Here's a clever way of projecting the same movie onto several screens throughout a building using tubes, mirrors and multiple apertures:

It must be assumed that the average reader understands how a picture film passes through the projection machine. The "frames" –that is, each individual picture on the strip of film–are exposed momentarily before the aperture in the gate of the projection machine.

A secret fluid reported on in the pages of the June, 1931 ish of Modern Mechanix had the property of rendering your intestines "immune" to cuts from glass, allowing you to ingest any amount of broken crystalware with impunity.

EATING light bulbs, bottles and tumblers with relish is the amazing feat performed by "Professor" Paul Owen, of New York City.

Judging from the 1960 Mechanix Illustrated preview of the 1961 Detroit auto lineup, 61 was the year of the Batmobile. It's all bubble roofs, tailfins, huge anthropomorphic grilles, and go-faster curves.

So far as the standard lines are concerned, the biggest change for 1960 will be the virtual abandonment of fins by the finniest company–Chrysler.

This December 1929 Modern Mechanix article on paper folding fun must have really enlivened the early months of the Great Depression; I imagine average people sitting on upturned apple crates, doing this religion-tinted American origami with worthless stock-shares.

Among paper conjuring tricks, perhaps the most amusing is the "Passport" effect.

The "Your Sex Questions Answered" column in the January, 1959 issue of Sexology is a slightly depressing look at the sexual ignorance and general-screwed-upped-ness that grown adults suffered with in days of yore; things aren't great now, but at least most contemporary women probably know that getting plastic fallopian tubes installed won't cure your infertility. — Read the rest

From the July, 1950 issue of Mechanix Illustrated, a glorious collection of kids' toys — some you might find today, but others no contemporary corporate lawyer would approve:

Atomic Lab Set. shown at the American Toy Fair in New York, has cloud chamber that makes visible the paths taken by speeding alpha particles, a Geiger counter, and a screen that shows the break-up of radio-active material.

The June 1935 issue of Popular Mechanics had an article called "The HOUSE that RUNS ITSELF," and it describes a cutting-edge, supermodern house of the age of marvels. The house in question is so marvellous because it contains all the basic stuff we now take for granted and it's kind of wonderful to hear it described with all this breathless excitement:

Imagine, if you can, the delight of the woman who steps into her "ready made" house and finds the kitchen already equipped with electric refrigerator, dishwasher, sink, electric or gas stove, built-in clock, abundant cupboard space–and even a two-day supply of groceries on the shelves.

From the Oct, 1947 Popular Science, an ad for a glow-in-the-dark "strip tease" necktie whose "glorious, gleaming blonde beauty" is chastely clothed in a formal gown by day, but who reveals herself to be an eerily glowing bathing beauty in a beefy one-piece suit when the darkness is summoned. — Read the rest

Here's another anti-pest doorbell like the one I posted about in 2006. The bell will not ring unless a dime is inserted into the slot.

(Thanks Felipe Li!)

Booze fanciers struck a satirical blow in 1930 with this bottle opener shaped like a grumpy prohibitionist with a corkscrew up his ass: "THE inventor of the combination bottle opener and cork screw, 'Old Snifty,' shown in the photo at the left, must have had a strong sense of humor, for he puts the image of the advocates of prohibition to work at setting the much-hated joy-water to flowing. — Read the rest

Mostly, I'm just blogging this because, hell, we should all have this on our hard drive somewhere — I mean, what if a repressive regime tried to suppress news of this amazing technology? We need a lot of local caches of this bitmap so we can Streisand Effect it to hell and back. — Read the rest

Many, dataviz was a lot more delicious in the olden times: "THE annual consumption of ice cream, America's favorite dish, is now 180,000,000 gallons, says the Department of Agriculture. We have pictured this amount at the right; the can that would hold it would tower above Liberty's head. — Read the rest

These Burroughs Sensimatic savings can be yours (Mar, 1956)

The tantalyzingly named "Secular Products" asked readers of the January, 1960 issue of Inside Story: "Do you want power?"

Power to make you victorious in all you undertake? Power to make people admire you? Power to earn money? Power to gain popularity-love?

This December, 1929 continuing education ad from Modern Mechanix tells men that their neighbors are secretly shaking their heads in pity for their wives because of their paltry paychecks — a mere two months after the Black Friday crash of 1929. — Read the rest

This 1954 HOWTO from Mechanix Illustrated invites the reader to take apart the family TV set to make a remote-controlled mute button (called a "SHADDAP") (!). Remember, Zenith's first TV remote control was decried by the broadcasters as a tool of piracy, because it made it too easy to switch away from the commercials:

ARE some of those long-winded commercials spoiling your TV pleasure?

Looking on this fake hypnotism ad from the December, 1930 ish of Modern Mechanix I'm forced to wonder if the spam really is stupider and uglier and less stylish now, or whether we'll be looking at Canadian Pharmacy splogs and spims in 80 years with nostalgic admiration. — Read the rest

Though the actual text of this Sept, 1979 Scientific American advert for the Champion International Corporation is pretty tepid, the illustration and headline, "The Future is coming. Are you ready?" are pure goofy futurist gold.

The Future is coming. Are you ready? — Read the rest

From the November, 1959 issue of Mechanix Illustrated, a delightful foursome of new inventions, including a wristwatch/tape measure; a vibrating car-seat; a two-seat personal gyro-glider and a revolutionary paper boiler-suit: "ROLL this strikingly unusual Swiss-made jeweled-lever wristwatch on any standard scale map and you can measure the distance in miles or kilometers. — Read the rest

From 1955 issues of Scientific American: Three ads for advanced weapons systems from Ford, featuring a cuddly teddy bear and toy soldier duo. Click here to see the full, uncropped version of the ad above. I like how the teddy bear is riding the torpedo Slim-Pickens-style, á la Dr. — Read the rest