America’s Five Favorite Hobbies
By EDWIN TEALE
AMERICA is the hobby center of the world. More money is spent annually on hobbies in the United States than in any other country on earth. From old-fashioned whittling to polarized-light microscopy, a thousand and one spare-time interests provide Americans with relaxation and amusement. Seeking relief from the strain of an uncertain future, millions of persons, in recent months, have joined the ranks of the hobby-riders.
Supplying the needs of America’s vast army of hobbyists has become big business. Factories with incomes of millions of dollars annually cater to the wants of men and women who are following specialized hobbies. Each week sees an increasing number of hobby columns in newspapers and hobby volumes on the shelves of libraries and bookstores.
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My desktop is currently dead. I’m not sure if I’m only going to have to reinstall the OS or get a new drive. Either way, posting is going to be a bit light for the next few days. Today you get one post that was left over from last night.
Oh yeah, I forgot about it, but on Oct 15th the site entered it’s fourth year. A few approximate stats:
- 5000 posts
- 8,500,000 page views in the last year.
- 19,000,000 total page views.
- 13,000 comments
- 2.8 million spam comments (seriously)
Here’s a video from The New York Times of my dad making Mac and Cheese Pancakes. Not remotely relevant to the site but it’s cute and I felt like plugging his book.
Update: For some reason the you tube player was crashing PC IE. I have no idea what I could have done to cause that, but I’ve taken it out. If you want to see the movie, click here.
I’m going to try to post a few recipes later this week.
Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin
It’s telemedicine! Well, sort of.
DOCTOR BY RADIO
DR. GUIDO GUIDA, 60, founder and unpaid head of Rome’s International Radio Medical Center has treated patients via radio from his own home for 17 years. Career began when childhood friend died at sea. Italian government recently assigned six Naval operators to aid him.
Remember: You haven’t lived until your home computer says “hello” and asks you to “please enter a number.”
Three new home computers that teach themselves - and teach you how to use them
They’re smart, they come ready to work, and one of them even talks to you
By BILL HAWKINS
PHOTOS BY ORLANDO GUERRA
Only two years ago, home computers were for the hobbyist: a jumble of wires, transistors, and circuit boards that came in a kit. And once the kit was assembled, there was complicated programming to master. Things have really changed since then.
Recently I’ve been trying three of the newest home units from APF, Atari, and Texas Instruments (first reported on in PS, Nov. ‘79). They’re no more complicated to hook up than a video game. The programming can be learned in just a few evenings. External pieces, such as a printer for making permanent records, are as easy to plug in as a toaster. Best of all, the computers can teach themselves.
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BY APPOINTMENT TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC
In some countries products are endorsed by the Crown, and bear the arms of the royal family. That gives them prestige which stimulates sales.
But in democratic America our products are endorsed solely by the approval of the American people, and are identified by brand names and trademarks that have won esteem the hard way.
Here a product must stand on its own feet and fight to survive in the intense rivalry of the market place.
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Uncle Sam - Inventor
“EVERY day in Washington, for several months, a government scientist mounted to the roof of one of the federal buildings and devoted an hour or two to rambling about in the broiling sun, peering into glass containers filled with such things as butter, salad oil, lard, potato chips, mayonnaise and other food products.
This particular scientist, Mayne R. Coe, of the federal bureau of chemistry and soils, was trying to find out something about rancidity in foods and what could be done about it. In the experiments, now concluded, he used different colored glass containers and flasks. Alongside each of the colored containers he had a check one of clear glass. He had butter in a grass-green container and butter in a clear glass container; lard in red or yellow container and lard in a clear container.
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Pyramid Plan sounds so much more innocent than Pyramid Scheme.
Starting Right Now—with the Perma-Glaze MILLION DOLLAR PYRAMID PLAN Just $3.00 Can Turn 1964 into the Year You Make a Real Fortune—as the Owner of YOUR OWN BUSINESS and a Brand New Rolls Royce Motor Car—without the necessity of Any Personal Selling—Ever Again!
There is still a way today that an ordinary person, lacking the necessary capital to start his own business, can earn the large yearly income he dreams about—with all the fine things in life that go with it! You can turn your hopes and dreams into visible reality— quickly . . . easily—with a tiny “peanut” investment—without risking your present job and without the necessity of ever selling again.
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