Saturday, October 04, 2003
Oldies but Goodies
A friend gave me a few old Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines that date from the early to mid 1950s. They are great to look at. What is amazing is how much things have and haven't changed in the last 50 years.
Some of the ads could have been taken from last month's issue. There was stuff about learning at home and getting a easy home job that would earn $1000s per month. Great ways to improve your mind, your waistline, your mileage, and your sex appeal. Other ads are a little more dated; hair tonics and lotions, shorthand, clock repair, mail-order pistols.
The prices can be fun and surprising as well. From what I could tell, back in the early 50s, $4,000 annual salary was pretty darn good. With that in mind, car tires could be had for $7 or $9 but a skill 1/4" drill was $30. A Porter-Cable circular saw was $95 and a Dremel electric sander would cost you $25. It seems Dremel was really pushing sanders, I haven't seen any ads for the small rotor grinder they're known for now. And oh yeah, you could get Lincoln convertible for just over $4000.
Some of the news articles were cool too. One editorial wondered about the staying power of GM's new Corvette and one scientist was virtually promising cheap fusion power by 1975. Radiation was big back then in the hot cold war. Several plans for Geiger counters and lots of articles about atomic powered ships and planes. There was even a picture of a B-29 with a reactor on board that wasn't used for power, but "was used to test the effects on the crew." One big deal was made of the fact that cars were going to low, wide profile 14" tires.
Letters to the editor are pretty much as they are now. Folks complaining about big clumsy American cars versus small nimble European cars or about big safe strong American cars versus small death trap European cars. One guy was ranting about those new fangled electronic turn signals that no one seemed to turn off which was followed closely by an ad for a modern plug-in cigarette lighter that was guaranteed to fit most 6 volt cars. Mileage was a surprisingly common thread in letters and articles. How to improve it and what this car got compared to that car.
The OSHA folks would have a fit looking at some of the pictures. There was a photo of a GM automobile paint booth in operation with an operator near by with nary a mask or respirator. Harley was pushing their new 1953 bike with a guy and his girl friend cruising down the road with out a hint of safety gear. One author talked about how well his Zippo lighter worked in one of the new turbo prop airliners and of course just about any how-to article involving heat made good use of asbestos cloth.
The first magazine I looked at had a small steam engine how-to-build article that I want to try out and some of the hints and tips are just as good now as they were 50 years ago. How to make a fence post puller or set up a plane or scraper is still handy, however typewriter hints and how to test a $900!! color television by switching tubes have pretty much passed their prime.
All in all, looking these over is a great way to spend a few hours.
2fers Popular Science and Popular Mechanics
A friend gave me a few old Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines that date from the early to mid 1950s. They are great to look at. What is amazing is how much things have and haven't changed in the last 50 years.
Some of the ads could have been taken from last month's issue. There was stuff about learning at home and getting a easy home job that would earn $1000s per month. Great ways to improve your mind, your waistline, your mileage, and your sex appeal. Other ads are a little more dated; hair tonics and lotions, shorthand, clock repair, mail-order pistols.
The prices can be fun and surprising as well. From what I could tell, back in the early 50s, $4,000 annual salary was pretty darn good. With that in mind, car tires could be had for $7 or $9 but a skill 1/4" drill was $30. A Porter-Cable circular saw was $95 and a Dremel electric sander would cost you $25. It seems Dremel was really pushing sanders, I haven't seen any ads for the small rotor grinder they're known for now. And oh yeah, you could get Lincoln convertible for just over $4000.
Some of the news articles were cool too. One editorial wondered about the staying power of GM's new Corvette and one scientist was virtually promising cheap fusion power by 1975. Radiation was big back then in the hot cold war. Several plans for Geiger counters and lots of articles about atomic powered ships and planes. There was even a picture of a B-29 with a reactor on board that wasn't used for power, but "was used to test the effects on the crew." One big deal was made of the fact that cars were going to low, wide profile 14" tires.
Letters to the editor are pretty much as they are now. Folks complaining about big clumsy American cars versus small nimble European cars or about big safe strong American cars versus small death trap European cars. One guy was ranting about those new fangled electronic turn signals that no one seemed to turn off which was followed closely by an ad for a modern plug-in cigarette lighter that was guaranteed to fit most 6 volt cars. Mileage was a surprisingly common thread in letters and articles. How to improve it and what this car got compared to that car.
The OSHA folks would have a fit looking at some of the pictures. There was a photo of a GM automobile paint booth in operation with an operator near by with nary a mask or respirator. Harley was pushing their new 1953 bike with a guy and his girl friend cruising down the road with out a hint of safety gear. One author talked about how well his Zippo lighter worked in one of the new turbo prop airliners and of course just about any how-to article involving heat made good use of asbestos cloth.
The first magazine I looked at had a small steam engine how-to-build article that I want to try out and some of the hints and tips are just as good now as they were 50 years ago. How to make a fence post puller or set up a plane or scraper is still handy, however typewriter hints and how to test a $900!! color television by switching tubes have pretty much passed their prime.
All in all, looking these over is a great way to spend a few hours.
2fers Popular Science and Popular Mechanics
