“SLINKY” SPRINGS to FAME

Given an initial shove, “Slinky” eerily and deliberately flip-flops end over end down a flight of steps. It is simply a spring, but it does stunts that made R. P. James, Philadelphia engineer, think of converting it into a toy.

The flat-coiled strip of Swedish blue steel assumes shapes in almost unending patterns. Mr. James got his toy idea when he saw the spring roll off a workbench and do funny antics on the floor. Read the rest of this entry »

TINY FISH “SIT” FOR ODD PORTRAITS

MAKING close-up “portrait” photographs of tiny fish and other forms of aquatic life is the unusual hobby of Lynwood M. Chace of Swansea, Mass. Clad in rubber boots and equipped with a net and pail, Chace scours the shallow waters of near-by ponds and marshes for interesting fresh-water specimens, which he deposits in a small glass-walled aquarium set up on a table in his photographic studio. Read the rest of this entry »

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The History of Robots

By Forest J. Ackerman

This article is excerpted from a record made by the author. Consequently, to enjoy it to its utmost, turn off all the lights but one, sit back in your easy chair and read. As you read, you will find yourself being taken on a fantastic journey into the world of robots.
—Editor

Hello, this is Forrest Ackerman, Editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland and Spacemen. I’ve heard from thousands and thousands of you fans since the world’s original film monster magazine began in 1958, and many’s the time I wished that I was the beast with a million eyes — in order to read all your letters quicker. Well, having heard from all of you, it seems only fair — doesn’t it — that you should hear from all of me.
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GUARDING NEW YORK’S BRIDGES

IN THE SHADOW OF BROOKLYN BRIDGE

Because of the impending foreign crises, these guards are always on the watch to prevent meddling.

Ready for Any Contingency

Equipped with rifles and rapid fire guns, the Second Battalion of the New York State naval militia is detailed to the task of keeping cranks and over wrought foreign sympathizers from damaging our traffic links.

Interestingly this is about the same number of auto fatalities that the U.S. had in 2009 even though I’m sure the number of miles driven was vastly higher.

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Causes of Accidents

IN the World War, the armed forces of the United States, which were actively engaged little more than a year, lost 53,381 men. That was war; in the peaceful year 1934 the United States lost 36,000 men, women and children, killed in automobile accidents. The accompanying illustration shows the facts diagrammatically. Read the rest of this entry »

What a catch! Martini & Rossi Imported Vermouth

for cocktails that purr. Sweet for captivating Manhattans. Extra Dry for prize Martinis. Try it in your own cage.

MARTINI & ROSSI

Not quite the same thing, but you can certainly see the seeds of modern blogging: news, politics, political organizing, gossip, and online hookups.

Here Come the Networkers

A new communications medium gives birth to its own stars ike Greenly had been trying for weeks to interview Ed Koch about New York City’s handling of the AIDS epidemic when he finally buttonholed the mayor on the steps of city hall. “There I was,” Greenly typed into his portable computer soon afterward, “cheek to jowl with His Honor.” Two hours later he had plugged his Tandy Model 100 into a telephone line and dispatched the first installment of his exclusive interview. Read the rest of this entry »

SCIENCE IS A PRISONER OF WAR

WHO won the war is already an old argument. But certainly science, forging the final weapon, stopped the war. Yet, a year later, science is still literally a prisoner of war.

When science was mobilized, the military services quite properly invaded the universities. They had to halt the basic research. They put the men and machines of science to work on the pressing necessities that mothered radar, sonar, loran, and a thousand other urgent applications of that basic research. The scientists did their work well, including the actual manufacture of such things as the rockets and the trained atoms. Read the rest of this entry »

Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. – Toy Soldier Collector

A CAREER that embraces acting, diplomatic missions and gallant war service, might well be termed colorful. Not resplendent enough for Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., though. He finds relaxation from his daily work in a collection of diminutive fighting men—3000 of them which he likes to prod into battle and parade positions. They fill four shelves in a special showroom in his Hollywood home. Read the rest of this entry »

HUGE CAMERA READS METERS TO COUNT TELEPHONE CALLS

Special cameras of new design are taking the place of human meter readers who check and record, each month, the number of telephone calls for which you are to be billed. In the larger cities, a single telephone central office may employ as many as 10,000 individual registers or meters, and teams of clerks have been required to read them. Photographing twenty-five meters at a time, the cameras give a quicker reading and one that is proof against error.

That was a bit of wishful thinking: “The 2nd World War, unlike the 1st, has not developed into wholesale slaughter of humans.”

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America’s Floating Power Plants

Should the United States be attacked, these new ships will supply light, heat and power to cities whose power plants have been bombed or sabotaged.

THE armada of floating “stand-by” electrical power barges which the United States plans to station along our waterways adjacent to important production centers, is the direct result of lessons being learned by American observers in the present war in Europe.
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Slightly different from google-foo

Digital Dexterity
Anyone can dance on his feet but only this fingerman of the French bistros can make his digits tango.