Trump board game, coffee flavoured Coca Cola and other quirky inventions explored at village club meeting

From coffee flavoured Coca Cola to a Trump board game, members of a village group heard all about ‘madcap ideas and quirky inventions’ during its recent meeting.
A Trump board game was among the madcap ideas and quirky inventions discussed at West Chiltington Probus Club's recent meetingA Trump board game was among the madcap ideas and quirky inventions discussed at West Chiltington Probus Club's recent meeting
A Trump board game was among the madcap ideas and quirky inventions discussed at West Chiltington Probus Club's recent meeting

West Chiltington Probus Club welcomed guest speaker Doug Eaton who covered a range of ideas and inventions, some successful and some outright failures, from the 1800s to the present time.

Doug also recounted that he started his music career serving in Bryan Epstein’s record shop in Liverpool and played at the famous ‘Cavern’ in a rock band called the Detonators around the same time as the Beatles.

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“However, his career was not to be in music but in corporate business working for Unilever, Reed International and Barratt,” said member of the Probus club Nick Vincent. “After some years he reinvented himself and became a publisher, a mentor to start up businesses, resumed his interest in music and also became a speaker.

“His writing was on golf and London plaques and his business involvement included advising women’s world co-operatives in such places as Nigeria and Philippines.”

Doug began giving talks covering a large variety of subjects and found that the British public have an appetite for madcap ideas and quirky inventions.

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Nick added: “Some of them, like the Sinclair C5 bought back fond memories whilst others - Heinz green spread, coffee flavoured Coca Cola and the Trump board game - had quietly entered historical obscurity unheard of by any of the audience.”

Doug also mentioned several products developed by accident including penicillin, the potato crisp, and the development of the pacemaker. Pfizer also developed a drug for angina which failed but was highly successful in other spheres..

Doug has not forgotten his initial interest in music though, and recently played the Cavern again and still appears as one of the ‘Elderly Brothers’.

For more about the club, email [email protected]

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