How To: EnLIGHTening Home Hack! How to Change Hard-to-Reach Light Bulbs Without a Ladder

Unless you're living in some weird parallel universe where plug-in light bulbs are the norm for household lighting, chances are you've had to unscrew a light bulb every now and then.

Sometimes, replacing those burnt out Edison-based bulbs can be tricky, particularly in high ceilings where those cheap, round plastic or porcelain lamp holders are used. If you've got a chair or ladder handy, no problem. But if you're replacing a bulb high above some stairs or outside on the balcony of your four-story apartment complex, you'd have to have a pretty good balancing act not to break you back.

So how do you unscrew that busted light bulb from its lamp socket safely? You think like MacGyver and grab a long stick and tape a paper cup to the end, then use it to unscrew the high-up bulb.

That's what some 14-year-old kid did nearly 50 years ago. I'm willing to bet that this was actually MacGyver as a kid. The math adds up—MacGyver was born in 1951; this kid was born in 1951. Just saying. Either way, I hope he's getting some royalty checks from all of those expensive light bulb changers I see in the stores nowadays.

Found this MacGyverism in an old Science & Mechanics magazine from 1965. Check out the full story in the picture below.

Got some of your own MacGyverisms to share? What are you waiting for? Show them with us! Post a how-to or simply post a pic and brief explanation of your ingenious idea to our MacGyverisms World right here. You can't keep all of those ideas to yourself!