Talk:Marvin Pipkin

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Marvin Pipkin. Please take a moment to review my edit. You may add after the link to keep me from modifying it, if I keep adding bad data, but formatting bugs should be reported instead. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether, but should be used as a last resort. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20110521200204/http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/memory/Collections/WWI/card.cfm?intOurDocID=21959 to http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/memory/Collections/WWI/card.cfm?intOurDocID=21959

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 00:25, 28 March 2016 (UTC)

Edit conflict
Hi ChromeGames923 and Aréat, I was editing this page while you did your edits, and I messed up the edit conflict resolution. I think I've now included all your edtis, but please check! --Slashme (talk) 06:52, 15 October 2020 (UTC)

Incidental destruction of a practical joke
I think it might be worth noting that Pipkin's invention of internally frosted lightbulbs incidentally killed off one of the many forms of fool's errand to which newcomers in some workplaces are subjected (being told to go buy some 'blinker fluid' is one classic example). Before Pipkin's invention, a 'lightbulb frosted on the interior' (and different wordings of the same concept) was evidently one of the nonexistent items that the victim of such a prank might be asked to procure. In fact, at present, the article for "Fool's errand" not only notes this detail but features a picture of one of the bulbs that Pipkin made possible. Moreover, the wording of that picture's caption ("...was once thought to be impossible") indirectly highlights Pipkin's achievement in bringing an item previously confined to the realm of the hilariously unreal (like a left-handed screwdriver) into the real world.

One of the references presently utilized by this article (as I write this, it is #7) observed the same thing long before me: "The Joke that turned," in 'The Iola Register', published August 6, 1945.

I therefore propose that this fact be given its due in the appropriate section. As I am not yet comfortable writing brand-new prose for this encyclopedia, I have made this suggestion in the Talk page in the hope that a more experienced user might undertake that addition.

Nieuwe Nederlander (talk) 06:14, 9 February 2022 (UTC)
 * What is your encyclopediac purpose here? How is this about the subject of the article? What value will the reader get from this? --Wtshymanski (talk) 22:41, 9 February 2022 (UTC)

Copyright contributor investigation and Good article reassessment
This article is part of Contributor copyright investigations/20210315 and the Good article (GA) drive to reassess and potentially delist over 200 GAs that might contain copyright and other problems. An AN discussion closed with consensus to delist this group of articles en masse, unless a reviewer opens an independent review and can vouch for/verify content of all sources. Please review Good article reassessment/February 2023 for further information about the GA status of this article, the timeline and process for delisting, and suggestions for improvements. Questions or comments can be made at the project talk page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:36, 9 February 2023 (UTC)

was it really a fool's errand / practical joke?
The two references for this fact look very dubious to me. One is a 1945 newspaper column (written as a "piece of advice" column rather than serious research). The other is a book of 150 biographies, which looks like a book of 150 little anecdotes rather than a serious biography. I would like to see much better quality references, or I think I will mark those references as dubious. Adpete (talk) 03:19, 18 May 2023 (UTC)


 * OK, the Popular Science reference later in the article is much better, and even has quotes from Pipkin himself. While it does say his bosses "smiled indulgently" when he suggested researching, and some people wanted him to work on something "more practical", I see nothing there indicating it was a practical joke on him. I'm calling "urban myth" on the fool's errand assertion, and suggest removing it. Adpete (talk) 03:31, 18 May 2023 (UTC)
 * This sort of issue is found throughout the WP:DCGAR content; best advice is to remove as you see fit. Sandy Georgia (Talk)  04:49, 23 May 2023 (UTC)