Half-eaten cookies and milk weren’t enough for inventor Thomas Crane, who in 1996 filed a patent for a “Santa Claus Detector.” Strung between two inconspicuous stockings, the detector would start flashing, should the jolly fat man trip the wire.
Crane would then presumably capture said jolly fat man and parade him around the world in his travelling circus of mysticism and whimsy, alongside a brow-beaten Easter Bunny and night visitor-turned-night walker the Tooth Fairy. Hey, everyone’s got to pull their own weight somehow.
Luckily for children everywhere Santa’s just fine and Crane’s invention remains in the realm of the patent filing. [Patent Filing via Presurfer via Neatorama]
