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Mystifying Tricks with Water and Glasses

by DALE R. VAN HORN

For entertainment at a party or after dinner you can’t beat these simple tricks, performed with water and glasses. Though they may seem extremely easy, they will sure make spectators sit up and take notice.

THE dinner was over. Talk lagged for a moment. Suddenly Dick, who was playing with his half emptied tumbler, said, “Who can float a needle on water?”

No one answered for a moment, then— “It can’t be done,” said someone. A chorus of “Noes” backed him up. Dick said nothing, but proceeded to prove it could be done. He produced a cigarette paper, asked for a needle, poured some more water in his glass, and then did the stunt. The paper was first floated on the water. Dick rubbed the needle between thumb and finger for a bit to coat it slightly with oil, then he carefully laid the needle on the paper. After a few moments the water soaked through the paper, which sank below the surface, and there, as buoyant as you please, floated the needle.

That’s an old stunt, but a good one to start other table experiments. And no sooner had the feat been accomplished than another guest thought of the suspended egg trick and did that. The method he used, and other tricks performed that evening, are described below.

The suspended egg trick calls for some salt, a glass, water and a fresh egg. Pour two inches of water into a tall tumbler and make a saturated salt solution by dissolving all the salt the water will hold. Let this stand a moment, then cut and place a small cardboard disc on top of the brine. Pour onto this enough fresh water to bring the level up to within 1-1/2 inches of the top. Now if you carefully slip the egg into the liquid it will sink through the fresh water but float on the brine, and as the two liquids cannot be told apart, this produces a rather spectacular result, particularly if the brine is prepared in advance and the glass brought in already prepared.

The orange trick calls for a small orange, a square of cardboard, and a cork. Place the cardboard on top of the glass, set the cork in the center and on top of this balance the orange. Ask someone to get the orange into the glass without touching it. A simple, quick flip of your finger against one corner of the cardboard will send it and the cork (lying, and the orange drops naturally into the glass.

Here’s another, using a glass and two pennies. The tumbler should be about half full of water. Place the two pennies carefully balanced on the tumbler rim, opposite each other. The trick here lies in removing the coins at the same time without moving the glass and so that the coins are in one hand. To do this, place the tip of your index ringer on one coin, your second finger tip on the other. Then slide the coins down the inside of the glass, snap them together at the bottom, and bring them up and into your hand side by side.

For true deception, the chain link stunt is a little more difficult, and for best results should be performed a little distance from the audience. This trick calls for a tumbler, a piece of mirror cut to such shape that it will stand on edge within the glass and divide it into two parts, and some paper clips. These, and a button hook or similar contrivance. For best results, the mirror should be silvered on both sides.

Holding the glass in your hand, pass the paper clips out through the crowd, one to a person. These are collected and returned to you. Drop them back into the glass again. By deft turning of the glass you reverse its position so that now the back side is shown. In this compartment has been previously placed an equal number of the clips, but fastened together to form a link chain. Any suitable chatter will suffice, after which you dip in with the button hook, and remove the chain, link fastened to link! Of course the unlinked clips are hidden behind the mirror.

Here is a stunt that seems impossible, until you prove that it can be done. Place three glasses of equal height on the table before you, and provide a piece of paper about 5 inches wide and 7 or 8 inches long. Ask someone to lay the paper across one of the glasses in such a way that the two other tumblers can be supported on it. Ordinary heavy writing or typewriter paper will do.

Fold the paper back and forth to form pleats from end to end, each about 3/8 of an inch wide. Draw this out a little to form a series of angles, lay the now strengthened paper across the tumbler and set the other two upon it. If this trick is done a time or two in private there will be no going amiss in public.

Requiring only an instant’s preparation, the mystic cross trick is quite spectacular. The performer calmly burns a bit of crumpled newspaper over his plate and rubs the ashes on the back of his hand. As if by magic there appears a dark cross.

It will work every time. Here’s how: Slip from the room beforehand on any pretext. Moisten one corner of a bar of soap and with it, mark the lines of the cross on the back of your hand. It won’t show at all. When you wad up the paper and burn it, make some senseless passes, seasoned with any appropriate chatter to help the deception along. Then blow out the flame and merely rub the ashes oyer the soap-marked area and dust off the loose particles. This is a hard one to fathom.

Can you pour water into a glass upside down? It’s easy. Pour some water into a plate or shallow dish and on it float a small piece of cardboard or wood. On this place a well packed wad of dry paper and touch a lighted match to it. Then turn a glass over it upside down. As the paper burns, the oxygen in the air within the glass is consumed, and water is forced up into the glass to displace the used gas.

Here is an amusing trick.

First you cut out a fish say three inches long from any paper handy. Cut a slot about an inch long from the center of the tail forward, about 1/8-inch wide. Now lay this on water and put a single drop of thin oil in the head of the slot as the photo shows. The fish surges ahead as if it had suddenly come to life. Can you explain this one?

To top off the impromptu performance you can perform the patriotic beaker stunt. A tall glass will do instead of the beaker. In the bottom, pour an inch of brine that has been colored with a small pinch of blue dye. Float a piece of cardboard on this and carefully pour in an inch or so of strong coffee that has been colored with a bit of red cloth dye. On top pour, also carefully, some cream or milk to form a white, red and blue column. If the pouring is well done, the dividing color lines will be quite distinct. Brine being the heaviest of the three liquids, will naturally remain at the bottom. The coffee, being heavier than the cream but lighter than the brine, will keep its place, and the cream naturally remains on top.

HOME MOVIE INVENTION Reduces FILM COSTS

THROUGH an invention which enables motion pictures to be taken laterally as well as horizontally upon the same film, it is declared the cost of motion pictures for the home has been reduced 75 per cent. The reducing of film costs was worked out by means of a camera which takes pictures crosswise as well as lengthwise of the film permitting the operator to take four pictures where formerly only one picture was taken. The new camera is expected to be on the market this year.

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models to order

Just dream up a gadget and the Slonim brothers will make you a model. They’ve already sold over 10 million miniatures to the U.S. armed forces.

By Harry Kursh

TWO brothers were responsible for the greatest combined Army-Navy catastrophe in America’s wartime history. In one day, two U.S. Navy submarines and their supply ship were mistakenly bombed and destroyed by a flight of B-25′s. Not far away, a squadron of Navy TBF’s was obliterated by a shattering volley from anti-aircraft guns.

Clearly to blame for these twin disasters of error were Joseph and Samuel Slonim. Yet, they never went to jail. They were never even investigated. In fact, they got close to $5,000,000 for their trouble from Uncle Sam.

Yes, the tragedies took place—-but only in miniature! Shortly after Pearl Harbor, the armed forces decided to expand its training for quick and accurate identification of Allied and enemy war equipment through the use of authentic miniatures. These called for sturdy metal construction and accuracy even down to the rivets of tank and ship plates.

For this purpose, the U.S. Government bought close to 10,600,000 precision scale models of planes, tanks, guns and ships from the Comet Metal Shop, owned and operated by the brothers Joseph and Samuel Slonim. Thanks to these tiny scale models, many of the most serious errors were averted in actual combat.

For more than fifteen years the Slonims, still in their 30′s, have been working in what they like to call their magic house of miniatures, turning out solid metal models of almost anything for anyone. Although the government took all they could turn out during World War II—from $2,000 3-foot models of the USS Iowa to thumb -sized models of Sherman tanks—their work is definitely not limited to military affairs. They’ve made models for a wide variety of hobbyists, designers, doctors, engineers, teachers and dentists. A good many of their individual orders come from professional and amateur inventors.

One of the original wall-type can openers, for instance, was first made as an authentic model for its inventor in the Slonim shop. It was urgently needed by the inventor in order to get cash backing so they turned it out for him in record time at a cost of $200. But from it he was able to get on the road to a private fortune.

In fact, it wasn’t too long after, when the pleased inventor returned in a limousine and ordered 1,500 models of the can opener. He was billed for $1,500. After they were cast, wrapped and ready for delivery, .Joe Slonim phoned: “Where do you want them sent?”

“No place,” replied the inventor. ‘I just wanted to give you some additional business. Give them out as souvenirs with my compliments so that everyone can see what ingenious work you do.”

The Slonims have developed their own secret casting process, which to this very day is protected by patents.

“You know,” Joe Slonim recalls, “during the war I think an actual battleship like the Missouri could have been built in our shop from the government plans we had. We cast models of the Big Mo according to a scale that followed it right down to details on gun turrets that came out hardly bigger than specks of sand. But our casting process is really our ultra secret weapon.”

Their process made possible precision casting with lead in such a way that delays of from two to four weeks were cut down to as little as 72 hours. For the first time, it became possible for an American outfit to compete with the accuracy of hand-made imported toys. Soon, the Slonims added the registered word Authenticast as part of their business name and orders from department stores poured in.

Today, the Slonims annually get more than $250,000 worth of toy orders alone from the country’s department stores and from stores in such far away places as Hong Kong, Israel and Turkey. They employ about 50 skilled workers—designers, die casters and machinists—and keep 14 salesmen on the road selling in practically every state.

Their toy catalog, which they sell for 25 cents even though it costs them about a $1 to produce, is in great demand not only from store buyers, but from collectors and hobbyists as well. The toy soldiers, accurately garbed in the uniforms of dozens of nations, are only a few of the more than 6,000 items listed in their present catalog covering almost every phase of life.

Within recent years, their precision cast toys have found a practical use with top American firms. Plant engineers have learned that they can save thousands of dollars in costly plant-moving errors by first rearranging floors with scale models.

But perhaps their most famous individual customer is Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. An avid toy-soldier collector, the celebrated screen actor has already gathered more than 200 miniature soldiers of all nations in authentic uniforms from the Slonims.

Inventors, particularly, like to cash in on the unique Slonim service. One recently paid $1,000 to have a model of a pea sheller made. Joe and Sam don’t know exactly how it was supposed to work or even if it was successful. “We never ask questions,” Joe explains. “We just do the job and mind our own busines’s.”

That kind of tight-lipped patronage from the Slonims has brought inventors flocking by the hundreds to their doors at 91-06 132d St., in Richmond Hill, N.Y.

Even though inventors seldom need more than an original model for patent purposes, many take advantage of a special filing service. The Slonims will keep all original die parts on file at the request of customers and guarantee their preservation. In the event of a demand for quantity cast reproductions that could cost an inventor as little as 8 cents each, the Slonims merely pull the die off the shelf and cast models for him just as authentic as the original.

“Trouble is,” says Joe, “too many inventors think that because a die is made of steel and you can’t scratch it with your fingernail, it can’t be damaged.

“But you’d be surprised,” he points out, “how many want castings, then come back with the original die nicked around the edges, threads stripped, and with an accumulation’of rust.”

One successful inventor paid $950 to have his original patent model made by the Slonims but he insisted on taking his die home with him. When he came back to have reproductions made to aid him in his already established business, it was so badly damaged that it cost him another $350 to have it put into working shape.

Very often inventors come to the Slonims with only a crude sketch and a mental image of the kind of device they want to patent. Wherever possible, the Slonims will work with such an inventor step by step, until they get accurate drawings and blueprints of whatever it is he has in mind. Once that’s settled, it’s a simple matter for Slonim shop craftsmen to turn out a solid metal scale model, whether it be in alloys of lead, zinc, aluminum or bronze.

No order is considered too trivial for a Slonim Authenticast. Earlier this year, the shop received a bulging envelope from a midwestern department store. It contained an order. For hours, the Slonims waded through all sorts of paper forms the store had sent to be filled out. Finally it turned out that all they wanted was one tank. Total cost—60 cents!

In contrast, one major oil and heating company is now having the Slonims make up a $2,000 4-inch cross-sectional scale model of one of their huge stoves for use in training salesmen. After that, at little more than the cost of a pack of cigarettes for each, thousands will be cast from the original and mounted on wood as desk souvenirs for the company’s potential customers.

How much longer the Slonims will be available to private industry is anyone’s guess. Right now, the armed forces have dropped a $100,000 contract in their laps— the Slonims are still the only ones they can turn to.

“All I hope,” Joe laughs, “is that military equipment gets a little simpler. Do you know that in World War II, the miniatures we turned out had a total of over 88,000,000 precision parts?”

There’s one question visitors always ask. And for that, Joe Slonim has a ready answer: “No, we haven’t made an atom-bomb model yet. But if one is made, you can be sure it’ll be an Authenticast.”

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The Drive-In is Thrivin’

America’s newest major industry was regarded as a newfangled novelty a decade or so ago. Now it’s become strictly big business.

By I. B. Neer

WITHOUT leaving the wheel of your car you can spend the most amazing vacation of your life this summer. For the drive-in is really thrivin’!

Without sliding from behind the steering wheel, you’ll be able, to deposit money in a bank, do all your shopping in supermarkets, buy a bouquet of flowers, mail a letter, go to church, pay your gas and electric bills, have prescriptions filled, get your laundry and dry cleaning done, take out insurance, check into a hotel, visit a zoo, have your shoes repaired and buy a bottle of Scotch for the long cool nights.

The drive-in as a big business may appear to have burst suddenly on the American scene, but actually the trend was being developed for more than 20 years. A few roadside restaurants made their first inquiring venture into the feed-’em-on-the-run field in the mid-20s and found it paid off handsomely.

Then businessmen in the cities, searching for a solution to the parking problem, took a cue from their country cousins. They started to convert their facilities so that motorists would be spared the wearisome hunt for an open spot on the traffic-choked streets. Again car owners hailed the innovation and before long Yankee ingenuity had developed a new industry.

Look what happened at Jackson Hole Wildlife Park near Moran, Wyo. On hand was the nation’s largest assortment of native big-game animals—buffalo, deer, elk, moose and antelope, last remnants of the vanishing American herds. The officials thought long and hard and finally leaped on the drive-in bandwagon as the best way to give tourists a real close-up of the animals in their native habitat.

Accordingly, they veined the large wooded area with a network of roads and strung almost invisible fences through the fields which keep the animals constantly in sight of motorists driving past. The herds cannot escape the enclosure because of a tricky device at the entrances. Timbers, criss-crossed along the first few yards of roads, are easy for a car to traverse but impossible for an animal.

Four years ago the Rev. Norman L. Hammer of North Hollywood, Calif., decided to do something about the 40 per cent slump in summer attendance at his Sunday services. Making a sort of one-man Gallup survey, he’ found that his parishioners were tempted by picnic grounds, beaches and golf courses come Sundays. Dressing for church, then rushing home to get into play garb, took too much time. So the pastor met his flock halfway.

He fitted up a pulpit in a parking lot behind his church and spread the word that parishioners could drop in on their way to play. First outdoor service was held on July 6, 1947, and soon swank convertibles and wheezing jalopies were pulling in side by side for Sunday morning worship.

Says the pastor with a twinkle in his eye: “The outdoors gets them on Sundays, but we get them first.”

Perhaps the most surprising development in the spectacular growth of the drive-in industry is the fact that such conservative institutions as banks have joined the parade. Eyebrows flew upward in financial circles back in 1936 when the City National Bank of South Bend, Ind., set up a teller’s window facing an alley and announced it was open for curb-service banking. But the idea took root and, according to the American Banking Association, has now spread to more than 500 institutions in 18 states.

The country’s largest and most elaborate drive-in bank is the Exchange National Auto Bank of Chicago, 111., where an average of 600 cars purr past the tellers daily, making 40 per cent of the total deposits. It is constructed in the shape of a huge U surrounded by driveways with ten tellers’ cages in the center. Attendants funnel the cars to the windows and tellers push out metal drawers into which customers drop money, bankbooks and necessary papers. Tellers and depositors communicate through a loudspeaker and microphone arrangement. If the services of a bank officer are needed, the tellers shoot him the papers via pneumatic tubes.

Drive-in theaters have come a long way since the first was opened strictly as a novelty outside Camden, N. J., in 1933. Hit by an almost disastrous slump during the war, they bounced back to the point where in Denver 7,000 persons waited two hours to see a movie, the first world premiere ever to be shown in a drive-in.

Some drive-ins which know all about baby sitting and home-chore problems, cheerfully tell patrons not to stay home on those accounts. They supply nurses and bottle-warming equipment and even do the family laundry while the show is on. The patron deposits a bundle of wash when he enters and gets it back clean when he leaves.

Rainy, windy or foggy nights used to strike deep gloom into the ranks of drive-in owners, but they don’t any more as the battle against the elements is being won. Scientists have now developed a glycerine compound which is sprayed on car windshields to drain off the downpour in transparent sheets instead of driblets. Steel reinforcements keep the huge 50 by 60-foot screens from swaying or toppling in high winds. DDT has banished the mosquito plague and fog-filters have been perfected so that projectionists can sharpen the picture when the mists descend.

The drive-in-and-dine spots come in two models—those in which cute car hops clamp food-laden trays to the car doors, and fully automatic ones which do away with waitresses, tipping and leg work. Perhaps the world’s biggest and swankiest drive-in beanery is the $750,000 edifice near downtown San Francisco, which sprawls over one and one-eighth acres and employs nearly 200 persons, including four traffic cops who flag customers into spots along the 250-car parking area. It serves more than 7,000 meals a day from two huge kitchens, filling each order in an average of six minutes. Otto E. Straub, the builder, spent eight years in an intensive study of food drive-ins before launching his enterprise.

The Motormat in Los Angeles, the first fully automatic drive-in restaurant, served 10,500 meals in its first nine days of operation a few years ago. A motorist parks in one of 20 stalls which fan out from a central, glass-enclosed kitchen. As he slips into place, a bin shaped like an old-fashioned breadbox shoots out from the kitchen on a runner and stops at the car door.

Inside the bin are glasses of water, a menu, a pad and pencil. The customer writes his order, pushes a button and the bin scoots back into the kitchen. In less than a minute, back comes the bin with the bill which must be paid before the meal is served. On its third trip the bin brings the order plus change.

With skyrocketing demand, there appears to be no limit to the types of business flocking to cash in on the curbside gold rush. The National Institute of Cleaning and Dyeing reports that roadside dry-cleaning places are opening by the dozen each week. Laundry field experts say that ten per cent of the nation’s laundry business is now transacted at windows which open on a driveway.

In many communities you can roll into a supermarket and make all your purchases without leaving the car. A California market sports a huge sign at the entrance: “If you don’t see what you want, just keep on driving until you do.”

Even the U.S. Government has become aware of the trend and stepped into line. In many cities, the post office has installed curb-side mailboxes with large gooseneck openings into which drivers can deposit mail without dismounting.

There’s really no end to the variations. The Detroit Edison Co. has opened an office where motorists can drive in, pay bills, leave appliances for repair, arrange for service and drive out. A number of insurance firms have set up offices in driveways and a drive-in night club is doing thriving business in Los Angeles.

In Beverly Hills, Calif., a drive-in liquor store has one rigorous rule. When a customer drives up, the salesman steps out, takes a good look and a big sniff. If he detects any tipsiness whatsoever, he sends the driver on his way. The store won’t sell liquor to drunks.

So, if you’re planning to hit the road this summer, don’t worry about missing the comforts and luxuries of home life. You can get ‘em in drive-ins. All you need is the car, the endurance—and the money. •

SUBBER

TV Service Instruments for signal circuit analyzing.

When Castle introduced the TV Tuner SUBBER analyzing instrument a couple of years ago it became the first practical way to easily test the VHF tuner, UHF tuner and i.f. amplifier system of any TV receiver. Being lightweight, self contained and battery powered the TV Tuner SUBBER *Mk. IV is the first such instrument which may be carried on service calls and used with ANY color or black and white TV receiver … at $45.95 for the battery powered Mk. IV, or $54.95 for the a.c. plus battery powered Mk. IV-A the instruments have been known to pay for themselves in TIMESAVING in the first two weeks of use!

Now we have introduced the Mk. V Master SUBBER*, an instrument which is absolutely unique . . . there is nothing else like it anywhere! It is completely portable and battery powered, practically foolproof in it’s simplicity of operation when testing ALL the signal stages of any color or black and white TV receiver. The substitution signals available allow tests of the following stages: VHF tuner, UHF tuner, each video i.f. amplifier, video detectors, video amplifiers, 4.5 MHz sound i.f. amplifiers, sound limiter, sound detector and audio amplifier. It includes a signal level meter for testing the antenna signal. Inbuilt telescopic antenna makes the meter adaptable for true field strength measurements. Inbuilt monitor loudspeaker ensures foolproof substitution tests . . . every time!

At $169.95 the Master SUBBER* instrument is the best bargain in an analyzer that has ever been available. It will save oodles of time in the hands of a professional troubleshooter . . . and help advance the novice to professional status.

All SUBBER* instruments come complete with batteries, connecting cables and comprehensive instruction manual. The Master SUBBER* and Mk. IV-A TV Tuner SUBBER* come complete with wall plug-in transformer for 120vac 60 Hz operation.

As an added bonus, all SUBBER* instruments enable use of the high speed age system analyzing procedure invented by Castle . . . the first practical method for analyzing age system defects without confusion.

*A trademark of Castle TV Tuner Service, Inc.

These instruments boast the extra features of all Castle products — advanced technology — modern styling — and they work!

If you need to save some analyzing time . . . you need a SUBBER* instrument!

See your stocking distributor … or write for more details and complete specifications.

CASTLE TV TUNER SERVICE, INC.

5715 N. Western Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60645 Phone: (312) 561-6354

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IT’S NEW!

EMERGENCY FLOATS being tried here by Sikorsky S-55 helicopter can be inflated by pilot for any unscheduled landings on water.

TV COMBAT CAMERA developed by Army enables scout to send up-to-the-minute battle pictures to command post.

VACUUM CLEANER built by U. S. Hoffman Machinery Corp. weighs 15 tons, cleans runways of rubble to protect jet intakes.

SHOPPER’S MAILBOX, newly designed for people carrying a week’s provisions from the supermarket, was tried out recently in Washington, D. C. Foot pedal should be useful during Christmas rush.

EYE REACTIONS are recorded by camera as headclamped testee looks at boxes for Folding Paper Box Association’s study of sales appeal of various types of packages.

ARTIST IN STRAW. Berliner Friedrich Pruss von Zglinicke makes elaborate pictures of pieces of straw glued to wooden placards.

AVERT YO EYES. SUH! This lady is a cop and she’s hoisting her Roscoe. New holster is being tried out in Baltimore. Md.

HOLD IT! New TV tube (right) freezes selected images. Developed by Hughes Aircraft, it’s primarily an airborne radar weather aid. can retain an image up to three minutes for study.

DENTAL PANORAMA rivaling Grand Canyon is what you get with this new X-ray camera that takes all the teeth at one go.

TOY TRACTOR, radio-controlled, climbs 45-degree grades, can be operated at distance of over 200 yards. Made in Germany.

ROOF FIRST is the rule in new Army construction; concrete slabs for root floors, are raised on hydraulic hoists, then supporting walls are erected. Photo taken at Ft. Devens, Mass.

Television Picture Attachment Uses Any A.C. Set for Sound

Utilizing the chassis and loud speaker of any a.c.-operated radio for accompanying sound, this table-model attachment reproduces television images for direct viewing. It plugs into your regular receiver in the same manner that you would connect a record player. The picture is 3-3/8 in. by 4-3/8 in. Five television receiving channels are provided.

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Portland’s Zoo Railway

HAPPY tots and smiling adults ride around the new $3,859,000 Portland, Ore., zoo on America’s latest railway—the Portland Zoo Railroad Co. The rocket-styled, Diesel-powered Zooliner hauls three gleaming Skydome coaches and a luxurious club car which tote 99 adults or 132 kids. The pike is headed by famed Pacific Northwest author and historian, Stewart H. Holbrook, Chairman of the Board, and John H. Jones, President. All aboard!

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HE TAKES PEOPLE FOR A RIDE

Bill Schmidt keeps them thrilled and safe at Chicago’s Riverview, world’s largest amusement park.

By Stan Holden

EVERY year nearly 2,000,000 persons go to Chicago’s Riverview Park to have fun. One individual, however—a husky six-footer named William B. Schmidt—goes there to have trouble.

It’s part of his job. As vice-president and superintendent of Riverview, Schmidt is ringmaster and chief trouble-shooter of the world’s largest amuse- ment park. He runs 72 acres of neon-lighted, gaily-painted thrill-and-skill attractions valued at approximately $8,-000,000. That adds up to a huge cash investment for the sprawling playland.

However, although fun is his business, his business isn’t always fun. Take June 14, 1952, for example. That was the day of Schmidt’s biggest problem to date. It was a Saturday and it was hot —two factors which added up to 10,000 fun seekers jamming the huge playland. Coins and dollar bills flowed from tiny, clenched fists into the conveniently located cash boxes at Riverview’s 29 major rides, 17 refreshment stands, 55 concession games and the conglomeration of fun houses, shooting galleries, freak shows and miscellaneous amusement devices.

And then—suddenly—everything stopped. The loud speaker went dead. On the parachute ride, ten customers strapped to their narrow seats on the way up to the 220-foot tower, found themselves halted at precarious altitudes. At the same time hundreds of others became stranded on the winding, wiggly, wooden frameworks of roller coasters, in the swaying seats of ferris wheels, in boats on elevators part way up the water chutes and in a large revolving cylinder in which the occupants are glued to the wall by centrifugal force—the Rotor.

A fire in the generating plant had cut off electric power in the entire park, as well as in Chicago’s North Side. It all added up to a busy time for Schmidt and his staff as they scampered about releasing trapped patrons until power was restored four hours later.

Bill Schmidt has been working—and worrying—at Riverview for half of his 43 years. The son of the park’s president and general manager, he started as a roller coaster starter and has since operated every ride and test-your-skill device on the grounds. When his father went into semi-retirement recently, Bill took over the managerial chores. Nepotism aside, he was the best qualified man around.

When Schmidt took over, he studied the ride devices from a technical standpoint. “According to all of the laws of nature and all of the sound engineering principles,” he says, “some of those rides just couldn’t operate. But they did. As for safety features—there weren’t any.

“In the early days, if a roller coaster didn’t come back, the operator would say, ‘Hmmm. Must be out there somewhere.’ Then he’d send out another train. Pretty soon he’d hear a horrible crash and we’d have to go out and look for the wreckage.”

Once, when Schmidt was working on the coaster next to the golf course, a youngster of about 12 came up to him and said, “My buddy fell out.”

Schmidt immediately shut down the ride, called for the stretcher and went looking for the kid. He couldn’t be found. “What goes?” he asked the youngster.

“Well, I know he went on with me but he didn’t get off with me,” the boy said.

Three hours later, according to Schmidt, the other kid—the missing one—came back looking for his hat. He had tried to change seats while the coaster was moving, had lost his grip and sailed clear of the car. By some fluke he flew far enough to land in a sand trap on the golf course next door. He just got up, shook himself off and walked away!

This incident so unnerved Schmidt that he decided to make Riverview one of the safest amusement parks in the world. With his father’s help he succeeded. It took a lot of work and study, though. Old-time ride operators were flabbergasted when he started to analyze the rides with a slow-motion camera in order to eliminate neck-wrenching bounces and jerks.

A lot of other improvements followed. Air brakes were installed on the roller coaster and a signal block system similar to those on regular railroads (to keep the trains from colliding) was also set-up. The cars also had locking handle bars, strong rubber seats to absorb much of the roughness of the ride and nearly automatic controls. Most of the other rides were similarly modernized and a continuous inspect-and-repair program was begun.

The playland has won the high praises of city inspectors and the National Safety Council. The agent who insures the park swears on a stack of policies that “River-view is safer than the city’s streets.”

Safe or not, some of the rides appear murderous. This presents quite a problem—how to make the attractions scary enough to be interesting but not so scary that no one will ride them. Evidently the Schmidts have solved this dilemma for last year 1,900,000 people took 12,000,000 rides at the park.

These same customers also consumed 43.4 miles of hot dogs (about half a million), 1,500,000 soft drinks, 600,000 ice cream cones, 500,000 candy bars, 1,000 gallons of frozen custard and 40 tons of hot buttered popcorn. All this took place during Riverview’s 117-day season—from the middle of May to the Sunday after Labor Day.

When they aren’t busy eating and drinking, the fun spot’s patrons head for the rides.

One of the most intriguing is the Rotor, a European import. Rotor customers pay 25 cents whether they ride or watch the attraction which resembles a giant, empty gasoline storage tank.

Those who decide to ride enter the tank through a door in the side and arrange themselves along the circular wall. The door is then closed and the tank starts revolving, picking up speed until the riders are almost a blur. Then the lights go out and the floor of the tank drops away. When the lights go on again the riders are plastered by centrifugal force to the wall, usually in odd and undignified positions.

As fascinating as the Rotor is, the prize for the most popular ride goes to the roller coaster. The Chicago playland has six of them—more than any other fun spot in the country. The fastest and roughest one is called the Bobs.

The Bobs is a masterpiece of fiendish engineering. Within the short span of 153 seconds, riders are whizzed up and down 16 steep hills and zoomed around a dozen sharply banked curves. At one point it screams almost straight down—at 72 mph.

Nevertheless, almost three-quarters of a million fares were rung up on the Bobs in ’55, making it the most profitable ride in the park.

While the season is on, Schmidt works 10 hours a day, seven days a week, managing a staff of 1,000. But even when the park is closed he puts in almost as much time supervising the painting and repair work. Only in February or March, when Chicago weather is too severe for much outdoor maintenance work, can he have a little fun for himself.

“I usually go south to Florida and rent a boat,” he says. “Then I loaf all day and all night. If something goes wrong with the boat, all I do is telephone the fellow I rented it from. I tell him, ‘Come over and fix it, boy. I’m tired.’ ” •

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SCAMPER

Using an air propeller, this model zips along at 40 mph as a car and does 20 as a ski-equipped boat.

By Paul Del Gatto

BUILT as a car, this model is a supercharged bundle of energy. Free-running, it surges forward as if shot from a cannon and tops 40 mph. Most people won’t have the space to let it go and will have to use a tether. Even at that, it will do better than 35.

Personally, our favorite version is the one featuring the hydro-ski arrangement. Though not as fast as the car, 20 mph is still very high for a boat of this size. Yet it isn’t the speed that impresses us so much as the sight of this unusual water bug rising up on the skis. The air prop lends to the fascination by creating the illusion of some weird form of aircraft skimming across the water. Of course you may experience a somewhat different type of reaction, but one thing is certain: no matter which version you try, you will enjoy it every bit as much as we did.

The chief material used in the construction of the model is balsa wood. However, if you have hardwood handy don’t hesitate to use it. It may mean a few more hours work on the construction, but the time lost there will be made up when it comes to applying the finish. Hardwood, of course, also makes a more durable model.

Beginning with the main hull, cut out two blank shapes from 3/4-in. thick balsa or hardwood. Then cement them together lightly to obtain the desired thickness of the hull. Roughly shape the hull to a symmetrical outline with a whittling knife, using the cross section templates as a guide. When complete, sand the hull to the desired final shape.

At this point the wheel or hydro-ski axles can be assembled and installed. Before doing this, it is first necessary that the shaped hull be pried apart for their installation. Both the wheel and hydro-ski axles are bent from 1/16-in diameter wire. The bottom half of the hull is then recessed to take the axles and then the two halves of the hull are cemented together with the axles in place.

The skis for the water version are cut from approximately .020-in. thick brass and soldered to axles. Try to obtain a similar angular setup to what we have shown, as we have tried it this way and know it works fine.

The engine nacelle mount can be cut out from 1/8-in. plywood or laminated from two 1/8-in. thick hard balsa sheets. Shape it to a symmetrical piece as was done for the hull; then recess the top of the hull V8 in. and cement it firmly in place.

The engine nacelle is blanked out from two 1×2-in. balsa blocks cemented lightly together just as the hull was. Here again the shaping procedure is similar to that of the hull. When this phase has been completed, pry the two halves apart and hollow them out approximately as indicated on the plan. Then mark the position of the firewall and cut the two halves across at that point. Since only about ^ in. or less will be lost in cutting, just remove the difference from the cowl portion to account for the Va in. thickness of the plywood firewall.

Before cementing the two nacelle halves together all necessary cutouts for air, fuel, needle valve and cylinder head will have to be made. This is best done by first cementing the firewall in place to the lower shell and cowl, then mounting the engine permanently in place. Next check the top shell and cowl portion against the engine installation for the exact location of the required cutouts. When the assembly has been completed, recess the nacelle to fit on the mount and cement it in place. All that remains is to add such fixings as the canopy, tail piece, exhausts, bridle hooks for tether and the 3/16-in. hard sheet balsa or hardwood side fairings.

Before attempting to apply a finish, the next phase is to fillet all joints with Plastic Wood to obtain greater strength and a better appearing model. After this is done, give the model a final smooth sanding.

If a glow plug engine is used, remember the finish will have to be fuel proof. Begin by applying three to four coats of sealer, sanding smooth between each coat. Then apply three to four coats of clear fuel-proof dope. The colored dopes should be of medium consistency when applied.

Brush on at least five coats and, when dry, rub down the finish with a fine grit rubbing compound such as Duco No. 7 to obtain a high gloss.

In testing the models, particularly as extensively ‘as we did, we undoubtedly experienced all that you will in operating your own car or boat. If you are free-running the car, be certain that the engine is offset about 2° to the right as we indicated on the plan. The reason for this is there is a natural tendency for the car to veer to the left due to the propeller’s rotation. This force is known as torque. Now it may be necessary to use a little more or less offset, but this will best be determined while the car is being tested. In all probability your air-car will have to be tethered for lack of space. Braided wire of .015 in. diameter and 50 feet in length will do. It, in turn, is fastened to an .040 in. diameter wire bridle strung between two hooks. For a center post, drive a big nail or spike into the ground.

If you are testing the air-boat, the first thing you should do is add a little right turn to the rudder, even if you have offset the engine to the right. Make all your test runs from moderate to high speeds so that the model will quickly get up on the skis and not dig in and porpoise back and forth. In launching the model, keep the bow out of the water and follow through with a gentle sweep of the hand. About the most troublesome thing that might occur is a dunking if the turn is too sharp. Remedy: decrease the turn, dry out engine, run it and let her go again. Your efforts will be well rewarded.
BILL OF MATERIALS
Quantity Dimension Use
1 piece 3/4 x 4-1/2 x 26-in balsa or hardwood Hull 1 piece 1 x 2 x 18-in. balsa Engine nacelle.
1 piece 3/16 x 2 x 18-in. balsa or hardwood Side fairings.
1 piece 1/8 x 3 x 18 in. balsa Nacelle mount, tail piece Miscellaneous: 1/8-in. plywood firewall; 1/16-in. dia. wire for axles; 1/4 in. O.D. tubing; celluloid canopy; 1-3/4-in. dia. wheels for car or ,020-in. brass for skis; 1-1/4 in. dia. spinner; .020 to .049 engine; fuel-proof cement; fuel-proof clear and colored dopes; Plastic Wood; wood sealer.

Music Writing Device Records Notes Played on Piano

IF STRAY melodies are always running through your mind and you are averse to setting them down on music paper at the moment of your inspiration, you will find this music writing piano, shown with its inventor, at the right, Dr. Moritz Stoehr, a great help in recording the tunes and keeping them in memory for publication.

The recording device, which writes on a revolving roll of paper in a series of dots and dashes every note played on the piano, consists of a typewriter attachment which can be built into the piano. A touch of the finger on the piano keys is transmitted through a system of pulleys to corresponding small levers which print on the revolving roll of paper marks proportionate in value to the time value of the note. Spaces between notes mark the time value of the rest.

The typewriter-piano keyboard consists of 88 keys to correspond with the 88 keys of a conventional piano keyboard, and are compressed within a space of not over 15 inches. Each key contains a hammer, or striker, which produces in sound the note that will be recorded on the paper.

The music writer also includes a transposing device—a portable keyboard of a conventional type which is superimposed on the regular keyboard. By moving it up or down the scale to the desired key, a composition can be automatically transposed, the indirect pressure effecting the change in key. The selection is played in the regular key— superimposed keyboard does the transposing.

Inflation Hits Toy Balloon Market

IN SPITE of the depression toy balloons have continued to go up, but this can no doubt be laid to an inflation of the stock.

This cat, 12-1/2 feet high, is one of the many inflated comic figure balloons built for the use of parades, department store displays, carnivals, or what have you.

Toy Air Limousine Has One Hundred Fifty Rubber Band Prop Power
A TOY produced by a western manufacturer is guaranteed to fly several hundred feet. It is equipped with 150 rubber band propeller power, and has a steering wheel, gauges, levers, in fact about everything that is found on a regular machine. The windows are of celluloid and the passenger department is luxuriously upholstered.

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TV’s Sheet-Metal Heroes

Here’s how Grandpa’s Pierce-Arrow might end up on television, co-starring with Bob Stack

By JACK B. KEMMERER

“I’M a co-star with a bunch of old cars,” moans Bob Stack, I relaxing between takes on the studio set of The Untouch- ables. “And if you don’t believe it, take a look at the fan mail. I wouldn’t be surprised if they get more mail than the rest of us put together.”

The Untouchables, ABC-TV’s tale of gangsters and government men in the ’30s, quickly skyrocketed to high popularity in the United States soon after its first appearance on the TV screen. And cars on the program share fan appeal with the human cast.

The series is filmed at Desilu Studios, Culver City, Calif., where the beloved old sheet metal stars even have their own private parking lot. The lineup is impressive: a 1927 Viking, a whole platoon of Buicks, a Pierce-Arrow here and there, a Chevy coupe, some Fords, a couple of Oldsmobiles, lots of LaSalles, both a Yellow and a Checker Cab, and three trucks, a White, a 1925 chain-drive Mack, and a Chevy—about 50 cars in all.

Gold Behind Chicken Coop? Where does the show get all these vintage cars? Aaron Dorn, Desilu’s transportation chief, has the answer—and the job of finding the particular cars needed. Many are offered to Dorn by Untouchables’ fans who figure they have a gold mine in their grandpappy’s old car out behind the chicken coop.

“Lots of people make us a fine offer of a ’27 or ’29 car for maybe only $5000,” Dorn said unhappily. “But the truth is, there are plenty around for a tenth of that. The only catch is, they must be in good mechanical shape.”

Actually, Dorn gets most of his cars from E.O. Smith who owns and operates a Hollywood rental and referral service for old cars. At 59, Smith is one of those rare individuals who retired several years ago, then turned a hobby into a lucrative business.

He took up the hobby about 10 years ago, buying a 1925 Stearns four-door sedan. After acquiring about seven or eight of the ancient cars and restoring them to mint condition, he found that considerable money and even more time were tied up in something that could only be looked at and driven occasionally.

Cars for Lawless Years. “I knew I had to find some way of making them pay or my hobby was over,” Smith recalls. Some weeks later he heard that M-G-M was looking for cars of the 1920s for a new TV series, The Lawless Years.

Driving one of his cars to the lot, Smith showed it, along with pictures of his other cars, to the transportation chief. Several cars were “signed up” immediately and Smith had a new business. Now, only three years later, he has about 65 vintage cars and is constantly adding more. He supplies cars to every movie studio in Hollywood as well as to television production companies.

Smith belongs to the Antique Car Club and the Horseless Carriage Club; most relics come from members of these two organizations. And, now that he’s well known in the field, Smith gets three or four letters and calls a day from people wanting to unload an old car. “Unfortunately,” he says, “most of these people have an exaggerated idea of what their car is worth.”

Judging the Value. There is no set price for an antique or classic car, according to Smith. It depends entirely on the car’s condition, its rarity, and how bad the would-be purchaser wants it. The least Smith ever paid for a car was $30 for a 1934 Oldsmobile; the most: $1000 each for a 1913 International truck and a 1918 Cadillac. A 1918 Dodge cost him $750 and a 1915 Model T Ford, $900. Each required considerable work to restore; in addition to the time involved, about $500 was spent on each car.

With the exception of major mechanical overhauls, Smith does all restoration work. Body work alone requires about two weeks’ labor and can easily take two months if the car is in really bad shape. He farms out his mechanical work to a neighborhood garage run by another antique car fan who thus has a personal interest in Smith’s problems.

Spare parts can be—and often are—a big headache. If Smith can’t find an engine part, he has it machined. Body parts are easier to come by; here again, Smith depends mostly on his fellow car club members.

The First Car He Bought (a 1925 Stearns) caused him the most trouble. “It was a case of pure ignorance,” Smith recalls wryly. “If I knew then what I know now, I never would have bought that particular car.”

It was only after a long search for a missing part and much work that he was able to completely restore the Stearns. Later he turned down $1000 for it. He rented it for use in The Lawless Years but now won’t rent it for any price. The make is now quite rare and, while Smith has heard of other Stearns sedans, he has never actually seen one. Those from our century’s “teens” period are valued from $5000 to $7000.

In The Untouchables, Federal Agent Eliot Ness (Bob Stack) uses a 1930 Buick 8 as his personal car. Actually there are two of these Buicks, both identical and both Smith’s. One Buick is used for the destructive scenes where the car gets shot up or wrecked; in one show it was partially burned.

Destructive Scenes Cause plenty of headaches for both Desilu and Smith. They get sacks of mail from angry fans when one of the elderly machines is consumed in a wreck or a fire—the blazing kind or by weapons of the early 1930s.

The wrecks and fires are all real— nothing is faked. If the car is to be totally destroyed, the studio buys it from Smith beforehand. And, naturally, they don’t destroy any of the rare vehicles. “They couldn’t afford to,” Smith grins. “It would cost a lot of money to keep wrecking cars worth four or five thousand dollars.”

When a car is only partially wrecked or burned, Smith is paid for the total damage and he restores it for further use.

Producers of The Untouchables are constantly amazed at the closeness with which its fans watch the show. During one show, some stock footage was used to show a street scene. The film had been checked thoroughly to see that it fits the proper time period. But 2200 letters received the following week disclosed that each viewer writing had spotted the 1941 Pontiac in the 1931 scene.

Death Car for Schultz. Smith has one car, a 1928 Cadillac, that he calls his Dutch Schultz car. Three times by three different studios this vehicle has served as the death car for the Dutchman.

TV commercials offer another source of steady income for Smith. Many of the filmed advertisements require cars of a certain vintage and model. Smith always has four or five of his ancient buggies on loan at the studios that specialize in these short films.

The rental fee per car varies, depending on the vehicle involved, from $30 to $100 a day, with the price increasing with the age and rarity of the vehicle. Most requests are for cars of a particular model and year. Even with 65 on hand, Smith doesn’t have everything the studios want. If he has time, he’ll get the car and restore it, provided enough rental is assured to make it profitable.

“One thing is sure,” Smith says happily. “As long as they make motion pictures and TV films, they’re going to have to have cars of the right age to fit their time requirements. It looks like I’ve got a pretty good hobby.”

Pioneer Inventor Is Conducting a Radio Movie Station

DR. C. FRANCIS JENKINS, noted Washington scientist and pioneer in the field of radio vision, is now conducting a new high powered transmitting station near Washington, for the broadcasting of motion pictures by radio. Opening of his station was preceded by broadcasts from his laboratory for several months. The station was originally assigned to operate on a frequency of 2850 kilocycles with a power of 1.5 kilowatts. Dr. Jenkins has developed an instrument which changes the lights and shadows of the motion picture film into electrical impulses which operate the radio transmitter. The broadcasting equipment which is decidedly intricate includes a photo electric cell and a series of lenses for focussing.

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Herb Shriner’s “INDIANA PIANO”

The Hoosier Boy’s harmonica was born in ancient China.

SOONER or later every boy falls under the spell of a shiny new harmonica and a “new easy method” of learning to play it. Years ago it happened to an Indiana boy named Shriner. Now a new generation of boys is yearn- ing for a Herb Shriner Hoosier Boy DeLuxe ($2.49) or for a Herb Shriner Regular ($1.98). Both come with Herb Shriner’s new easy method outlined in cartoon form.

Herb’s special brand of humor derives a good deal from the mood his harmonica sets; he has never made a public appearance, on TV or elsewhere, without one. Associated with the caboose, the calaboose and the haybarn (where it is regarded highly as it will not start a fire), Herb’s trademark goes well with his carefully preserved rube routine. Actually the harmonica has a long, distinguished history going back to ancient China, like gunpowder and spaghetti.

The modern harmonica, more or less as Herb plays and collects it today, dates back to 1829. Its inventor was inspired by the harmonium, a keyboard free-reed instrument with a bellows. Using the free reed or vibrator in a portable instrument seemed like a good idea, so he put together a little box containing several vibrators, each in its own corridor. He called it the aeolina; it wasn’t until years later that farm boys tabbed it the harmonica or “mouth organ.” The inventor of the harmonica was named Charles Wheatstone; in the history books he is mentioned as Sir Charles, the inventor of the electric telegraph. The harmonium, from which he got his idea, was invented by a Dane named Kratzenstein, who got his idea from the ancient Chinese cheng — a sort of teapot with bamboo stuck in the top. You blew through the spout and agitated the free reeds in the bamboo. The harmonica is easier to play, especially with Herb Shriner’s new easy method.

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Intergalactic Space Control Panel

A fascinating, safe, electrical toy for junior space travelers.

By Robert Brightman

“GEE, Bob, when are you ever going to finish that control panel for me?” When your youngster starts off on a tack like this and keeps it up for a few weeks there is only one way to keep peace in the family. And that is to finish the job. The control panel as it is called by my son and all his friends is one of the most fascinating toys a father can make for his boy. Essentially it consists of a six-volt transformer, a series of toggle switches and miscellaneous lights, bells, buzzers and meters.

The first step is to rummage through the spare parts box and amass all the electrical parts you can possibly use. Visit your local radio shop lor the necessary transformer to convert 117-volt alternating current into harmless six volts. As you can see from the wiring diagram, two lengths of bus bar along the bottom of the box form common connections for various parts.

It is a good idea to first assemble all the parts you are going to install and then drill and cut the necessary holes in the sloping front of the control, panel. Of course you can do this with the box assembled, but you will find it much easier to do this before it is finished.

The switches are wired so that they do not turn on the lamps directly above them. If they did, operation would be too easy. As every parent knows a small boy always likes to do things the hard way! Wire them so that they turn on the lamps or bells farthest from the switches. The voltmeter is wired across the six-volt posts of the transformer and will of course always register six volts. The milliam-meter is wired in series across one of the lamp circuits or can be wired in series with one of the secondary leads of the transformer.

The more controls and switches the merrier. You’ll find that after a while you may want to add more devices. Simple enough, just remove the back and go to work. The earphones and corresponding jack were in fact such an added improvement. The jack is merely connected to a flashlight battery. Flipping a switch turns on the juice so that a clicking is heard in the phones. The two knobs shown are rheostats to dim two of the lights.

Another added innovation is the series of banana jacks on both sides of the panel. The upper two on the left are connected to the secondary of the transformer so that a source of six-volt alternating current for testing is readily available. At least two switches must be turned on before any of the lights will work. The first switch turns on the line current to the transformer. This is rigged so that a 7-1/2-watt pilot light glows when it is on “on.” The next switch completes the circuit in the secondary of the transformer. At this point any one of the various other switches can be turned on to make the lights blink, bells sound, buzzers burp and pandemonium reign.

Note the automobile curb feeler. This is hooked up to a buzzer and looks like a miniature antenna. Touching it of course causes the buzzer to sound—only when its switch is “on.” Such secondary switches are a constant source of delight to a boy and his friends. Sometimes the buzzer will work and sometimes it will not, depending-of course upon the switch position.

One-Man Chorus All By Himself!

PROFESSOR F. A. FIRESTONE of the University of Michigan demonstrates a device which gives him ten voices. He places a curved glass tube in his mouth and goes through the motions of singing, while he plays a nova-chord. An electrical field translates his unsung words into the sound of the novachord, and the music comes out sounding like a chorus of ten voices! It’s good for breaking leases.

Three-Dimensional Sound for the Home
Three-dimensional sound, the effect created for Walt Disney’s film Fantasia, now can be duplicated in the home with a new multi-speaker radio on the market. A portion of the audio output of the chassis in the new set is fed back into the lighting circuit; extra speakers then may be plugged in anywhere on the same meter circuit, to create the Fantasia effect if the speaker is in the same room, or to carry the program to the other rooms in the house without the need for extra wiring.

It’s just part of a fascinating learn-at-home program in electronics from Bell & Howell Schools!

If you’re handy with a set of tools, you may already have some of the skills you’ll need to build Bell & Howell’s color TV … the TV with digital features! This program is the perfect way to discover the exciting field of digital electronics … and best of all, you can do it all at home, in your spare time. Get free information now about this first-of-a-kind learn-at-home program prepared for you by skilled instructors at Bell & Howell Schools.

Discover a new way to spend your spare time hours on evenings and weekends.

Even if you have no prior background in electronics, you’ll find digital electronics a fascinating world to explore. You’ll enjoy spending hours reading about the systems of digital circuitry, performing experiments to test what you learn, and building this advanced color TV. It’s completely absorbing, and you’re spending your spare time learning something new that could open up extra income opportunities for you.

Find out all about electronics equipment and how it works.

Once you complete this learn-at-home program, you’ll have the specialized skills to service color TVs plus the knowledge that you can apply to repair a variety of home electronic equipment. And because this Bell & Howell Schools’ program includes the study of digital circuitry, you’ll be among the first with professional home training in digital electronics, a field that’s growing in importance every day.

No electronics background necessary.

We start you off with the basics. You’ll receive a special Lab Starter Kit with your first lesson so that you can get immediate “hands on” experience to help you better understand newly-learned electronics principles. Later, you’ll use your knowledge and learn valuable skills as you build the color TV. You can take full advantage of our toll-free phone-in assistance service throughout the program and also our in-person “help sessions” held in 50 cities at various times throughout the year where you can “talk shop” with your instructors and fellow students. You learn valuable skills in electronics through experiments and testing as you build this advanced-design color TV.

You build and work with a revolutionary color TV.

Discover the technology behind such extraordinary features as channel numbers that flash on the screen, an on-screen digital clock that flashes the time in easy-to-read numbers, and an automatic pre-set channel selector that allows intermixing of VHF and UHF channels in any sequence. You’ll enjoy probing into advanced performance features like silent all-electronic tuning, Black Matrix picture tube, “state of the art” integrated circuitry, and the 100% solid-state chassis that makes possible a brighter sharper picture with long life and dependability.

You also build Bell & Howell’s exclusive Electro-Lab ® electronics training system.

You get valuable experience performing experiments and later testing your TV with a digital multimeter, solid-state “triggered sweep” oscilloscope, and design console you build yourself.

The skills you learn can lead to part-time income or a new career in a business of your own.

While many of our students do not ask for employment assistance, it is available. We will help you look for a job in a field of electronics that best fits your interests and abilities. Of course, no assurance of income opportunities can be offered. One thing you can be certain of: no better or more practical at-home training in electronics is available anywhere.

Find out more about this fascinating program … mail the card today for full details, free!

This Bell & Howell Schools’ program is approved by the state approval agency for Veterans’ Benefits. Please check the box on the card for free information.

If card has been removed, write:
An Electronics Home Study School
DeVRY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
ONE OF THE Bell & Howell Schools
4141 Belmont, Chicago. Illinois 60641

Fold-Away Playhouse

Long-wearing, water-resistant playhouse in cottage or ranch house style can be folded quickly into storable. portable package. It will not crack or peel, can be cleaned with damp cloth. It stands 5-1/2 feet high, and has a roll-up door. The house is made of Vinylite plastic and has wooden frame for holding it extended. Doughboy Industries, Inc., New Richmond. Wis.

Jerrold’s New Universal TV Remote Control

The Hottest New Product Since The Calculator…

* Makes every set on your floor a remote control model.

* Universal— Attaches to any set in minutes.

* Changes channel instantly and fine tunes.

* Turns set on/off.

* Silent push-button varactor—diode tuning— 12 channels.

* Amplifies signal and eliminates direct pick up ghosts.

* For homes, apartments, bars, hotels/motels, schools, hospitals and nursing homes.

Packaged in a sturdy, colorful, self-selling carton.

JERROLD
a GENERAL INSTRUMENT company

HEADQUARTERS & EASTERN OFFICE 200 Witmer Rd., Horsham, Penna. 19044, (215) 674-4800.
SOUTHERN OFFICE 1 Perimeter Place, Suite 101, Atlanta, Georgia 30339, (404) 432-3102.
WESTERN OFFICE 1255 Veterans Blvd , Redwood City, Calif. 94063, (415) 365-5050.
MIDWESTERN OFFICE 1334 Atlantic Street, North Kansas City, Mo. 64116, (816) 842-1555.

HOLLYWOOD’S MISSING LINK
NEED a blind date for your mother-in-law? Steve Calvert, Hollywood’s gorilla man, is your answer because he’s really handsome when he’s all dressed up in his $1,500 hirsute suit. Actually he makes a nice living using it in horror and jungle movies. And it’s a work of art. Each hair, human and yak, is sewed and tied individually. Gorilla curves are achieved by rubber padding. Hands, feet and face are molded rubber. Wires, levers and rods enable him to make his brows beetle, his lips curl, snarl and talk, and can even make his nostrils dilate when he’s real mad.

HE MAKES DOUGH FROM DOUGH

By Roger Fuller

PLAY-DOH is that mildly-scented modeling stuff your kid works into demented shapes, then shouts “Daddy! Look!” It comes in colors and your little Leonardo can blend the putty-like dough to his heart’s content. The guy who makes the stuff has kids, too, and they can play with platinum yo-yos now, if Daddy wants them to. Play-Doh was originally a wallpaper cleaner young Joe McVicker inherited, with built-in headaches. Who wanted a wallpaper cleaner any more? “Aah, paint over it” was the popular cry of the post-war PTA set. The Cincinnati business was flat on its back and so was Joe, after an operation, when he got the Play-Doh idea from his little girl, who was pudging the dough by Daddy’s bedside. A field-test in a nursery school yielded suggestions that Joe color the putty and have it tested so nothing drastic would happen to any young customer who might suddenly eat the “rightnowsterous” he had modeled. Joe went ahead, and any proud parent of a very young sculptor knows the rest. Joe feels much better than he did and his once moribund business is grossing about $3,000,000 per annum. Inspirational? Back to your basements, dreamers! You may yet find a use for chewed bubblegum!

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More Christmas Suggestions

For the junior scientist what would be more appropriate than this photo electric eye apparatus. Motors can be made to run by waving your arm, burglar alarms installed without wiring and music can be produced from varying light beams.

Any member of the family will appreciate a flashlight. This model features a chrome case and a positive contact thumb switch.

For the handy man a good saw is a worthy-gift and one which he will appreciate. A streamlined sled that steers will meet the fancy of youths of all ages. An easily operated steering bar controls sled’s direction.

Another typewriter that will make an excellent gift for someone. This neat machine is the next thing to a full size type. A canoe such as the one shown below will add many pleasant hours to next summer’s trip.

Around and around it goes. This toy merry-go-round operates like the familiar railroad hand car and can be set up either indoors or out. It accommodates four children. Below What shop enthusiast wouldn’t appreciate this complete workshop, tool chest. Chest includes every hand type of woodworking tool used in the shop.

Popular for home use this new portable features a paper support rack. Extra long carriage return bar makes it easy to operate.

Balloon tires, combined horn and light and tool box case are a few of this bicycle’s features. Right – all-wave radio set is something that the whole family will enjoy for years to come.

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Christmas Suggestions

For the amateur scientist this Micro-photography outfit is the ideal gift. Permanent records of all experiments can be kept on photographic prints. The microscope and the camera can be used independently.

Cellulose wrappings add much to the appearance of gifts. At right are examples of what attractive wrapping will do. Below—This toy airplane will thrill any youth who receives it. Plane performs like a real ship.

Encased in a neat bakelite case this handy purse camera opens automatically when a button is pushed. It takes extremely sharp pictures.

A typewriter is the ideal gift for any member of the family. Here is one embodying all of the features found on a large machine yet small enough to carry about in a traveling case.

Junior will have the time of his life with one of these iron horses. Pushing on the foot levers causes the coaster to gallop just like a real horse.

For the workshop fan this practical wood turning lathe is just the thing. While inexpensive it does exceptionally fine work. Operates on light motor.

New Christmas Toys Declare All-Out War

A GENERATION of mothers and fathers, most of whom were determined a few years ago that they “wouldn’t raise their boys to be soldiers,” find themselves confronted this year with a selection of Christmas toys almost exclusively of a war-like nature. The toy-makers explain that the children demand them—and 5-year-old Billy Navard and Craig Smith, shown on this page, seem to be enjoying their martial playthings immensely. Above, Craig rides a pedal fighter plane and scans the skies for enemy craft. At left, Billy fires a coastal defense gun which shoots wooden bullets, while, below, he speeds over rough terrain in a motorized division’s army supply truck.

Vault Bank
Save-Master opens automatically, after pre-deter-mined amount has been reached for which the dial has been set. The owner himself sets dial for amount to be saved. It takes nickels, dimes and quarters, is made of metal, and has no key, opening when full. Patterson Distributing Co., 504 W. Second St., Dayton 2. Ohio.

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NEW for CHRISTMAS

FOR THE HOME

PLASTIC SHADES of Vinylite adhere directly to glass without adhesive, can be peeled oil easily. Transeal, North Ave., Plainfield, N. J.

REFRIGARRANGERS are light, durable easy-to-clean containers of Bakelite styrene for leftover foods. Valley Forge Creations. Malvern. Pa.

PANCAKE TURNER-GREASER carries a replaceable absorbent pad to grease the pan. Without pad, holes drain grease. Paul Laux. Shavertown. Pa.

STORM WINDOWS of plastic can be used on homes, farmbuildings. withstand all weather. Easy to install. Central States Bag Co., St. Louis, Mo.

AUTOMATIC PERCOLATOR perks your coffee, keeps it hot. Made of aluminum, it has measure markings up to eight cups. Buckeye Aluminum, Wooster, O.

KNIFE RACK has sharpening slot in center, holds six knives by concealed jaws which can’t damage edges. New England Carbide Co., Cambridge, Mass.

FOR THE CAR

NYLON CAR COVER in forest green weighs only 5-1/2 pounds, is mildewproof. withstands all weather. Edge is elastic. American Agency. Broadway. N. Y.

AUTOMATIC LIGHT DIMMER for Oldsmobile is called Autronic Eye. mounts behind windshield as shown and lowers lights when a car approaches.

WINDSHIELD PROTECTOR of polyethylene plastic . protects parked car against sleet and snow. Central States Bag and Paper Co.. St. Louis. Mo’.

SQUEEZE BOTTLE-FILTER converts ordinary water into chemically pure, soft water for batteries, irons. Crystal Research Labs.. Hartford. Conn.

CAR CHAIR has adjustable head and arm rests, folds for carrying in small zipper case. Weight is 6-1/2 pounds. Kelley Chair. Louisville, Ky.

INSUL-8-TOR blanket cements to car hood, muffles noises, protects paint. Ricar Corp.. 180th St. N. Y. C.

FOR THE KIDDIES

MARIONETTES with Vinylite heads that (eel like human skin can be washed with damp cloth, easily manipulated by children. National Mask and Puppet Corp.. Brooklyn. N. Y.

JET ZOOM for rocket-travelling small fry is made of plastic, shoots pine-foot paper spiral with repeating action. Spirals are replaceable when worn. Tigrett Enterprises. Chicago. Ill.

PLAY TENT of Vinylite has inflatable base, stands 5 feet high, weighs 4 pounds, folds into small package. Bilnor Corp., Maspeth, L. I.

MAGNETIC ROADWAY enables child to steer tiny car through tunnels, past houses. German Inventions-Novelties. POB 384. Grand Central. N. Y. C.

BACKFIRING FORD, antique model, has caps inserted in bottom which explode when trigger is pulled, can be used as pull-toy. Replica of Model T. Precision Specialties, Los Angeles. Cal.

BLOW ORGAN of Bakelite operates on lung power, produces notes that sound like the real thing. It has 14 keys, weighs about 8 ounces. Magnus Harmonica Corp., Newark, N. I.

FOR THE SPORTSMAN

AUTO-LIFT HOOD on Evinrude’s new 15-hp Super Fastwin Hits for easy engine servicing when two clasps are opened. Evinrude, Milwaukee. Wis.

WARMUFF for outdoorsmen straps around your waist to keep hands warm. Supplied with heating unit Pacific Products. 10th Ave.. Portland. Ore.

NYLON SPOOL for Neo-Caster reel weighs one-third ounce, eliminates spool inertia and backlash. Kilian Tackle Co.. Baldwinsville, N. Y.

KAMP-PACK waterproof kit contains 17 items, three complete meals for four people. Only water is added. Bernard Food Industries. Chicago. Ill.

FLOODLIGHT LANTERN burns gasoline, has detachable handle reflector. Coleman. Wichita. Kan.

TUNABLE DUCK CALL named Mutone gives different tones by simple adjustment. No moisture effects. Rene-Craft Products. Wilmette. 111.

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The Outlaw

Here’s why this thrilling new picture has been kept off the screen for two years!

1944-HOWARD HUGHES,WORLD FAMOUS FLYER AND MOTION PICTURE PRODUCER, COMPLETES HIS PICTURE THE OUTLAW.

HOWARD HUGHES DISCOVERED JEAN HARLOW, PAUL MUNI, GEORGE RAFT, AND PAT O’BRIEN. NOW, IN THE OUTLAW, HE PRESENTS HIS SENSATIONAL NEW STAR DISCOVERY- JANE RUSSELL

JUNE, 1944-THE OUTLAW WORLD PREMIERE IS HELD AT SAN FRANCISCO. THE PICTURE BREAKS EVERY EXISTING RECORD!! HELD OVER FOR 8 WEEKS! PLAYS TO MORE THAN 300,000 PEOPLE!!

THE OUTLAW IS TRIGGER-FAST ACTION COMBINED WITH DARING SENSATION TOO STARTLING TO DESCRIBE!

THEN… THE OUTLAW IS BANNED BY THE CENSORS! BUT RATHER THAN CUT A SINGLE SCENE FROM THE FILM, HOWARD HUGHES WITHDRAWS IT FROM THE THEATRES OF THE WORLD!

I’M GOING TO FIGHT THIS BATTLE TO THE FINISH AND MAKE SURE THAT THE PUBLIC SEES MY PICTURE EXACTLY AS I MADE IT!

NOW, AT LAST, AFTER A TWO YEARS FIGHT WITH THE CENSORS HOWARD HUGHES BRINGS YOU HIS DARING PRODUCTION, THE OUTLAW… EXACTLY AS IT WAS FILMED… NOT A SCENE CUT…AND INTRODUCING A NEW STAR, JANE RUSSELL!

Howard Hughes’ daring Production THE OUTLAW

introducing Jane Russell

Mean… Moody… Magnificent

EXACTLY AS IT WAS FILMED! NOT A SCENE CUT!