Celebratory candle is Lakewood Ranch inventors' 'last' project

After receiving a patent for their Amazing Candle in 2014, Stanley and Ruth Brown were standing in a line ... dreaming.

They were holding their invention, as they waited to see if they would qualify for a live appearance on the Shark Tank television show, which showcases entrepreneurs making business presentations to a panel of five investors.

"I had high hopes for Shark Tank, " said Stanley Brown. "The show had young producers and you can't just pass through them. We couldn't get through the second stage."

Perhaps the Amazing Candle wouldn't become a household name, but the Browns enjoyed success selling it, but fell just short of hitting it big.

"It wasn't Stanley Brown's first — let's call it minor — disappointment with inventions, but he definitely would not call any of his inventions failures.

"We've probably broke even to some degree," Stanley Brown said of his inventions, including five patents, over the years. "And can you put a price on fun? You have setbacks, because there is rejection all around us. But you plow forward "

Another time he needed to plow forward was after pitching the Amazing Candle to famous pitch man Billy Mays and his partner, Anthony Sullivan, who owned an infomercial company together. Stanley Brown said Billy Mays liked the idea, but Sullivan asked, "What problem does it solve?'"

Stanley Brown admitted, "I don't have a problem."

It was a no go.

Being an inventor has its ups and downs, but Stanley Brown said it all has been fun. That fun continues now in the form of the Pickleball Musical Birthday Candle, which was granted a patent in June.

Photo by Jay Heater

O.K., sure, it's a take on the Amazing Candle, but why not? The whole world has gone pickleball crazy, including the Browns, who live in Del Webb at Lakewood Ranch and are regulars on the pickleball courts.

Now 76, Stanley Brown moved from Monroe, New York, to Florida with Ruth 42 years ago, first living in Gulf Gate East in Sarasota. They've been married 52 years.

In Florida, Stanley Brown first handled sales and marketing for U.S. Homes. They moved to Del Webb seven years ago. He calls Del Webb "a camp for adults."

Stanley Brown certainly has too many titles to put on a card. Inventor, entrepreneur, business owner, and more. He once owned a shoe store in Monroe, and built his business, Shoes and Things, to four stores. He said he also owned the first Nike outlet store.

It wasn't all business. He used to vacation with Ruth in Longboat Key, at a Holiday inn known as "the Holidome." It's how they developed a love for the area and finally moved here.

Ruth is a registered nurse who specialized in working in operating rooms, but she also has been a real estate broker, and has run several doctors offices.

All along the way, Stanley Brown fed his desire to invent something that would be embraced by the public. Ruth was always by his side, supporting him.

"Everyone has an invention in them," Stanley Brown said. "It depends on how you act on it."

His first venture into the world of inventions was Keep-Fresh, which he calls the first reusable bag clip to cure the problems with the twisty ties on plastic bags. That came in 1981.

"I kept sticking myself with that twisty tie," he said. "It was the only closure they had. I thought, 'I need something that can close that bag.'"

His wife's profession in the operating room gave him an idea.

"In the operating room, they used an umbilical cord clip, and I thought about a similar concept. It would be something that would work in the freezer or in boiling water. I talked to a couple of engineers. It was so much easier in those days. You would say, 'I want something like this. Keep it simple and put it together.' For Keep-Fresh, we decided to use a two-cavity mold. We put two large and two small clips in a bag and sold them for 99 cents."

He took it to the Shop Rite grocery chain.

Photo by Jay Heater

"I was making them at home and putting them in bags and stapling the bags at night," he said. "They did better than I anticipated, but I couldn't see myself doing it at a large scale. We began submitting it to houseware companies.

"The lesson I learned is that you can invent a better mousetrap, but it's about marketing and distribution. It was a journey and I had fun doing it. The Ekco company was drawing up the royalty papers with me, but they were bought out. I ended up selling 400 to 500 bags. But I still use them at home."

He did learn how to take an idea from concept to production.

"But it showed me that it's not always good to be ahead of your time," he said. "It's kind of like being famous posthumously."

Along with inventions, Stanley Brown wanted to get in on the ground floor of other items that he thought might get hot. In the early 1990s, he was living in California, selling Pogs out of his garage.

He did variations on his Amazing Candle, including an adult-themed candle that didn't do well. 

After moving to Del Webb, he found pickleball.

"It's an incredible sport," he said. "It's multigenerational. You can teach your kids, your grandkids. It is fast, it is social. You can play at any particular level. It's grown to 44 million people (the Association of Pickleball Professionals estimates that 48 million play in the U.S).

"The desire is having something nobody else has. We had a patent on the round ball (in a candle). So the challenge was to draw the mold. We found someone and worked with a company in China. We thought, 'Let's make it.' My wife was against the idea. This (retirement) was supposed to be our time. She knows when I get involved in a project, it gets obsessive. But enough is enough, this is my last project."

He has partnered with Marc Rosenthal, the owner of Jumpin Fun Inflata Park in Lakewood Ranch. The pair have ordered 10,000 pickleball candles that are in a warehouse on Lena Road.

"We found a marketing company," he said. "We are going to launch."

Those who want to see the candle or order it can go to PickleballCandle.com.

"This is my last project," Stanley Brown said. "I am finished."