The second item in our list of things you never knew you needed is the "toilet snorkel," a device that, in the case of a fire, would allow the user to access (fresh?) air from the sewer.
In 1981, citing a rash of recent hotel fires as his impetus for the invention, William O. Holmes patented a device that would attach to a toilet and allow trapped individuals to access fresh air.
Inserted through the water trap, the toilet snorkel permits hours of extra breathing time, preventing death by smoke inhalation. A charcoal filter attached to the snorkel ensures that the air is free of toxic impurities.
Despite being an appropriate size for business travel, Holmes' device never caught on. A larger, less travel-friendly device patented in 1990 by Timothy Mulcahy also failed to capture the public's attention. This device, the "apparatus and method for breathing through the soil-stack during a high-rise fire", employed a billows that mounted to the toilet bowl rim.
I always knew that toilets were magical devices, and Joan DeJean's writings on the flush toilet convinced me even further, but I never knew that they could actually save a life!
For more on the toilet snorkel, see:
(Image credits: History Weird; Toilet Guru)