great inventions

Optimizing Human Performance for 60 Years and Counting


About the author: Leigh Newman is Director of Facilities and Real Property at Mr. LongArm, Inc., Co-owner and Board of Directors Member


by Leigh Newman

Great Inventions Always Start with a Problem

Sixty years ago, R.D. Newman, was out on a sales call in Wichita KS. While walking inside he saw the store owner and an employee trying to tape a paint roller to a heavy piece of steel conduit. As the legend goes, the store owner retorted, after a friendly ribbing by R.D., “If you can make something better, Newman, I’ll buy it!”. The wheels of invention began to turn.  A few months after returning home and with the help of his wife Mimi, R.D. had designed and invented the very first telescopic extension pole!

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Interesting and Intriguing Uses for Mr. LongArm Extension Poles


Updated – 2023
With so many interesting uses for our products, manipulating objects outside of our reach has been an important part of the evolution of the “tool”. It may seem contrary to intuition but the extension pole as we know it didn’t exist before 1958 when R.D. Newman invented it. Before that human beings had to climb or hang or strain to reach higher. And since then we have found all sorts of uses and attached all sorts of apparatus to our extension poles. Mr. LongArm is forever dedicated to optimizing human performance.

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