The decal that Samuel Reuben designed is beautiful. An eagle’s golden wings are proudly spread over a large, white circle bordered by a heavy, gold-link chain. Two taloned claws grasp different links at the top of the chain. Bolts of red lightning inside the circle are directed at the immortal words: Automatic House-Gard Fire and Burglar Alarm © 1948 by House-Gard Mfg. Co. Chicago 25, Ill. U.S. And Foreign Patents Pending.

Years ago, my husband framed one of those decals for me. Just recently, my brother Chuck made a bunch of them into magnets. Samuel Reuben’s burglar alarm just won’t go away. In the basement of our house, I have what is possibly the only remaining prototype of the Automatic House-Gard Fire and Burglar Alarm. I am so proud of it that I brag about my father’s invention to anybody I can trick into listening.

Recently, I showed it to a friend in law enforcement who installs listening devices and electronic surveillance systems for the C.I.A. He was awed, not only by the burglar alarm’s workability, but also by its portability, the low cost at which it could be manufactured, and the lack of any necessity to alter the design forty years after it was patented for it to be marketed effectively today.

Like the can opener, safety pin, zipper, or mouse trap, a design’s beauty is manifested by its simplicity.