And The World Did Not Beat A Path To His Door

4,400 attempts at a solved problem

Combined With Something Else Entirely

The mousetrap as a second function: of a lamp, a clock, an alarm, a flowerpot.

A pyramidal box trap with sloped sides leading to a top opening holding a suspended funnel-shaped glass vessel with a wire handle, and a second cross-section drawing showing the internal bait holder beneath the funnel's narrow end.Roach and Mouse Trap.William J. Webb · September 26, 1871Patent drawing of a heart-shaped, toothed double-jaw trap suspended from a looped spring rod, with a small hooked bait holder and trigger mechanism visible inside the jaws, plus detail views of the trigger and spring assembly.ANIMAL OR FISH TRAP.William Gabrielson · May 15, 1906Patent drawing showing a cable-mounted revolving spool with pointed blades above an inverted cone-shaped rat trap suspended below by two wire bails, with a separate detail view of the sleeve mechanism and a bail hanger.RAT-TRAPWillard Duplantis and Curtis Duplantis · December 14, 1915Line drawing of a purple-martin-style birdhouse trap with a peaked roof, two entrance slots on the front wall, and an internal partition dividing it into two chambers, with a pivoting rod and paddle mechanism, counterweight, and an external wire indicator visible on the roof and end wall.BIRDHOUSE SPARROW TRAPJames Webster Clark · December 18, 1973Line drawing of a tall birdhouse-shaped trap mounted atop a long down spout that connects to a flat wire mesh cage, with a cat reaching up to paw at a trapped bird sticking its head through the mesh; inset views show the internal balanced pivot tube, perch, and entrance holes.BIRD TRAP AND CAT FEEDERLeo O. Voelker · April 24, 1979Line drawing of a wire-frame animal trap with two pivoting rectangular jaws mounted on a post, alongside an exploded view of a cylindrical housing containing a chained buoyant ball float and a removable cover tab connected by wire to the trap's movable arm.ANIMAL TRAP SIGNAL APPARATUSNicky L. Charnoske · July 19, 1983Line drawing of an L-shaped tent-like animal trap made of criss-crossed support poles holding up mesh netting, with an inverted-U catch box section and labeled entrance and support components.ANIMAL TRAPJames Toney · September 5, 2002