January 10, 2006

15 Lane Drive-in Bank (Nov, 1964)

Filed under: Automotive, Impractical, Sign of the Times — @ 9:30 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1964
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This is just about the most American thing I’ve ever seen:

Big drive-in bank can serve 15 customers at a time

The entire street-level floor of the new Denver U.S. National Bank is devoted to customers who do their bankning without having to get out of their cars. It has 15 drive-in teller booths equipped with pneumatic tubes going to the other parts of the bank and TV to check accounts. Automatic light signals direct cars to booths as they are vacated. Over a million drivers can be served a year. Pedestrians bank on one of three basement levels. Four floors above the street can park 260 cars.

January 5, 2006

Lure Holds Live Lightning Bugs (Aug, 1950)

Filed under: Impractical, Just Weird — @ 4:40 pm
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Aug, 1950
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Lure Holds Live Lightning Bugs

One night an Indiana fisherman was having trouble persuading the fish to strike even though they were leaping out of the stream to snap at lighting bugs. The following night the angler returned with a small glass bottle to which he had wired some hooks. He put a half-dozen lighting bugs in the bottle and used it as a lure with good results. Now the idea has grown into a new transparent-plastic lure which can be unscrewed and lightning bugs inserted for night fishing. The lure can be used where fishing with artificial light is prohibited, according to the manufacturer.

December 28, 2005

Primitive Fiber Optics (Mar, 1939)

Filed under: Impractical, Origins — @ 4:02 pm
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1939
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Piped Light Aids Surgeons and Dentists

PIPED LIGHT, providing surgeons and dentists with powerful, sterile beams devoid of heat, glare, or the danger of electrical shock, is made possible by instuments molded from a transparent plastic which carries light around curves and bends (P.S.M March ‘37, p. 43). The molded hand-held rodlike instruments have electric bulbs at their bases, powered either through extension cords from transformers that cut down 110-volt current to six volts, or by flash-light cells in a special base. Among the new plastic instruments are a tongue depressor that throws a concentrated beam on the throat of a patient, a retractor which serves the double purpose of holding back the cheek and lighting the mouth, and a long curved rod which casts a brilliant beam on the teeth.

December 27, 2005

Hair Helmet - Literally (Jul, 1964)

Filed under: Impractical, Just Weird, Personal Appearance — @ 7:24 pm
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1964
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Newest fashion for women cyclists

Both of these cyclists are wearing crash helmets - the lady’s a nylon-hair wig on a heavy plaster-composition base. Made by a London hairdresser in a variety of colors and hairdos, the wigs are the rage with women riders. Skintight, they are water-proof and can be worn on any occasion

December 21, 2005

Egg-Beater Wind Plane Imitates Hovering Flight of Eagle (Oct, 1934)

Filed under: Aviation, Impractical, Useless Tech — @ 4:22 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Oct, 1934
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Egg-Beater Wind Plane Imitates Hovering Flight of Eagle

Revolving blades resembling somewhat the working parts of an egg beater replace wings and tail stabilizers on the “cycloidal flying machine,” an airplane designed to reproduce the best features of an eagle’s flight.

A seven foot model of the unusual craft has already been built in the aeornautical laboratories of the University of Washington by its inventor, Dr. Frederick K. Kirsten. The novel wing mechanism is expected to give higher speeds, hovering flight, and slower landings.

November 19, 2005

Lunar Suit for Space Explorer (Jan, 1961)

Filed under: Impractical, Space — @ 4:57 pm
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jan, 1961
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This doesn’t look too practical.

A spaceman could use this suit while exploring the moon - and even rest in it if he’s on a long hike. It is equipped with retractable tripod legs that will hold it up off the ground and a built-in seat that he can curl up on while easing his tired feet.

The suit is made of aluminum, has a circular plastic window and nylon-coated neprene arms and legs. The tank strapped to the back supplies oxygen and contains a cabon-dioxide absorbent. The controls are inside the cylinder along with shelves of food for lengthy trips. Tools the wearer could use would be similar to those lying on the ground. The suit was built by Republic Aviation, weighs 120 pounds, which on the low-gravity moon would be equivealent to 20 on earth.

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