Technical World Redux

Have I mentioned lately how much I enjoy hundred-year-old Technical World Magazines?  They were  "published monthly by the American School of Correspondence at Armour Institute of Technology, Chicago, Ill, USA" and were  the forerunner of Popular Mechanics (1923).  They evidently came up with the style of doing  Inventions pages toward the back, where relatively feasible ideas were posted right along with total brain farts.

Still, I LOVE that uncritical optimism ☺, not to mention the oddness of what was included.  In the May, 1904 issue there's an article on modern battleships, as well as one called "The American Automobile--The History, Functions and Various Types of the Self-Propelled Vehicle, which has already demonstrated that it is destined to play as important a part as it's predecessor, the Bicycle, in the Evolution of Social and Business Life".  It's a lovely article, with photos, and it feels like the author is hedging his bets just in case this newfangled contraption never catches on...lol


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◄ In 1913, Great Northern RR was pretty proud of their newest locomotives, see?

Oh, and remember J. A. Dowie, the faith healer we researched back in early 2010?  If you were paying attention you'll remember he started a city in Illinois where his followers could live long holy lives undisturbed by the nasty outside world....By 1905, things weren't going so hot, according to this article►:




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Well, turns out automobiles were a success after all, and Technical World accepted ads for them.  Here's one from 1913, below on the left.

On the right, also in a 1913 edition of Technical World, there was an article reporting on measures that needed to be taken so train workers didn't die so often in the line of duty.
The article is of particular interest to us because Grandpa's younger brother Paul died in exactly the circumstances shown in the photos below.  He was working as a brakeman and was  only 20 when he was pinned between two cars.  He lived until the cars were pulled apart...the idea of which probably haunted Mary, his mom, for the rest of her life.

You'll have to click one of the links and peruse the magazine yourself.  The charm is in seeing things we're used to from their breathless point of view.









One more:  Hitting a deer is something that happens, and no one thinks it's unusual.  In 1908, tho, it was startling and gave a person pause...