August 29, 2009

Neon Beacon Has 120-Mile Range (Jul, 1931)

Filed under: General — @ 10:03 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1931
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Neon Beacon Has 120-Mile Range

Huge Light Is Visible to Aviators Across Entire State of Indiana

All aerial night traffic on the transcontinental route from New York to the Pacific Coast is now guided across the entire state of Indiana by the world’s largest neon aviation beacon, which has recently been completed atop the tallest building in Indianapolis. Standing 375 feet above street level, the red beams of the 2,000,000 candlepower light may be seen by aviators within a radius of 60 miles. On clear nights it may be picked up 100 miles away.

Enjoy the Finest (Sep, 1958)

Filed under: Advertisements, Trains — @ 10:02 pm
Source: National Geographic ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1958
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Wow, I would totally take this train.

Enjoy the Finest

BETWEEN CHICAGO AND THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

It costs no more!

“CITY OF PORTLAND”

This delightful Domeliner is the finest and fastest between Chicago and Portland, with through Pullman to Tacoma-Seattle.

It is the only train to Portland featuring three types of Astra Domes; a Dome Lounge, Dome Coach, and Dome Diner (exclusive on Union Pacific) with three exquisite dining areas—the Dome, and downstairs the main dining room, and the Gold Room for private parties.

Pullman and Coach equipment is the very latest in design, providing both relaxing comfort and convenience. And, of course, the money-saving Family Plan Fares apply on all Union Pacific trains.

• • •

Through Hertz Rent-a-Car service, we can have a car waiting for you at your destination.

UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD

How Fast can Man Travel? (Feb, 1929)

Filed under: Transportation, Useless Tech — @ 10:02 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1929
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Apparently Einstein’s work hadn’t really sunk in yet. It’s the acceleration, not the speed that gets you.

How Fast can Man Travel?

Is there a limit to the speed which the human body can withstand? Five miles a minute caused no ill effects for the English aviator who recently attained this speed.

RECENTLY broken records for speed in various methods of transportation have bettered the marks of recent years by such a wide margin that scientists are asking the question, “How fast can man travel before the functions of his body cease to be normal? Is there a limit?” Read the rest of this entry »

August 27, 2009

Moto Polo – Mayhem on Wheels (Mar, 1951)

Filed under: Automotive, Sports — @ 10:06 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1951
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Moto Polo – Mayhem on Wheels

Combine football, soccer and polo with a dash of Sunday driving and you’ve got the West Coast’s newest sport fad.

By Louis Hochman

“PLAY Ball!” yells the ump and six peculiar cars tear into each other trying to bounce a giant six-foot rubber ball into a goal. They collide, turn over, bounce high into the air, roll end over end, spin on their noses, land on top of other cars, fall to the ground and then get right back into the game and start all over again!
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Trouble Busters (Apr, 1947)

Filed under: General — @ 10:06 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1947
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Trouble Busters

You toss them a tough problem and they toss back a tender solution.

BY MARGOT PATTERSON

“NO POTATOES,” the grocer said grimly.

“No potatoes?” the housewife exclaimed with emotion. “Why, I must have potatoes! My family needs potatoes!”

“Sorry, lady,” the grocer said. “There’s a shortage. It’s on account of the rot.”

Until 1938, this little scene was re-enacted annually all over the United States. Bacterial soft rot baffled shippers. It would spread through whole carloads of potatoes, causing losses of millions of dollars. Finally, the shippers put the problem in the hands of the Armour Research Foundation. Read the rest of this entry »

August 26, 2009

Sun Supplies Heat For This House (Feb, 1940)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 10:19 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1940
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Sun Supplies Heat For This House
OLD SOL provides the heat for the hot water system in this new sun laboratory, recently completed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for research on using the sun rays for house heating and power generation. The man on the roof is Dr. Byron B. Woertz, research assistant, who is inspecting energy collectors, or “heat traps,” in which circulating water is heated by sunlight and stored in a large basement tank for future use.

Auto SCOOTER (Dec, 1947)

Filed under: Motorcycles — @ 10:18 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1947
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Auto SCOOTER

IN CROWDED metropolitan centers across the country the thin trickle of new automobiles is helping one problem —transportation—but heightening another. Parking lots are bursting with automobiles of commuters, curbs are lined and every city has a parking problem which no plan has solved. Increased costs pose another serious problem for the average family. Car prices have risen beyond comfortable reach. One-car families which ordinarily might be two-car families can’t afford the extra outlay of $2,000 or more, even if auto deliveries could be made next week. Read the rest of this entry »

NEW EYE TESTER (Feb, 1929)

Filed under: Origins — @ 10:18 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1929
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NEW EYE TESTER

THIS remarkable instrument, which is in reality a battery of lenses no bigger than a cigar box, enables the optician to secure over one million combinations of lenses almost instantaneously. The London Refraction Hospital which has recently been rebuilt at a cost of $50,000, contains this machine among many others of the same type. Read the rest of this entry »

Light Pipes (Dec, 1947)

Filed under: General — @ 10:17 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1947
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Light Pipes

GLASS tubing—eight hundred miles of it each month—flows from the nose of the 100-ton mandrel furnace at right. Cut into five-foot lengths for 100-watt fluorescent lamps, the tubes are first thoroughly cleaned inside and out with the combination brush and suction cleaner shown above. Then each one is filled to the top with fluorescent powders called phosphors. The liquid drains out leaving a phosphor coating inside and the long bulbs are placed on the rack at left to dry. Above, the furnaceman inspects tubing as it emerges

Are Patent Medicines Dangerous? (Mar, 1953)

Filed under: Medical — @ 10:17 am
Source: Cosmopolitan ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1953
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Are Patent Medicines Dangerous?

BY ROBERT L. HEILBRONER

Down in Washington. D.C., a constant, unobtrusive cold war is being waged by three organizations—the Federal Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, and a quiet institution known as The Proprietary Association.

These three groups are vigilantly protecting the consumer against foods, drugs, and cosmetics that are adulterated, or labeled or advertised with false or misleading statements.

They also do occasional battle with the remnants of the once-famous quack-medicine makers, known to some as “the patent-medicine industry.” They were fugitives from justice, with a record both long and nauseating. Theirs was at best a cold-blooded operation built on the principle that there is no buck so easy to wangle as the buck of a person in pain.
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August 24, 2009

Why Billy C. was benched (Dec, 1937)

Filed under: Advertisements — @ 9:59 pm
Source: American Magazine ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1937
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This totally explains my lack of sporting ability. Damn you cavities!

Why Billy C. was benched

There he sat on the sidelines . . . all through football days. With the finest new football outfit in the neighborhood .. . with everything but a place on the eleven.

Baffled and hurt as only a twelve-year-old can be he tried desperately. But fumbled the ball. Couldn’t keep up with plays. Just couldn’t make the grade.
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FUN JEEP (Mar, 1957)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 9:58 pm
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1957
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FUN JEEP, above, intended for beach use, touring, camping; seats seven. Farina-built, it features gas-stretching 4-cylinder mill.

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