.English Timetableria
Press a button for any trip you desire, and the proper timetable card drops out, in the Southern Railway station, London.(Keystone)
Tag "signs"
Issue: Aug, 1935
Posted in: Trains
Posted: 12/13/2012
2 Comments on English Timetableria (Aug, 1935)
.AN ELECTRIC KALEIDOSCOPE
By MERRILL M. HUNTING
HE thrills of pleasure that came to us in our childhood, as we gazed at the ever changing beauties of the kaleidoscope are vividly recalled to our memory by a recent achievement in electric sign construction.
.Million – Dollar “Spectacular” World’s Biggest Advertisement
TIMES SQUARE, where the Gay White Way bursts into volcanic illumination, has seen many electric moving signs — “spectaculars” they call them—since these were invented. A quarter-century ago, the Chariot Race (from Ben Hur) blazed down on the square. Its latest record-breaking acquisition is pitched at a slower-moving, good-natured tempo, in accordance with the mood of its “prospects.”
.MAGIC OF NEON SIGN MAKING SHOWN IN PICTURES
HOW NEON LIGHTS ARE MADE. The story of the strange new light, invented by Georges Claude, French engineer, told in photos.
FIRST STEP IN MAKING A NEON SIGN. An artist draws a design which includes lettering and decoration, and this design is then enlarged to desired size so tubes can be right dimensions.
SHAPING THE HOT TUBES. With the artist’s design laid upon sheet asbestos, the tubes for the neon sign are heated and then quickly laid in place upon the design and bent to fit it.
What I find interesting about this is, was this just a test sign? Or did people really used to go into a gas station and shop for gasoline by brand?
.Simple Device Makes Signs Instantly Interchangeable
WITH the price of gasoline changing almost daily, station attendants will welcome the new metal sign system, shown on the left, which allows price notices to be changed in a jiffy—without altering the sign’s neatness.
The name plate is equipped with a bracket which slips over the metal post and is clamped tight. The lower edge of this plate is bent to provide a flat sleeve and a longitudinal slot. Price plates have a flat, solid head which slides into this slot and is locked by pressure.
.ELECTRIC MAP ANSWERS QUESTIONS
AN ELECTRIC map now automatically aids motorists seeking travel information at the headquarters of the Automobile Club of Southern California. At the touch of a button, the mileage to any of 1,000 points within the state flashes from an electrical panel in luminous green figures, while a bright red spot indicates the location of the place upon a map twelve feet high.
I live in Portland, on Morrison St. actually, but I’ve never seen one of these.
.Street Signs Will Aid Tourists
MOTORISTS need no longer crane their necks or flash on their spotlights at night attempting to discern a street’s name tacked high on a lamp post. At least motorists in Portland, Oregon, will not have to, for that city has adopted a means of showing tlie name of a street at the bottom of the posts where a person in a car may easily see it.
Not only is it placed in a favorable position, but the name of the street is flashed on and off automatically by small electric lights in the metal case. It is clamped firmly to the sidewalk and connection is made with the lamp post. These lighted street signs will be of great value to tourists.
.Skywriters see it this way
They spell from right to left and make words that are 15 miles long.
SO YOU have a new pen that writes under water, a pen that writes for three years without a refill, and never leaks. Kid stuff!
I know a bunch of guys that write with a gadget that can make letters a mile high, write a word 15 miles long that’s visible for 40 miles, and can write 15 miles of letters in 20 minutes.
Yes, I’m talking about “sky scribblers,” the smoke writers. It all started back in 1922 on England’s Derby Day at Epsom Downs. Everything was going along as dignified as usual with King George and Queen Mary there to add a bit more tone to the affair. Suddenly some chap glanced upward at the sky, clutched his ascot and yelped, “Blyme, look there now, it’s bloomin’ writin’ in the sky!”—and thereby began a unique industry, Skywriting.
.Mirror Delivers Sales Talk To All Who Pause Before It
THE universal appeal of the mirror has long been recognized by advertising men as an effective medium for attracting attention to their message but it was left to an enterprising inventor to perfect the talking mirror. With his device the mirror delivers a sales talk the moment someone pauses before it.
The talking mirror is intended for installation in department stores, but it can be used outside with equal effectiveness. An electric relay system swings into operation the moment anyone interrupts an electric eye to scan himself in the innocent appearing mirror. The relay starts an automatic phonograph and amplifier and a brief sales talk is delivered.
.Portable Neon Sign
Going the sandwich sign one better, a portable neon sign is the newest idea in advertising in Tokyo. The sign, powered by a small battery, will remain lighted for several hours.