October 18, 2009

Punctured Auto Tube Seals Itself (Jul, 1934)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 5:22 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1934
| Buy on Ebay

Punctured Auto Tube Seals Itself

A NEW tire tube contains specially compounded plastic rubber which flows into a puncture, quickly closing it and preventing loss of air.

Unlike previous devices of this nature, the new tube gives unusual comfort in use and is light in weight. It can be used on the smallest car without jolting the passengers.

In a recent test an awl was driven repeatedly into one of the tubes; but the plastic rubber effectually sealed each of the holes with virtually no loss of air.

It’s the Law! (Dec, 1936)

Filed under: Just Weird, Sign of the Times — @ 5:22 pm
Source: American Magazine ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1936
| Buy on Ebay

Two things:
a) I’m not sure they could have come up with a more offensive picture to represent the cook in the last panel.
b) Dick Hyman. Really?

It’s the Law!

BY Dick hyman

In Collingswood, N. J., dogs are forbidden by ordinance to bark between the hours of 8 PM. and 6 A.M.

An ordinance in Mt. Pulaski, Ill., forbids boys to throw snowballs at trees within the city limits.

It is against the law in Maryland to knock a freight train off the track.

Florida has a law forbidding you to hire away your neighbor’s cook

IT’S THE LAW appears each month in The American Magazine

Scientists Approve High Heels (May, 1932)

Filed under: Personal Appearance — @ 5:21 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: May, 1932
| Buy on Ebay

Scientists Approve High Heels

REFORMERS who condemn high heels are themselves condemned in a recent scientific study reported to the Royal Society of Medicine, London. Instead of being unhealthful, high heels are actually easier on the body than low ones.

In spite of the present vogue of high heels, there is no evidence that corns, flat feet, or other disorders are increasing. Scientists have thus given heels over two inches high a clean bill of health.

HOW TO BOWL (Feb, 1940)

Filed under: Sports — @ 5:04 pm
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1940
| Buy on Ebay

HOW TO BOWL

by Joe Falcaro

I HAVE, through personal instruction, made thousands of good bowlers from beginners. Too, I have made hundreds of excellent bowlers, men who average around 200, from good bowlers.

Any bowling secrets I have been able to reveal to these bowlers you will find on these pages. I urge that you read this article several times, slowly and carefully, so that no point is missed. Study it as you might study a lesson in school. Memorize it, if necessary, but be sure you under-stand and apply every point in practice. Read the rest of this entry »

October 14, 2009

30 Dumb Inventions from Life Magazine

Filed under: Site News — @ 11:56 am

I thoroughly enjoyed this gallery, especially the TV glasses and the illuminated tires.

Want to test how well you know this site? How many of the inventions in this list have I posted here in the past?

September 29, 2009

Moving again

Filed under: Site News — @ 4:26 pm

I’m moving this week to Portland, OR and I’m not sure I’m going to get a chance to post much.

Updates to the site will be probably be sporadic or entirely absent until I get up and running again next week.

September 25, 2009

The Mystery of the Vanishing Universe (Jan, 1949)

Filed under: Space — @ 7:58 am
Source: Science Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jan, 1949
| Buy on Ebay

This is an excellent article, really not much different from current explanations of cosmic expansion.

Yes, I know the numbers are way off and they’re missing dark matter, dark energy and a host of other things. But from a layman’s perspective, I think it gives a very good understanding of the basic concepts.

The Mystery of the Vanishing Universe

In the case of the disappearing galaxies, the evidence is contradictory and the jury’s hung

by Morton M. Hunt

IN the files of the world’s astronomical observatories there are a number of photographs, enlarged from tiny negatives. They are hazy, smeary pictures, almost formless; all they show are some rather indistinct patches of light. But because these streaky patches of light never quite appear just where they should on the photograph, but are joggled a little bit offside from where all calculations say they should be (a phenomenon known to astronomers as the “red shift”), the photographs form the evidence of the greatest mystery of all science—the beginning of the universe, and its ultimate end.
Read the rest of this entry »

September 23, 2009

Racing Canoes With Large Umbrella for Sails Is Popular Water Sport (May, 1932)

Filed under: General — @ 11:04 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: May, 1932
| Buy on Ebay

Racing Canoes With Large Umbrella for Sails Is Popular Water Sport

RACING canoes with umbrellas for sails has become a popular water sport at the southern resorts and will undoubtedly be taken up seriously everywhere this summer.

The canoes are jockeyed into place along the starting line by paddling, and the over-grown umbrellas are then opened for action. At the starting signal, paddles are taken from the water and the canoes start off under full sail. In some races the “skipper” is allowed to use the paddle to keep the canoe in its course and prevent collisions.

World’s Smallest Auto Demands Traffic Equality (Feb, 1929)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 10:55 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1929
| Buy on Ebay

World’s Smallest Auto Demands Traffic Equality

TRAFFIC regulations have made no qualifications concerning the size of a car. Here is the world’s smallest car taking the right of way in Brooklyn, N. Y. Officer Thomas Hallman was rather surprised when Master Bernard Muller and his playmate, Miss Adele Wallack, rolled up to the corner. Read the rest of this entry »

GYP of the MONTH (Mar, 1960)

Filed under: General — @ 10:50 pm
Source: Whisper ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1960
| Buy on Ebay

GYP of the MONTH

Want to be a better crook? Harry the Hyp will help.

EVERYONE HAS HEARD some American tourists complain about being gypped by the natives in Europe, but now we give you a tourist who reversed the story. He bought a railway ticket at a station in Scotland and paid with a $50 bill. Read the rest of this entry »

The Mystery of the Shrinking Oranges (May, 1949)

Filed under: General — @ 9:44 pm
Source: Science Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: May, 1949
| Buy on Ebay

The Mystery of the Shrinking Oranges

A Sad Story from Southern California

by John Devaney

California’s Valencia oranges are shrinking. The Golden State’s summer orange, which provides the entire nation with orange juice from July to November, has become little larger than a golf ball. And nobody in California knows why. Read the rest of this entry »

September 21, 2009

Tricycle Vender Solves Girl’s Unemployment Problem (Jul, 1931)

Filed under: General — @ 9:22 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1931
| Buy on Ebay

Tricycle Vender Solves Girl’s Unemployment Problem
UNABLE to find suitable employment in her profession as a typist, Miss Clara Cage, of Hollywood, discovered an unusual method of earning a living. She rigged up a tricycle as a delivery wagon and now delivers cartons of ice cream direct to consumers. During hot spells Miss Cage turns many a pretty penny by pedaling her way about the streets on her tricycle, which is shown in the photograph at the left. Along Hollywood boulevard, her favorite selling area, she attracts attention by her novel togs and vehicle.

20 queries. 0.830 seconds.