An Odebolt boy’s invention for the toilet seat has gotten him some national attention. Nine-year-old Jake Wulf — who’s in fourth grade at the Odebolt-Arthur Elementary School — is the inventor of the "Privy Prop." He says it took him about a month working on weekends to build the device that raises the toilet seat.
Wulf says his mom was getting mad at him for not raising the toilet seat. One day he was at the doctor’s office and saw the metal trash can with a pedal on it to lift the lid and that gave him the idea for the toilet. When you step on a pedal, it lifts the seat, and when you take your foot off, the seat goes back down. Jake built the prototype himself.
Wulf says his dad helped by showing him how to run the power tools and supervised his work, while his mom too pictures. The "Privy Prop" was chosen from about 30-thousand entries to be featured at the Iowa State Fair this summer. Jake said about a month ago he was asked to be on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show".
Wulf says they got home from school and work and he had a phone message asking for a tape of his invention. A few weeks later he got a call that he would be on the show. Jake and his parents, Jason and Beth Wulf, flew to Los Angeles Tuesday for the taping and returned home late on Wednesday. The show aired today, in the morning in some markets, and this afternoon in others.