February 2010 | Steve Alburty

Book Trivia

construction_hat.jpg
Q) Who invented the construction hat?

1) Gertrude Stein
2) Franz Kafka
3) Donald Trump

A) Franz Kafka. Although this story is considered by some to be a wee bit apocryphal, Kafka did work at the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute in Bohemia in 1912. It is a little doubtful that he actually invented it, but it is generally considered to be true that Kafka insisted upon its use since Kafka would have been professionally interested in lowering accidents. It was management guru Peter Drucker who first spread this story. However, there are no records to prove Drucker's theory true.

There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Kafka was one of the founding partners in Terminix.