Review of "The Flintstones’ Wacky Inventions: How Things Work in the Modern Stone Age"

Review of

The Flintstones’ Wacky Inventions: How Things Work in the Modern Stone Age, ISBN 1878685651

Five out of five stars

 Debuting as a prime-time animated television show in 1960  and lasting until 1966, “The Flintstones” was the first animated series to appear in network prime time. It is ranked as the second-best animated series of all time behind “The Simpsons.”

 What made it so interesting was that while the timeframe was in the Stone Age, their problems and solutions were very modern. Specifically the gadgets that they used in their daily life. My favorites were things like having a pig under the kitchen counter as a garbage disposal, a bird with a sharp beak as hedge clippers and a wholly mammoth as a vacuum cleaner.

 This book continues that process, describing how many other gadgets actually operated in the time of the Flintstones. Everything from alarm clocks, to showers, washing machines, cameras, clocks, copy machines and tools for yard work are “explained.” I will never forget the first time I saw their car take off with the feet moving fast and furiously under the body.

 This is an amusing book, not because there is a shred of truth in it, but because it demonstrates creativity and originality of a different sort. Unlike so many of the television shows of today that are simply retreads of old plots and characters limply redone.