What do instant mashed potatoes, walkie talkies and the electric oven have in common? If you answered Ottawa Made—you’re right. What else was invented in Ottawa? If you said electronic synthesizer, birchbark canoe and the McIntosh apple—right again. Indeed, the list of things invented in the national capital region is long and impressive, as authors San Laprade and Caroline Phillips soon learned while researching Ottawa Made, a book that lets you discover the often-untold stories behind these inventions. Ottawa Made also chronicles the creative highlights of some Ottawa-born artists—the singer with the 13th top-selling album of all time (coming in just below Led Zeppelin IV), the lead actor in a 1960s television show which still holds viewership records, and a songwriter who accomplished the rarest of musical hat-tricks—penning a song that hit the charts three different times for three different artists. Each one—Ottawa Made. In the spirit of innovation and experimentation, Ottawa Made will also tell you the story behind some of our more curious inventions including a top-selling sex toy, a prohibition-era whiskey, and some that didn’t quite succeed—the ill-fated sausage ship from Prescott.
