January 28, 2009

Prefabricated House For Defense Needs (Aug, 1941)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 12:28 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Aug, 1941
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Prefabricated House For Defense Needs
THIS radical-looking prefabricated house is one of the many types which have’ been submitted to the Division of Defense Housing Coordination as a quick, cheap method of housing defense workers. The house weighs only a ton, and can be constructed in six days by one man. At the right is an interior view of the novel “defense” house.

January 21, 2009

Dishwasher Aids Housewife (Jun, 1937)

Filed under: Kitchen — @ 8:28 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1937
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Dishwasher Aids Housewife
AN ELECTRIC dishwashing machine which uses six quarts of water, cleans all the dishes in the machine in eight minutes. Taking up but little room in kitchen, the mechanism is simple enough to be operated by a child. The dishes are placed in a basket which in turn is placed in the machine. Read the rest of this entry »

Cob Tongs Provide Sanitary Method for Holding Corn (Jun, 1937)

Filed under: Kitchen — @ 12:08 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1937
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Wow, they sure do grow corn a bit bigger now, don’t they?

Cob Tongs Provide Sanitary Method for Holding Corn

These novel tongs provide a sanitary means of holding hot roasting ears. Made of stainless steel, they permit the ear to be grasped securing without the fingers touching the corn. Claws on the ends of the tongs are shaped in “fish hook” manner so that the corn cannot possibly slip.

The House That Death Built (Jun, 1937)

Filed under: Architecture, Just Weird — @ 12:08 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1937
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The House That Death Built

by Dean S. Jennings

DEAD leaves, whipped from stark lonely trees by the valley wind, sing a dirge in the night glow of a winter’s moon.

Behind the skeleton screen of withered oaks whose rotting limbs droop to pungent ground, you can see the house, gabled and gaunt, rising wraith-like against a blue shadowed mountain backdrop.

They call it the “mystery house,” and “the house that death built” or “ghost house.”
Read the rest of this entry »

January 19, 2009

TENT CITY ON HOTEL ROOF IN SAN DIEGO, CALIF. (Sep, 1914)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 11:57 pm
Source: Popular Electricity And Modern Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1914
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TENT CITY ON HOTEL ROOF IN SAN DIEGO, CALIF.
An unusual method of coining dollars from the waste space on the roof of a building is shown in this view of the U. S. Grant Hotel in San Diego, where about twenty tents have been pitched far above the city. The view is fine, the air good, and as the elevator and other hotel service is at hand, the guests enjoy camp life and city advantages together. The proprietor receives a good rate for these quarters, so that the novel idea is beneficial all around.

January 13, 2009

PLAYGROUNDS IN THE SKY (Apr, 1957)

Filed under: Architecture, Impractical, Sports — @ 10:45 pm
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1957
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PLAYGROUNDS IN THE SKY

Here is MI’s hold plan to fight juvenile delinquency and get kids off the street.

THE scene is your city on a sticky, sweltering twilight in midsummer. Lights are beginning to wink on and kids are starting to gather in the streets after the evening meal.

A few years ago this was the danger hour in your city. You remember it well—the nightly muggings would begin about now and young girls would be afraid to venture out alone. Beatings were commonplace and gang wars, fiercely fought with knives and zip-guns, were a frequent occurrence. But things are different now. Read the rest of this entry »

January 8, 2009

Beware Home-Repair Gyps (Mar, 1957)

Filed under: House and Home — @ 1:03 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1957
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Beware Home-Repair Gyps

By Harry Kursh

ONE Sunday last spring I decided that the outside of my house needed painting and figured the job would cost about $750.1 looked in my New York newspaper and saw a huge display advertisement hailing a new “paint” discovery.

I immediately filled out the coupon asking a representative from the company to call for an estimate and in less than 48 hours a salesman pulled up to my front door in a slick new car. He was immaculately dressed and carried a bulging briefcase.
Read the rest of this entry »

January 5, 2009

RELAX ON AIR (Jul, 1947)

Filed under: House and Home — @ 12:46 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1947
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RELAX ON AIR

BY JACQUES MARTIAL, as told to Sophie Smoliar.

RELAX on air! That’s the promise of tomorrow’s rubber furniture which will soon be replacing much of the overstuffed, coil-spring type in common use.

Furniture manufacturers, long plagued by shortages of materials and also by a dearth of new ideas, have sought a way to produce comfortable and low-cost furniture. Now they claim to have found the answer in the principle of the air-filled rubber tube. With inexpensive materials and simple assembly, manufacturers foresee mass production with furniture prices spiraling downward.
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December 30, 2008

Household Tasks Simplified With These New Inventions (May, 1932)

Filed under: House and Home — @ 1:28 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: May, 1932
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Wow, I thought the Butter Churn/Washing Machine was cool, but it’s got nothing on the washer/ironer/polisher/sharpener/dough kneader/cocktail shaker/fat jiggler/reducer on this page!

Household Tasks Simplified With These New Inventions

This machine, operated by electricity, will wash and iron clothes, wash, rinse and dry dishes, scour pots and pans, polish silverware and sharpen cutlery; in fact, perform a multitude of household tasks. In addition it kneads dough or shakes cocktails, and serves on occasion as an exerciser and reducer.

Electricity has now ousted the traditional candle from its rightful place on the birthday cake and put electric lights on the job. Base of this new lighting system, shown at right, has twelve sockets fitting on bottom of cake. Read the rest of this entry »

December 22, 2008

Double-Spiral Corkscrew (Dec, 1956)

Filed under: Kitchen — @ 12:33 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1956
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Double-Spiral Corkscrew

DRAWING the cork from a bottle of imported wine is often a losing battle. Bottles of wine should be stored on their sides to keep the cork wet and pullable. But on the long voyage from the vineyards of Europe to your table, the cork often dries out. Then you’re likely to end up with a half cork bobbing around inside the bottle and your guests have the choice between swallowing bits of cork or straining them out with their teeth. Unic, pronounced “unique,” a new Swiss corkscrew with two right-hand screws, gets all corks out in one piece. It’s being imported by Susi Press Company, 200 Hill Street, Whitinsville, Mass. •

December 17, 2008

Folding Chair Also Serves as Pillow (May, 1932)

Filed under: House and Home — @ 2:40 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: May, 1932
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Folding Chair Also Serves as Pillow
TOURISTS, campers and picnickers will find the little folding seat shown on the right a mighty convenient accessory. It weighs but two pounds and measures only 9 by 12 inches when closed. It can be folded up to serve as a pillow or a chair and will support 250 lbs. Small size when folded permits it to be carried under your car seat.

December 15, 2008

Basement Penthouse (Apr, 1953)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 11:11 pm
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1953
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Basement Penthouse

A veritable dean of home craftsmen, Norman Brokenshire practices what he preaches on his TV show in which he offers advice to all homeowners who get fed up with the expense of calling outside help for home renovations.

Deciding to put the basement of his home to practical use, Brokenshire tore out the battered plaster walls and ceiling. Installing the necessary wood framing, he applied plywood paneling to completely cover the walls and used Weldtex squares for the ceiling. Tiling was used for the floor.
Brokenshire,. setting an example for other home craftsmen, has created an unusually attractive, livable basement penthouse from once neglected space.—Robert Karen

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