The Past And Future Of Magnetic Poetry, The Populist Product That Began With A Sneeze

by Cara Giaimo / 08 Oct 2015 - Atlas Obscura

Magnetic poetry tiles, just begging to be recombined. (Photo: Steve Johnson/Flickr)

Dave Kapell, the inventor of Magnetic Poetry, never meant to be a businessman. He was thrust into what became his life's work by one well-timed sneeze.

In the late 1990s, you couldn't hunt for a snack in an American home without coming across a magnetic poem or two. But in the decades since the product first stuck itself to the collective consciousness, fridges nationwide have slowly begun shedding their words. The history of the form itself, though, goes back much farther than Kapell's sneeze—and the increasingly digital future will likely only widen its reach. 
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