It seems like at least half of the craft projects in this country used to be about making crude representations of ethnic stereotypes.

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Laughable Lamps

By KENNETH MURRAY

HOME decoration isn’t a subject to make light of, but here’s a way to do it nevertheless. These comical lamps are formed from 7-1/2- and 10-watt bulbs of the round, outside-colored variety, usually sold for 10 cents. More powerful lamps would be unsatisfactory because the novelties are not for general illumination—merely to add a spot of live color here and there.
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Workbench Award Winners…

THE proud builders of each project pictured this month are five dollars richer and also have our beautiful Workbench Award Certificate. Their entries were chosen, as the best submitted for the month. We know you like to see what others are doing—and we know others like to see what you are doing. So why not send us a few photos of yourself with your project? If judged one of the best received during the month we’ll publish your picture, send you a five dollar check and a Workbench Award Certificate. Enclose sufficient stamps for return postage and mail your entry to:
WORKBENCH AWARDS. MECHANIX ILLUSTRATED. 67 West 44th Street. New York 18. N. Y.
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A Seesaw Merry-Go-Round

By HARRY D. TIEMANN

A LOT of fun can be had with the teeter-totter merry-go-round shown in the illustration, and any boy can make it who is at all handy with carpentry tools. If built substantially it will amuse the youngsters, big and little, for years. It will go up and down like a seesaw and spin around like a top until the passengers are dizzy.
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Harmless Steam Cannon Shoots Ball Bearings

THIS tiny steam cannon operating in much the same manner as Archimedes famous cannon will prove an interesting project for the workshop. The cannon works in a very realistic manner simply by heating 3/8-inch steel bearings until they are red hot then dropping into the barrel of the cannon in which a small quantity of water has been poured. The hot bearing striking the water converts it into steam which immediately expands and shoots the bearing out of the cannon.
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FANCY DRESS For Drinks

by George Daniels

YOUR guests will get even more of a kick out of the refreshments you serve them if you dress up each bottle in a costume which fits the personality, shall we say, of the liquor it contains. The most difficult part of this project is getting the “stuff,” but once you have solved this problem, the rest is easy. Read the rest of this entry »

This seems like a really, really bad idea for a party game. What questions would you ask to guarantee an interesting evening?
Also, I love how it can also be used as a kissing meter and that the girl who gets kissed is referred to as “the victim”.

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Have Fun With a Lie Detector

No use lying or trying to hide your emotions. This little gadget will surely find you out.

By Tony Karp

IF YOU really worked late in the office last night you have nothing to worry about if the wife wants to give you a little going over with the help of this he detector. But, if you were out with the boys, played poker or told her that the smear on your collar is red ink— watch out! This little gadget will give you away.
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The Mysterious Submarine

By F. D. BURKE

THE interesting little toy described in this article will, when placed in water, automatically dive and come to the surface again, repeating this performance, on an average, once a minute over a long period of time. It not only makes a very good toy for a boy but can be used also for advertising purposes. Placed in a glass tank and displayed in a show window, its actions will attract the attention and interest of passers-by, who will stop to wonder how it operates.
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Trick Marionettes WILL ENLIVEN YOUR PUPPET SHOWS

HOW TO MAKE A DANCING SKELETON, A JUGGLER, A DWARF THAT CHANGES INTO A GIANT, A PIANO PLAYER, A GHOST, AND OTHER AMUSING NOVELTIES

By Florence Fetherston Drake

MARIONETTES that will perform all sorts of amazing tricks can be made without difficulty, once the secret of their construction is understood. Ball tossing, for instance, is a simple trick. Then there is the skeleton that disjoints his limbs and throws his head into the air, and the dwarf who grows into a giant. Various adventures of Alice in Wonderland also can be portrayed.

For ball tossing, drill a hole through a wooden ball and run both strings through it, passing the ends through the palms of the marionette’s hands and knotting the ends, as in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Tie the other ends to an extra 12-in. stick. By tilting the ends of the stick alternately, the ball will fly up and down. There is less friction if the string is waxed and the hole in the ball is burned through with a red-hot wire, instead of being drilled.
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Child’s Scooter Folds Compactly for Storage

Coasters and scooters often take up more space than the average apartment dweller is willing to sacrifice. Here is one that can be reduced to a small bulk in a jiffy so that it can be stored from one season to the next or squeezed into a small corner when not in use. The small hinge on the base is mounted so that it will fold back on itself, while the one on the upright should have the pin knocked out and a long slender bolt with a thumb screw substituted for easy dismantling. If the half of the large hinge which is screwed to the base is bent up slightly, the upright board will lie flat when the brace board is removed.

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Scenes In Miniature

Hints on constructing small dioramas for home decorations, window displays, and advertising or educational purposes
By HERBERT LOZIER

IF YOU were able to visit the New York World’s Fair, you must have been impressed by the lavish use throughout the entire exhibition of large and small dioramas or miniature scenes. In almost every building these have been used to portray outstanding events, methods of manufacture, historic places, and all kinds of information in vivid, colorful, three-dimensional form.
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STUNTS WITH High-Frequency Current

By Kendall Ford

READERS who have followed the constructional articles on high-frequency apparatus that have appeared in past issues will be interested in learning how some of the amazing experiments are performed. The 36-in. high-frequency coil and its associated apparatus (P. S. M., May ‘35, p. 82, and July, p. 82) will be used for the purpose of illustration in this article.

The 110-volt line current is stepped up to approximately 12,000 volts by means of the transformer. The high-voltage current flows from the secondary of the transformer into the condensers, which become charged. If the circuit comprising the condensers, primary of the high-frequency coil, and spark gap has been properly adjusted, the condensers will discharge across the spark gap with a series of sparks, the frequency of which is many times the original 60-cycle charging current.
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Belt Operated by Clock Feeds Aquarium Fish Automatically

FOOD for a week or longer can be fed to fish in your aquarium while you are away on vacation if you lay it out on a belt turning on spools that get power from an electric clock as shown at right. Use a self-starting clock, attach it to a wood base, and connect it to one of the spools with a strong pulley cord. Press a grooved turning on the hour-hand shaft for one of the pulleys and groove one spool to make the other.

Be sure the spools turn as freely as possible. Light drill rod or big knitting needles cemented into the spool holes will serve as axles. Make the belt of light cloth, preferably with a rough inside surface.—Charles T. Pearson.