NEW PRODUCTS
1. New. five-sectional, rear-view mirror permits 160° view behind, including both sides.
2. Molded from tough plastic, these doorknobs snap on shaft, are held in place by a small spring lock.
3. Antique pine finishing kit consists of stain and wood sealer in pint quantities, brush. 1/2-lb. can of wax and instructions.
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The Cardiff Giant currently resides at the Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown, NY while Barnum’s copy is at Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum in Michigan.
Oh, and Barnum didn’t say “There’s a sucker born every minute”. That was actually a quote from a competitor after Barnum created his own Cardiff Giant.
If you’ve never actually listened to the Mercury Theater broadcast of War of the Worlds you can stream it or download it at the Internet Archive
The saga of the bogus John Wilkes Booth mummy (actually a chap named David George) is told in a story of 7 parts here.
THESE HOAXES SHOCKED THE WORLD
By West Peterson
THE awful calamity of ferocious beasts hunting human prey in the streets of New York after breaking out of the Central Park Zoo panicked the entire city one gloomy Monday morning back in November, 1874. The highly esteemed New York Herald revealed the grim details of the “catastrophe” in the full-page story you see reproduced here.
“Another Sunday of horror has been added to those already memorable in our city annals,” the Herald announced in a dramatic report on the Zoo break. “. . . We have a list of forty-nine killed, of which only twenty- seven bodies have been identified, and it is much to be feared that this large total of fatalities will be much increased with the return of daylight. The list of multilated, trampled and injured in various ways must reach nearly 200 persons . . . Twelve of the large carnivorous beasts are still at large, their lurking places not being known. . . .”
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I’d like to see them make
Everybody has hit own pot idea of some gadget he would like to see in general use. What is YOURS? Popular Science Monthly will pay five dollars for every such suggestion that its editors decide to publish.
Cartoons by SYD LANDI
Dashboard That Tells All.
Gauges to show the motorist exactly how much air is in the tires, how much oil and water in the engine. Suggested by L. R. Ruegg, Lake Mills, Wis.
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Divers Explore New Depths in 1-Man Sub
DEEP sea explorers are now enabled to fathom the ocean’s secrets to a depth of more than 815 feet, thanks to the invention of a (living suit which has been dubbed the “one-man sub.”
Until recently divers could only descend to a depth of about 200 feet, while submarines could only go a little deeper, about 300 ft. In submarines it was not possible to work around in wrecked ships or examine the ocean floor. Read the rest of this entry »
FLY-SIZE MOTOR RUNS
So tiny that it rests easily on a finger nail, an electric motor constructed by an Italian youth weighs less than an ounce. The Lilliputian power plant has forty-five Parts and develops about eight-one-thousandths of a horsepower.
Lobbyist for Hobbyists
“You need a hobby,” warned the doctor. So Dave Elman dug up more than 500,000 pastimes—for other people.
By Fred Horsley
“PICK any noun in the dictionary, and I’ll name you a hobby for that word,” Dave Elman, the originator of radio’s Hobby Lobby, boasted as he leaned back in his office chair in midtown Manhattan.
“All right,” I said and opened up a small dictionary on his desk. “Here’s one for you—auk.”
“That’s easy. I’ve got that hobby right here in the office. Ned Hand of the American Museum of Natural History collects the remains of auks as his hobby. See those bones over in the corner? That’s your auk hobby.”
“Well, here’s a slippery one for you— eel.”
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Big Dealings on California Beach as Beauties Use Mammoth Cards
MAMMOTH playing cards suitable for outdoor use have recently become the fad with society beauties on the California beaches. The photo shows a poker game in progress with paper plates used as chips. The cards are waterproof and very durable, and while a trifle too large for convenience have proved popular with those seeking something new in the way of amusements. A lapful is dealt to each player instead of a hand.
Wild West in Miniature
1. The stagecoach is here! And for keeps, thanks to Mary Crouch who has carved a tiny western town out of wood. Three years of research went into the project.
2. Mrs. Crouch’s son and helper. Worth, envies the rough but colorful life of the frontiersmen who enliven the realistic village with its 14-foot-long Main Street.
3. Runaway horses are so life like that the look of horror on the lovely lassie’s face seems only natural. Yapping dog, too, contributes his share to the excitement.
4. Artistic Mrs. Crouch of Los Angeles dabs the last bit of paint on one of her 6-inch figures. She has refused offers of $6000 for this exhibit but sells other carvings.
NEW in SCIENCE
Sharpnel-Proof Vest is displayed by Pfc. Ralph Barlow of Redondo Beach, California. While in front line action in Korea, Barlow was hit by shrapnel and knocked to ground, but received no serious injury. Vest stopped the metal fragment.
Bell X-5 is undergoing tests at Edwards Air Force Base in California. It is our first plane able to change the sweep of its wings in flight from the most forward position, top, to a fully sweptback position, bottom, in 30 seconds. It is jet propelled.
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WHAT IS YOUR ATOMIC IQ?
By J. Robert Connor
GREEK philosophers some 2,000 years ago are believed to be the first people to theorize that there were tiny and invisible particles in all matter. They named these particles atoms. To give you an idea of the smallness of these particles, it is said that if all the people of the world were as tiny as atoms, we would all be able to stand on the head of a pin! Since the atom seems to offer us a bright future, barring war, we should know something about it. This quiz is designed to test your atomic acumen. How do you rate?
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SLIDE-RULE WATCH
NEWEST gadget in do-every-thing watches is the Chronomat, a combination wrist watch, stop watch, timer and circular slide rule. With Swiss-made precision, the Chronomat gives you the time of day, let’s you time anything from an auto race to film souping, and provides a calculator that adds, multiplies, subtracts, figures percentages, ratios and even rates of money exchange. It’s scarcely larger than a 50-cent piece but there’s hardly a mathematical problem this gizmo can’t handle—except how many Brigitte Bardots can stand on the head of a pin. A dream of a gift, the Chronomat is sold by the Wakmann Watch Co. of New York City. The price? Only (gulp!) $110.
INVENTIONS WANTED!
PNEUMATIC PADS lor football players, to provide greater protection with less weight. lames Carrol, Alexandria. Va.
RAKE ON WHEELS, easier to handle, might tempt younger members into policing up the grounds. Bing Lee, Salinas, Calif.
LUMINOUS TARGETS and arrows lor Robin Hoods who like to speed a shaft or two at night. Bill Collins, Manitou Beach, Mich.
LONG-HANDLED BRUSHES for painting hard-to-get-at places above, behind and between things. Mary Fields, Dayton, O.
PUSH-BUTTON governor can be set to local speed limits, makes gendarmes very happy. Celine Gausswin, Springwater, N.Y.
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