May 25, 2007

Tractor Mounted on “Stilts” Is Used to Dust and Detassel Corn (Sep, 1954)

Filed under: General — @ 3:29 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1954
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Someone should bring this thing to a monster truck rally. What would it’s monster truck name be? The Detassler is a bit whimpy for my tastes.

Tractor Mounted on “Stilts” Is Used to Dust and Detassel Corn

Moving slowly through the sweet-corn fields of California is a weird tractor on stilts. The tractor is used to dust and detassel the high corn. The builder started with a 21-horsepower crawler tractor. He raised the tractor chassis including the motor and transmission so there would be 78 inches of clearance beneath it. Side frames—the “stilts”—support the tractor in this position. Additional sprockets and links of track were installed on each side. The result is a tractor that rolls through the high corn, dusting and detasseling it even during wet weather when rubber-tired tractors bog down in the mud. It has 6-1/2 feet clearance and straddles two rows of corn while dusting 12. A framework across the back holds the dusting equipment. During detasseling, men ride on hangers dropped down between the rows alongside the tractor.

For Young, For Old, For Everybody: Remington Typewriters (Oct, 1923)

Filed under: Advertisements — @ 3:28 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Oct, 1923
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When I wee lad, the whole family would gather ’round old grand pap as he’d demonstrate his magical typulating device. Those were heady days I tell you.

For Young, For Old, For Everybody

Remington Portable Typewriter is the universal machine for personal writing. It has every quality demanded by the individual user.
Compact—fits in a case only four inches high.

Convenient—can be used anywhere; on your lap, if you wish.

Complete -with STANDARD KEYBOARD and other “big machine” conveniences.

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May 24, 2007

Vej-Meat - A Vegetable Meat (Mar, 1922)

Filed under: Advertisements, Kitchen — @ 8:57 am
Source: Physical Culture ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1922
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I wonder what this tasted like…

Vej-Meat
A VEGETABLE MEAT

At Last! a delicious and a perfect substitute for meat that fills the bill in every respect. Made from sun-kissed nuts, cereals and vegetable products, it looks and tastes just like meat. 50% more nutritious than meat nourishing, wholesome and appetizing. Endorsed by Doctors and Dietitians as a perfect food. Send 60c for a one pound can or $5.40 for a dozen delivered. If not thoroughly satisfactory your money will be refunded. Four flavors—Plain, Chili, Chicken and Bologna. 1 lb. can sufficient for 8 portions.

VEJ-MEAT CO., Box PC, 227 N. Manassas St., Memphis, Tenn.

Helpful New Tools for the Household (Dec, 1932)

Filed under: House and Home — @ 8:57 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1932
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Helpful New Tools for the Household

KEEPS EGGS FRESH. This circular container is for eggs or fruit kept in the refrigerator. Its flat sides will not break the skins or crack the shells. Open spaces afford free ventilation that tends to prevent spoiling of contents

FLOUR SIFTER. With the double action flour sifter, cut out view of which is given at left, flour can be sifted as frequently as desired without removing it from sifter. The sieve is in the middle and there is a lid on each end

CONTROLS THE HEAT. The valve shown above can be fitted to any steam radiator and when the dial is set, the desired temperature is automatically maintained. The new valve is installed by simply removing the old one, screwing the new one in place, and adjusting heat control dial

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The Bust — How it May Be Developed (Mar, 1922)

Filed under: Advertisements — @ 8:57 am
Source: Physical Culture ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1922
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Your Figure Has Charm Only as You Are Fully Developed

BEAUTY OF FORM can be cultivated just the same as flowers are made to blossom with proper care. Woman, by nature refined and delicate, craves the natural beauty of her sex. How wonderful to be a perfect woman.

Bust Pads and Ruffles never look natural or feel right. They are really harmful and retard development. You should add to your physical beauty by enlarging your bust-form to its natural size. This is easy to accomplish with the NATIONAL, a new scientific appliance that brings delightful results.

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Amphibian Bicycle Can Travel on Land or Water (Dec, 1932)

Filed under: Bicycles, Impractical — @ 8:56 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1932
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Amphibian Bicycle Can Travel on Land or Water

A hybrid among vehicles, an amphibian bicycle that can travel on land or water, was demonstrated by its French inventor at a recent Paris exposition. Its wheels are hollow, bulbous floats that, with the aid of four smaller globes on outriggers, sustain it in the water. All of the floats revolve freely like wheels, resulting in a minimum of drag. When the rider pedals across the water, fins on the rear wheel serve as paddles to drive the machine forward. For a ride on dry land, the outriggers supporting the outer floats may be folded up clear of the ground. Proof that the floats would be sufficiently buoyant to support the rider was given when the inventor navigated his device, without difficulty, across a large swimming pool.

the better to see with, my dear (Sep, 1958)

Filed under: Advertisements — @ 8:55 am
Source: National Geographic ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1958
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So, he’s the Big Bad Wolf?

the better to see with, my dear

Never had you dreamed you would see so much and so clearly as now with your new Bausch & Lomb Zephyr-Light Binocular. Clear, turquoise waters lapping gainst white sand beaches . . .fishing boats with sun-bleached pastel sails billowing in the offshore breeze . . . and in the distance, multi-hued ountains in all their regal beauty. Everything seems close enough to touch . . . crisp in detail and radiantly alive in nature’s own colors.

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Yankee Violet Rays CAN NOW BE IN EVERY HOME (Mar, 1922)

Filed under: Advertisements — @ 8:55 am
Source: Physical Culture ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1922
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Wow, this thing cures everything! I’ll bet it makes you smarter, richer and more attractive too! And if Uncle Sam endorses it you know it must be true!

What is that doctor in the middle panel doing to that lady?

Only $7.75
Yankee Violet Rays CAN NOW BE IN EVERY HOME

Until now thousands of people have wanted Violet Ray outfits, but could not afford them at the heretofore high prices that have been charged.

Acts Like Magic

The following ailments and hosts of others respond like magic to the vitalizing, disease destroying influence of this wonderful home outfit which is equal and in many respects superior to any similar apparatus priced up to $25.00.

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First Commercial Airbag (Nov, 1981)

Filed under: Automotive, Origins — @ 8:54 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1981
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Mercedes’ steering-wheel air bag

A combination of air bag and seat belt protects the driver who opts for Mercedes’ new safety package. The air bag is the only one offered as a production option by any auto maker.

In an impact of over nine mph, a pendulum sensor on the drive-shaft tunnel detects deceleration. A tiny pellet of solid rocket fuel then detonates; as it burns, it produces nitrogen gas that balloons a neoprene bag from the steering wheel. When the driver hits the bag, it deflates slowly. The driver is also restrained by his seat belt.

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May 23, 2007

Legless Man Tours in Odd Trailer (Nov, 1937)

Filed under: General — @ 5:04 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1937
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Legless Man Tours in Odd Trailer

Traveling alone in a unique, powered trailer, Freddie Carson, a legless newsboy of Santa Ana, Calif., is making a 2,500-mile-trip across the continent to Florida. Hitched behind a three-wheel invalid chair, as shown in the photograph, the trailer is equipped with a one-horsepower motor that provides a top speed of thirty miles an hour. Remote-control levers operate the engine from the seat of the chair. Although the motorized trailer is only seven feet long and four feet wide, it is equipped with running water, a bed, a radio, and other accessories. On his transcontinental trip, Carson expects to get more than 100 miles to a gallon of fuel.

Develops Novel Auto Gadget (Feb, 1939)

Filed under: Automotive, Cool — @ 5:04 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1939
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I want one.

Develops Novel Auto Gadget
INVENTED by David E. Wilson, of Santa Monica, Calif., and operated by a button on the dashboard, a combination rear light and horn in the form of a clown’s face with a movable tongue (right) enables a driver to express his contempt for the trailing motorist who keeps tooting his horn.

MIDGET TRAILERS (Aug, 1938)

Filed under: DIY, Toys and Games — @ 5:03 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Aug, 1938
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MIDGET TRAILERS
Here are two simple designs of midget trailers that can be towed by foot-operated juvenile autos or carts. The one at the right is exceptionally easy to build. Sides, seat and floor are plywood while the front and back may be sheet metal. With circular holes in the sides, and the latter cut to a pleasing contour as shown, the thing has a decided streamline effect. Still, there’s no top and the rider seems to project through the roof. For the more advanced young “trailerites” the “covered wagon,” shown below, may be preferred as it more closely simulates the real thing in that it has a roof and a hinged door through which riders have access to the inferior. This one, also, is built mostly of plywood on suitable framing. In both cases a pair of coaster-wagon wheels, preferably of the pneumatic-tire type, are used for comfortable riding

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