In the mid ’30s everything was a robot.

Robot Messenger Displays Person-to-Person Notes In Public
TO AID persons who wish to make or cancel appointments or inform friends of their whereabouts, a robot message carrier has been introduced in London, England.
Known as the “notificator,” the new machine is installed in streets, stores, railroad stations or other public places where individuals may leave messages for friends.
The user walks up on a small platform in front of the machine, writes a brief message on a continuous strip of paper and drops a coin in the slot. The inscription moves up behind a glass panel where it remains in public view for at least two hours so that the person for whom it is intended may have sufficient time to observe the note at the appointed place. The machine is similar in appearance to a candy-vending device.

This is certainly an interesting approach to kerning.

Stretch Paper to Align Typing

A NEW invention permits typewritten material to be lined up just as evenly on both sides as is the copy on this page. Typing is done on corrugated horizontal strips the width of a typewritten line, which in turn are cemented to a solid backing sheet. The copy is lined up after removal from the typewriter by lifting the right hand ends of each strip and stretching them to the required uniform width.

Umm… I’m not really sure what to say about this.

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H. G. Wells Photographs the FUTURE in His Motion Picture “THINGS to COME”

SUBTERRANEAN cities flourishing under the scientific miracle of weather manufactured by machines—

Light-ray traps which recapture the very incidents of long vanished centuries so that you may watch Columbus discover America if you wish—

Flowers and vegetables grown without soil or sunlight—

Personal radio telephones carried on the clothing in a space no larger than a coat button—

An electric Space Gun powerful enough to rocket human beings around the Moon—

Boring machines which carry joy-riding passengers to Aladdin’s caves ten miles beneath the earth—

These are some of the amazing achievements predicted for the world of tomorrow by H. G. Wells, world-famous British novelist who is hailed as the greatest prophetic genius of our day. With other miracles of the year 2054, they will soon be seen in Mr. Wells’ startling motion picture, prophetically entitled “Things to Come.” Read the rest of this entry »

Toy Train Delivers Rural Mail

“NECESSITY is the mother of invention.” An Oregon rancher, living a mile from the highway, proved the truth of this old maxim when he put the world’s smallest mail train in operation over a spur line between his home and the road to save his wife the trip.
The train, powered with small dry-cell batteries, makes the trip to the road every morning, pulling a tiny mail box. Upon arrival, it is stopped by a lever laid along the track.

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I Psychoanalyze Ghosts

By Nandor Fodor, LL.D.

author of The Search For The Beloved

“You may be a ghost yourself,” says this former Director of Research, International Institute for Psychical Research. Here’s his own story of weird probing into the unbelievable realm of some supernatural disturbances.

LESSONS were going smoothly at the I Wild Plum (N.D.) schoolhouse when suddenly the pail of coal near the stove began to stir restlessly all by itself!

Mrs. Pauline Rebel, the teacher, and her eight pupils were even more amazed when lumps of coal started popping out of the pail, striking the walls and bounding back into the room. Window shades started smouldering and a dictionary began to move by itself.

“Ghosts!” one of the children screamed and they all rushed madly for the door.

Later, after a careful investigation, the state fire marshal admitted he could not solve the mystery. He analyzed the coal, examined the pail and studied the dictionary. Nothing was wrong with them. People at Wild Plum still wonder and whisper about the schoolhouse ghosts.
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Finger Wrench Reaches Tight Spots
Cut a hexagonal hole in a rubber finger tip and you have a wrench that’s fine for starting nuts in close spots on electronic chassis, in clocks, appliances, and instruments. The rubber finger tips are ordinarily used for handling paper.

I don’t really see how this works.

Eye-Glasses Double for Microscope
EYE-GLASSES which can be used instead of a microscope have been invented by C. Dreisseg of Hamburg, Germany. The glasses obtain their microscopic power from specially treated dark paper.

This paper changed the focus of the eye so as to magnify the size of a fixed object. Even minute particles can be distinguished. The dark paper is encased in a leather band which fits snugly around the eyes to exclude all possible light rays. The novel glasses are ideal for student use.

Wow, where do you think the DJ’s got the idea?

Mechanical Reporter Substitutes for Human Stenographer
A MECHANICAL reporter, used for the first time at a Federal Communications hearing in Washington, threatens to replace the human stenographer.
Two large phonograph-type records are employed. When the first record is consumed, the machine automatically shifts to the other record.
The recorder operates with 100 per cent accuracy. It can take dictation at any speed and occupies only the space of any ordinary desk. It is said to be especially adaptable to courtroom use. Special devices render the machine practically noiseless.

TAXI PLANE Picks Up FREIGHT And Passengers for AIRLINER
HIGH speed taxi planes that can come and go from a giant “mother” air transport at
will are proposed as a means of providing fast, non-stop transcontinental air service. The smaller ship, released over a city, would land at the airport to discharge and take on passengers and freight, then soar upwards again to catch up with the slower airliner.
As may be seen from the sketches, the method of launching the taxi plane is very similar to that used by the U. S. Navy in handling pursuit planes on dirigibles. A trapeze crane lifts the small ship into the hull of the transport, where passengers may be transferred to roomy quarters on the airliner.

“These Theories on Automatic Feedback Control are Interesting…but…
When can I use them in my plant?”

The answer is: Plans can be started just as quickly as you can phone us or write us.
Here at Ultrasonic is a skilled staff already trained in diverse applications of automatic control —
. . . with many years of actual experience in using digital and analog feedback control on machine tools and process industry equipment.
If this issue of Scientific American stimulates your thinking … if it makes you want to get the benefits of an early start in this new field for your company . . . then, get in touch with us. Ultrasonic Corporation, 61 Rogers Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
ULTRASONIC CORPORATION
CAMBRIDGE 42 MASS.
AUTOMATIC FEEDBACK CONTROL DEVELOPMENT, EVALUATION AND EQUIPMENT

This reminds me of all those persistence of vision gadgets like clocks and hubcaps.

Autogiro Blades Form Screen for Floating Ads After Dark

DISPLAY advertising at night by means of a magic lantern suspended beneath an autogiro, with the rotating blades serving as a screen, is a German inventor’s latest medium for placing a product before the public eye.

The magic lantern assembly is placed in a torpedo shaped carriage equipped with vertical and horizontal rudders to keep it in perfect alignment with the autogiro flying above. It can be raised or lowered by means of a cable, for focusing the advertiser’s message on the blades. When landing, the projector is drawn up into the fuselage.

To insure perfect reproduction of the advertisement, the under sides of the rotor blades are specially treated. The autogiro has been found to be particularly adapted for this type of aerial advertising because of its ability to hover almost motionless in the air, while the blades revolve fast enough to form an uninterrupted screen.