July 11, 2007

Why Stammer? (Jul, 1933)

I’m trying to imagine what a meeting of the stammerers guild would be like. In my my mind it’s tragically comedic. Not to mention, you’d think they could have chosen a more easily pronounceable name then “Stammerers’ Guild”

Why Stammer?

Sample Copy of “SPEECH” free
Write for Free booglet “Helps for Stammerers”
Stammerers’ Guild, 38 Newbury St., Suite 404A, Boston, Mass.

July 10, 2007

Turntable Eases Garaging (May, 1952)

Turntable Eases Garaging

Now Frank Enos of Sausalito, Calif., just presses a button to solve what had been a difficult problem. He lives on the side of a hill, with a garage 30 feet below the level of the road and at the end of a 150-foot driveway. Backing up the hill on wet mornings was sometimes a dangerous chore, until Enos devised a turntable and installed it just before the entrance to the garage. Pressing a button puts a 1/2-horsepower geared motor to work revolving the table after Enos backs out, and he drives forward up the hill. The turntable deck is supported by 4 by 12-inch girders and 2 by 12-inch joists which are set on eight concrete piers.

Distinctive Costumes for Outdoor Play and the Season’s Odd Fads and Fancies (Jun, 1924)

This is sort of an odd feature for Popular Mechanics. I wonder if they had more female readers in the 20′s.

Distinctive Costumes for Outdoor Play and the Season’s Odd Fads and Fancies

Straight Skirt and Slip-over Jacket Give Stylish Lines to This Knitted Sport Suit Effectively Worn with Light Straw Hat with Scarf Trimming

Soft Felt Hat of Tan with Brown and Gold Side Ornament Completes the Sport Costume
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Ad: HOW TO SQUEEZE JUICE FROM AN ATOM (Apr, 1955)

HOW TO SQUEEZE JUICE FROM AN ATOM

The key to harnessing the power of the atom lies largely in the economic design of the power reactor. NDA has been a leader in reactor design and engineering since 1948—longer than any other independent private enterprise. For example, the large-scale atomic power plant being planned by the Detroit Edison Company and its associated companies will employ an advanced reactor for which much of the nuclear engineering and physics has been evolved in the engineering offices and laboratories of NDA. Many other reactor designs, ranging from small units for research to large-scale power reactors capable of producing 200,000 kilowatts of electricity, have been conceived and designed by NDA.
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CHINA’S DREAM DAM (Jul, 1946)

Filed under: General — @ 12:03 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1946
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It looks like China has been thinking about the Three Gorges Dam for a long time.

CHINA’S DREAM DAM
BIGGEST irrigation, power, and flood-control dam on earth is projected for China’s Yangtze River about 300 miles east of Chungking. Dam will impound water to irrigate 10,000,000 acres. Hydroelectric plant will generate three times power of Boulder, Grand Coulee and Shasta plants combined. U. S. is helping China’s National Resources Commission with plans.

FORTY-POUND CIGAR IS VALUED AT SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS (May, 1924)

Sometimes a cigar is just a big-ass cigar.

FORTY-POUND CIGAR IS VALUED AT SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS

What is said to be one of the largest cigars ever made was shown at an eastern tobacco exposition. It was rolled from broadleaf tobacco from the Connecticut valley and is five feet in length. The value of the tobacco used is estimated at $75.

HOW CHEMISTRY CREATES A PHOTOGRAPH (Jul, 1946)

HOW CHEMISTRY CREATES A PHOTOGRAPH

What goes on in the emulsion that coats film is shown by simple test-tube experiments.

By TRACY DIERS

THE film in your camera is thinly coated with one of the most unstable chemicals known to man. Silver bromide is its name, and from the moment of its birth it is kept in a cradle of darkness until in your camera a swift shaft of light seeks it out. The intricate and far-reaching changes brought to silver bromide by that flash of light are in part still secrets of nature. Much of what happens in your camera and in the darkroom is known, however, and can be shown at home with a few chemicals in a test tube.
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Carl & Jerry – Under the Mistletoe (Dec, 1958)

The whole thing is pretty funny. I particularly like the reference to his “rotund friend”. The word rotund is definitely under used these days.

Suddenly he grabbed his rotund friend and roughly pushed his wrist watch against Jerry’s right cheek while he pressed his lips firmly against the left cheek. “Testing, testing, testing!” he muttered.

“Hey! Cut that out! Quit slobbering on me!” Jerry said indignantly as he jerked himself free. “What’s the matter with you? Did you catch Cindy’s kissing bug?”

“Did you feel anything? Did you feel a-shock?” Carl asked intently.

“Sure I did. Why shouldn’t I?”

“I felt it then, too, but there was nothing when I kissed Cindy.

Carl & Jerry
Under the Mistletoe

By JOHN T. FRYE

“FOR the last time, no!” Carl shouted at his friend, Jerry, sprawled on the old leather divan of the basement laboratory; “I’m not going to take your visiting cousin Patricia to the Christmas party.”

“And why not?” Jerry demanded truculently. “With those blue eyes, black hair, and dimples, she isn’t exactly a crow, you know. And didn’t she win the science award? She knows darned near as much about electronics as we do. Lots of guys would jump at the chance.”

“Let ‘em jump,” Carl said firmly. “I’ll not deny she’s easy on the eyes, quite hep, and nice, too, for a girl. It’s simply that I’ve had it as far as these Christmas party capers are concerned.”
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July 9, 2007

Advertising Novelty Blows Smoke Rings (Jul, 1939)

Advertising Novelty Blows Smoke Rings
Smoke rings are easy to produce with a small cardboard pyramid introduced as an advertising novelty. Through a hole in the side, smoke may be blown into the interior. Then a series of quick taps ejects slender smoke rings that float lazily through the air, as shown in the illustration at the right. Pressing slowly on a side releases a fat ring. For best results, a spot free from drafts must be chosen, otherwise the air currents will quickly destroy the rings.

Shark Octopus Undersea Battle Filmed (Jul, 1933)

Shark Octopus Undersea Battle Filmed
A most remarkable battle between a shark and an octopus has been photographed by a daring cameraman for the film, “Samarang”—(Out of the Deep). With his camera and equipment inside a diving bell, open at the bottom, the internal air pressure being sufficient to keep the water out at shallow depths, he placed a piece of meat in the water to attract the shark, the octopus already being in the vicinity. The battle which ensued between shark and octopus lasted twenty minutes, but it was quite one-sided. Read the rest of this entry »

Handy Aids for the HOMEMAKER (Jul, 1936)

Handy Aids for the HOMEMAKER

CUBE STARCH IS EASILY MEASURED
Made in the form of cubes about the size of a lump of sugar, a new starch makes it easy to secure uniformity of stiffness in starching laundry. The starch is packed in one-pound boxes, each of which contains eighty cubes

RACK FOR RAZOR HAS BLADE DRIER
When a safety-razor blade is placed in the drying unit of this novel bathroom fixture, and the lid is pressed down, two built-in absorbent pads dry the blade instantly
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Cellophane Blanket for Sun Tans (Jul, 1932)

Filed under: General — @ 12:15 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1932
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Cellophane Blanket for Sun Tans
CALIFORNIA sun bathers are now getting their tans “wrapped in cellophane.” A specially dyed cellophane blanket, shown in use in the photo below, prevents the sun from burning or blistering the skin, but allows the ultra-violet rays to give it a healthy tan. The new “tanner” is large enough to cover the body, and when carried may be rolled up into a small cylindrical bundle.

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