Toti, Andrew

▪ 2006

      American inventor (b. July 24, 1915, Visalia, Calif.—d. March 20, 2005, Modesto, Calif.), at age 16 developed the Mae West life vest, an innovation that prevented thousands of World War II pilots and sailors from drowning (including U.S. Pres. George H.W. Bush, who, as a Navy pilot, was shot down over the Pacific in 1944). The Mae West, named for the voluptuous American film idol, could be inflated either by blowing air into a tube or by pulling cords that filled the vest's two air chambers with carbon dioxide. During his career Toti patented more than 500 inventions, including the mechanical poultry feather plucker, a grape-harvesting machine for wine producers Ernest and Julio Gallo, pull tabs for beverage cans, lightweight construction beams, and various types of Venetian blinds. He also co-developed the EndoFlex endotracheal tube, a breathing apparatus used during surgery.

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