198. Super Soaker
By the time Lonnie Johnson went to a toy fair in New York City in 1989, he was dejected. The NASA engineer had invented a powerful water gun, but had faced years of setbacks trying to get it made.
The gun had been a happy accident; Johnson’s day job at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory involved designing a nuclear power source for the Galileo spacecraft. Tinkering at home after hours, he was trying to develop a Freon-free refrigerant pump when he shot water across his bathroom with the device. He thought: that would make a good toy.
Initially he wanted to make the guns himself but was told it would cost $200,000 to get the first 1,000 produced. “I didn’t have $200,000,” he remembered, “so I said, ‘okay, there are some things I need to learn.’” Licensing proved difficult—one partner went bankrupt; others were near-misses. Finally, he brought his invention to the fair.
The Larami Corporation needed a hit, too. The 30-year-old company specialized in low-cost, low-quality toys licensed from movies and TV shows. (One cult favorite from the era is the Battlestar Galactica Cylon Bubble Machine.) Larami invited Johnson to company headquarters outside Philadelphia. He blasted paper cups off the table and fired across the boardroom. Larami released the gun by the end of the year. Johnny Carson turned one on Ed McMahon during The Tonight Show, millions sold in the first two years, and Johnson was free to quit his day job to focus on invention full-time.
Links:
Engineer at Play: Lonnie Johnson; Rocket Science, Served Up Soggy – William J. Broad, The New York Times, July 31, 2001
Audio: The happy accident that changed squirt guns forever – Kai Ryssdal, Marketplace, July 8, 2014
A NASA Engineer Invented the Super Soaker While Trying to Build a Better Refrigerator – Marcus Feld, Great Patent, August 1, 2026
Alabama is providing big support for big ideas – Fast Company, May 15, 2025
This post is part of The American 250, a series featuring 250 objects made by Americans, located in America, in honor of the country's 250th anniversary. 250 words on 250 works, from January 1 to December 31, 2026.
Too many emails? To receive a weekly recap instead, please subscribe on my Substack blog. Instructions for turning on the weekly summary can be found here.
