanting to rewrite the narrative. Here at Meanwhile Mobile, we're determined to tell true stories and highlight the extraordinary things people did, how they lived, what they endured and achieved, but also what brought beauty and meaning into everyday life. You know, when you read books or watch movies, it's always the person from the present who goes back and saves the people in the past with his wonderful science. And I'm feeling right now we should go to the people in the past and say, please help us with the present because we need it. So join us as we search the trunk of Mobile's lost or forgotten history.

Dennis Gould 18:30

Meanwhile Mobile is produced at Soundworks in Mobile, Alabama by Kathy Richardson, Joe Cuhaj, and me, Dennis Gould. No generative AI has been used in the research, writing, or recording of this podcast. Visit meanwhile mobile.com for transcripts, additional information, and links to related material. For comments, questions, or ideas for future podcasts, contact us at meanwhilemobile @ gmail.com. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. But more importantly, just tell one person about Meanwhile Mobile. Word of mouth, more than any other form of promotion, is how creative works get noticed and sustain themselves. Thank you very much for listening.

Kathy Richardson 19:21

Can we go down from the attic now?