Building airspeed indicators, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1942

W.A.B. Douglas & Brereton Greenhous.  Out of the Shadows.  Canada in the Second World War.  Oxford University Press, 1977.

The "Abegweit"

Donald Putnam (Editor).  Canadian Regions.  A Geography of Canada.  J.M. Dent & Sons (Canada) Ltd., 1952.

With her name taken from the Mi'kmaq word for Prince Edward Island, Epekwit'k, meaning "cradled (or cradle) on the waves," the Abegweit was designed by German & Milne of Montreal and launched in 1946 at the Marine Industries Limited shipyard in Sorel, Quebec.  At the time of her commissioning, she was the most powerful icebreaker in the world and, with a length of 113 meters and displacement of 7000 tons, was at one time the heaviest vessel ever constructed in Canada.  (The Cecon Pride, now the Micoperi Pride, launched in 2013 at the historic Davie Shipyard in Lévis, Quebec, is bigger, at 130 metres and 10,000 DWT.) Affectionately known as the "Abby", she remained in service until 1982.  She was saved from the wreckers through a wonderful quirk of fate.  The Columbia Yacht Club had been refused a permit to build a clubhouse on the Chicago waterfront.  To get around this, they bought the Abby to serve as a floating clubhouse. She remains in that role to this day, still with her original name and colours

The evolution of service stations

I.B. Wingate, K.R. Gillespie & B.G. Milgrom.  Know Your Merchandise.  For Retailers & Consumers.  Fourth Edition.  McGraw-Hill Book Co., Gregg & Community College Division, 1944, 1975.

Adam Hats enameled signs, 1937

J.E. Hansen (Editor).  A Manual of Porcelain Enameling.  Published for the Ferro Enamel Corporation by The Enamelist Publishing Company, 1937.

At its height, Adam Hats had around 90 retail locations in the U.S.  The signs above would have been for authorized agents, department stores not owned or operated by the company.  

From 1944-1945, the company sponsored a spooky radio program entitled The Strange Dr. Weird. You can listen to many of the old episodes on the Internet Archive.

With the introduction of the Mercury Cougar in late 1966, Adam Hats produced a "Cougar"-styled hat which contained a small Mercury Cougar emblem on the band of the fedora.

Engine change

An Army Air Corps Boeing P-12 gets an engine change out on the grass.

Another job you wouldn't want to do: Heaving on the capstans

Garth Griffiths, Boating in Canada, U of T Press, 1966

Weighing anchor.

Urich's best spoke wrench

Is this really the best he could do?

Anyway, it was a product of the B. Urich Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which seems to have specialized in bicycle tools.

You can see a photo of his shop at Milwaukee Historic Photos.

Parts of a radio receiver, 1954

The New Wonder Book Cyclopedia of World Knowledge.  Volume X.  International Press, 1954.

Newfoundland Railway Locomotive #1024, 1948

From the A.R. Penney Collection. Courtesy of Harry Cuff Publications.

The last of 30 Mikado-type steam locomotives built for the Newfoundland Railway by the Montreal Locomotive Company. It was scrapped by CN in 1957.

First Air Mail flight, April 6 1926

Pilot Leon D. Cuddeback stands in front of the Swallow biplane used on the first US air mail flight, run by Varney Air Lines. 

Smith & Wesson .38 Military & Police Revolver Model No. 10

Monte Burch.  Gun Care and Repair.  Winchester Press, 1978.

Since it's introduction in 1899, some 6 million examples have been produced, making this model the most popular centre-fire revolver of the 20th Century. Even Hermann Goering kept one for personal protection, although it didn't do him much good.

Westinghouse Space-Mate

Source:  Super

How to Make Plumbing Repairs.  Fawcett Book No. 320.  Greenwich, CT:  Fawcett Publications, 1957.

Apparently, nothing made a 1950's woman happier than a new washing machine.

1907 Fiat F-2

Gianni Marin, The Motor Car, London House and Maxwell 1963

The FIAT F-2  was built for the French Grand Prix, which did not restrict engine displacement, rather they chose fuel consumption as a limit. Cars had to deliver at least 9.4 miles per gallon. 
Fiat chose a 4 cylinder 16,277 cc (627 cu in) engine producing 110 hp at a mere 1000 rpm. The car won the race, averaging 70.5 mph.

Ariel Square 4 Mk 1

photos by Alvin

Telescopic forks came in after the war and the alloy engine was introduced in 1949.

Guys, Gals and Guns...

How to Make Plumbing Repairs.  Fawcett Book No. 320.  Greenwich, CT:  Fawcett Publications, 1957.

Advertised on the back page of a 1957 DIY book on plumbing repairs. The end of the pulp fiction era. "Brute in Brass"?  "Knee-Deep in Death"?  Who wrote these book titles?

Stickleback drill router & Beaver Speed Saw drill bits

These German-made "Stickleback" drill files turn up from time to time in my neck of the woods.  

Popular Science, November 1956

August 1958

The same kind of drill was also offered by other manufacturers, like the Beaver Speed Saw drill bits advertised below (and which, unlike the Stickleback offerings, could be used on metal).

The Family Handyman, May 1955

The Beaver Drill & Tool Company was founded in Kansas City 60 years ago, and is still around today as a family-run industrial distributor.

Sidecar Sunday

Barber Vintage Museum

SS Prince Edward Island

John Edward Belleveau, Iceboats to Superferries, An Illustrated History of Marine Atlantic Marine 1992

The rail ferry SS Prince Edward Island introduced year round steamboat service to the island province, thereby fulfilling a 45 year old Confederation promise. The ship served on the Cape Tormentine NB to Borden, PEI run from 1917 till 1968.

Radio Station, St. Johns, Newfoundland, 1961

St Johns.  North America's Oldest City.  Newfoundland Tourist Development Office, August 1961.

The Sidewheeler Kingston, c. 1905

Marine Museum of the Great Lakes, Kingston

The Kingston was built at the turn of the century for the Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Company.  She plied the waters between Prescott, Kingston and Toronto.  After 48 years in service, she last sailed in 1949, just a few days after the disaster of the Noronic.

1958 Ariel square four

photo by Alvin

One of the last... production ended in 1959 with 3838 of the Mark II having been built since 1953.

Still the fastest....

Built to compete in the Schneider cup, the Machhi Castoldi MC72  with a 2500-3000 hp Fiat V24 achieved 440 mph on Oct 23 1934. At the time it was an absolute speed record, but still remains today as the speed record for piston engine seaplanes.

Black & Decker Gripmate

I recently picked up a Gripmate, still in its original box.  Made in Brockville, Ontario.  Production in that location ended in 1998:  see my previous post.

Even the carton was made in Canada (in Pembroke, Ontario) by the Abitibi Paper Company!  (Abitibi products were once so ubiquitous in this country that wooden matches were sometimes generically referred to as "Abitibi Ronsons." ) Not anymore--in 1989 Abitibi was sold to the Stone Container Corporation of Chicago, and then the firms were combined with the Greenville, South Carolina firm of Bowater to become AbitibiBowater in 2007.  In 2012, the company became Resolute Forest Products.  

I think it would be entertaining to perform Mullen Tests!

Below, the original registration form, never completed by the first purchaser.  It was even printed in Canada! From a day when people still owned 1/4" capacity electric drills.  Even back then, companies were eager for more information on consumers that they were entitled to.

Anyway, here's the tool.  It's designed to be used with the Black & Decker Workmate:

The orange "adaptor bushings" are frequently missing from these tools when people buy them second-hand. Like the Gripmate itself, they're no longer available. Absent these bushings, the clamp is pretty much useless.  With a little work, you could make a substitute out of plastic, so I present the dimensions below for anyone who cares to take a go at this project.  (If it were me, I'd make it out of 1-1/4" nylon round stock, turning it down to .780 and leaving a larger 1-1/4" diameter and 1/4" thick circular lip at the top. (There's no need for the top to be square, as in the original design.) Step the bottom half inch down to 3/4" and cut a coarse thread, so you can use a nut to secure it to the Workmate in place of the two spring clips. Then drill the centre hole 11/32" or .3437" (or use an S-size drill at .3480") and open it up rectangular and to size with a square file.)

Below, the first page of the clamp's original instructions.  I've uploaded a copy here:  Gripmate Instructions.

You can also find a copy on the DeWalt site, when the tool was renamed the Workmate Clamp.

Studebaker assembly line, 1942

The New Educator Encyclopedia.  Toronto:  General Press Service, 1942.

Datsun Fairlady

photos by Alvin

The Datsun Fairlady (1968-1970) was known as the Datsun 2000 Roadster on this continent. "Datsun saves" was their slogan , introduced during the oil crisis of the early seventies.

Eli Whitney

Not just cotton engines... After the invention of the cotton gin failed to bring him prosperity, Eli Whitney turned to manufacturing muskets for the US government. He developed the idea of interchangable repeatable parts in an assembly, basically setting the stage for mass production. 

Row, row, row your bike...

Collection Georges Sirot, Paris

This seems to have been a popular training method at one point.  See my previous post:  Row Cycle.

Gulfpride, 1965

The Gulf brand disappeared in 1985.