The Inventor Who Almost Did
Many immigrants came over to this land with nothing but the clothes on their backs, dreaming of wealth and freedom for themselves and their families. Many claimed that freedom but far fewer claimed the wealth. My own great-great-grandfather, Theodore Lolos, was no different from most others in this regard. He sailed across the Atlantic and into Ellis Island alone. He was not truly alone, he was crammed on a vessel that brought hundreds if not thousands of people just like himself across that ocean; he was alone because he left his family behind. Theodore quickly found work at a tire shop in New York City and began saving his money prudently for five years. He was then able to afford a house on Griffin St and was able to pay for his wife’s and his children’s passage to America. My great-grandfather, Harry Lolos, was on that ship as a teenage boy.
Years passed and Harry met a Greek woman named Mary Vaselacoupolos, who turned out to be the love of his life. He married her and promptly moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, purchasing the house that my grandparents still live in today. Harry found a job selling storm shutters to support his wife, but he yearned for something more fulfilling. He built a garage in his free time, so he could dabble in more imaginative ventures. While in his makeshift workshop, he had an incredible breakthrough:
As a member of a poor family himself, he knew the struggle of constantly buying fuel for his wood stove that was used to heat his home. Wood stoves were cheap, but not incredibly efficient, releasing much of the heat through the chimney with the smoke produced. Thousands of other families dealt with the same issue so he created something simple, yet useful. His invention was called the heat reclaimer. It was a set of hollow metal tubes installed into the chimney above a stove; these tubes absorbed the heat that would normally escape, while allowing the smoke to pass between. Small fans in these tubes then blew this air back into the home, utilizing this normally wasted energy. This could save poor families time and money, both resources desperately needed by those struggling to get by.
He had a great idea, but no money himself. He took on a business partner who funded him with the capital he needed to produce his invention and begin his fledgling business. While Harry managed his business, his partner outsourced the blueprints behind his back while the patent was pending. Soon, someone else improved upon his plans and created a more efficient version. Discovering that his business partner had sold his plans without his knowledge, he tried to change the name of his company and attempted to incorporate to avoid an internal lawsuit from the partner. While he succeeded in escaping a corrupt partner, the damage had already been done. For years, Harry and his sons ran the business until it simply could not support the family anymore. The new version was simply better than what Harry produced.
Harry cut his losses and found a new job, working for US Envelope, located across the street from Springfield Rifle, the gun manufacturer. Although his business was dead, and he was defeated for all intents and purposes, he never acted that way. He worked at US Envelope for the rest of his life, doing everything to the best of his ability, proud of his work, no matter what it was. He was a proponent of “dressing for success” and wore a suit every single day of his life, with a white ironed shirt and a tie; my father cannot recall a single time he saw his grandfather in casual clothing.
Eventually, Harry passed away, leaving the house to my own grandparents and their four children, including my father. Every year of my life my family and I have driven twelve or more hours to visit my grandparents and see our extended family. We barbecue, have picnics, jump in the pool, and simply enjoy each other’s company. My grandfather even still uses that garage as a workshop to build various items for the house and yard. I’m sure if Harry could see us now, he would take immense pleasure in the fact that his great grandchildren still visit his house and that even though he didn’t make it big, we all turned out just fine; one big, happy oikogeniea.