The "A Former Classmate Makes It Big...A Second Time?"

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a Sunday News column known as "The Scribbler" which features stories written by long time newspaper man Jack Brubaker.  One of his latest stories told of a young man named Josh Reynolds who had invented the Mood Ring in 1975.  Remember that guy?  I most certainly do since I graduated from Manheim Township High School a few years after he did as well as played on the school football team as a Freshman when Josh was the Senior star of the team.  

George (Josh) N. Reynolds as seen in the 1960 Manheim Township H.S. Yearbook.

We also went to St. James Episcopal Church at the same time that his family did.  I wrote a story about him on November 3, 2010 and told of his life and his new invention.  Well, "The Scribbler" told me today a few facts that I never knew before about Josh and his invention.  Seems that Josh had burned out as a Wall Street stockbroker in 1975 after graduation from Colgate University.  While living in New York City, he established the Stress Transformation Center and discovered, during one of his experiments, that chemically treated quartz stones that had been treated with a liquid crystal material would change color when your fingers would change temperature.  Your emotions are capable of changing the temperature of your hand, thus your fingers.  So when he inserted a temperature-sensitive quartz stone into a ring and placed it on his finger, it would change color based on the temperature of his fingers which was based on his emotions.  

The Mood Ring would change color based on your body temperature.

When his fingers were warm or hot, the stone would change to cobalt blue while fingers that were cold would change the stone's color to black.  He had invented the Mood Stone Ring!  This was all done while trying to relax the nervous system.  He then began to sell his rings, which he called a Mood Ring, at major department stores throughout the country.  His slogan ended up being..."the Mood Stone you can trust.  The Mood Stone reveals all!"  It ended up being one of the biggest commercial sensations of the 1970s.  Then along came many other manufacturers who stole his idea and made their own rings, but not before Josh had made a small fortune on the ring.  Well, he now believes that it is time for another go-around with the Mood Ring.  Josh reports that a brand new Mood Ring will be on the market in the near future.  They will sell online at first, then in stores.   This time he is pushing measuring stress by the color of the ring.  His new version is supposedly more sensitive and accurate and will be called the "TruMood".   Naturally, an app will help your ring communicate with your smartphone.  The ring will determine your mood and in turn you can tell "Alexa" to play a happy song or a sad song to make your emotional state what you want it to be.  Josh's new company which he as established for this venture is Mood Science Company.  Those that purchased his first go-around of rings are in their...well, senior years, I should say...and the next generation of buyers will discover his ring all over again.  With the COVID-19 pandemic still in full force, maybe - just maybe - this new Mood Ring can help those who wear it gain a more peaceful life.  I'm sure that Josh is hoping for that, also.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.