Motorcycles on record albums, Living Strings play the Monkees

 Miniskirt, a Honda 90 and the Monkees, there's the sixties right there. 

"Living Strings" was a RCA Victor-created band for making easy listening cover tunes...

We used to make things in this country #374 DMP Minibikes

 Lots of manufacturers were getting involved in the motorized leisure market in the late sixties and early seventies. Delhi Metal Products produced a line of minibikes, this Rupp clone Trail-Champ has full suspension and the inclined Tecumseh motor with torque converter.

Delhi Metal Products was a supplier of fans for furnaces and air handling systems, also antennas and other metal products. The company was bought by a US company General Instrument in 1973 for the antenna business. I suspect that was the end of the minibike production.

Woodworking Machines in four languages

  Here's an interesting idea for a book. Definitely from a different era, it consists of 350 pages of examples of woodworking machines with descriptions and details in four languages, intended to make translations easier for salesmen and others in the industry. Lots of variety of manufacturers, most of the names are new to me.

H E Horten, Woodworking Machines in four languages, Holt Publishing, 1968

 

Scott Trivan

  In 1929 Scott motorcycles was working on an air cooled single cylinder 298cc engine to expand into the lightweight market. That motor was not a success but plans were already in the works to use that engine in a three wheel delivery van. A few prototypes were made and a company- S. A. V. Light cars was set up to market it but soon disappeared.

Jeff Clew, The Scott Motorcycle, The Yowling Two-stroke, G.T. Foulas & Co. 1974

 

Traveler

   Here's a minor little sharpening stone, sent to me a reader in New Jersey (thanks, Jay!). He said he had found this promotional item from a company in Brampton, Ontario (near Toronto) at a sale in New Jersey. It would be fun to learn how it actually ended about 540 miles away from home.

 We moved to a 10 digit phone number format in about 2001 so it must be at least 25 years old. The company seems to be still in business today.

 

Marion, Indiana, Dec 1958

 Found on dozens of Tumblrs and below, on Googlemaps in July 2023.

Sidecar Sunday

 

OW1 Poster 66, Office of war Information, Washington, 1943

GSXR-1100 auction find

 Hard to believe this thing is 40 years old, knocked us all for a loop when it was released. Missing some fairing pieces, but surprisingly complete otherwise.

Cleveland Discol gasoline

   Tetraethyl lead was introduced into gasoline as an antiknock additive in the 1920s, it made possible high compression engines, greatly improving efficiency and power.

  Discol gasoline was introduced in 1932 by the Cleveland Petroleum Company, using ethanol as the anti-knock additive. "Discol" was a contraction of the Distillers Company which produced the alcohol. Who knew that the additive would replace leaded gasoline 60 odd years later.

 

Fashion Friday

Vignacourt 14-18

 WW1 Australian soldier posing... I expect that is not a regulation uniform. 

Sandcasting Greeves frame components

Pretty labour intensive. Doesn't look like high volume production to me. Safety definitely not first but at least they're wearing gloves.

Previous post

Steam-powered embroidery

Those inventive Americans, National Geographic Magazine, 1971

 At a county fair in the 1970, a small steam engine is driving a sewing machine to embroider children's names on pieces of cloth for souvenirs. Apparently, the embroidery process is more interesting than a working steam engine.

Nicholson wrench

 

  Little implement wrenches like this show up all the time at antique stores, generally part of the tool kit supplied with agricultural equipment, in this case one of products that W. N. Nicholson and Sons of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire exported to Canada.

 The company was formed in 1825, as a malleable iron and steel foundry and according to Grace's Guides, they were still in business to at least 1960. Over the years they manufactured agricultural machinery and food mills of various kinds, also boilers, steam engines and stationary gas engines. 

Graces Guide

1960

Leon Lauthier Stayer

  In bicycle racing, Staying is an event where a bicyclist pedals in the slipstream of a pacer- a motorcycle or car- in an attempt to obtain high speeds without the problem of wind resistance.

   In 1924, Belgian Leon Vanderstruyft broke the existing speed record at Monthléry with a speed of 115 kph, which was the impetus for Frenchman Leon Lauthier to try to return the record to France.

  He built this 2400cc V twin stayer with aerodynamic aluminum bodywork for the attempt. Professional cyclist Jean Brunier was hired to ride the bicycle and on November 1 1925 they raised the world record to 120 kph. 

  Leon Lauthier continued building stayers and according to this site, there were at least 25 made.

Lovely little shooter

 

Ariel Leader, 1958

 Brand new in 1958, discontinued in 1965. Might have been better as a 350?

Model airplane display

Loc.gov

 Model airplanes decorate the ceiling of the train concourses at Union Station in Chicago, Feb 1943, signifying the huge number of airplanes required to win the war. Jack Delano photo.

Welding lesson

Jan '85 Classic Bike 

 The caption indicates that this a welding demonstration at the BSA factory in 1952. The Golden Flash plunger frame is lugged, meaning it's probably assembled in an brazing oven. I wonder what they would be adding with a torch. 

Sidecar Sunday

Suzuki power

 

Frazer & Jones

 

  I thought this was just another wrench from a long-gone 19th century agricultural equipment manufacturer, it's good to see that Frazer & Nash is still around casting iron in Syracuse, New York.

 From their site, the company was established in 1845 as Frazer & Benedict, became the Frazer & Jones Company in 1882 and was acquired by the current parent company, The Eastern Company in 1945.  Their business is medium to high volume castings less than 25 lb. No hulls for Sherman tanks or steam locomotive tender frames

I expect this wrench probably dates to their early days.

Hoffar homebuilt sea plane

 In 1917 Vancouver boatbuilders James and Henry Hoffar built this seaplane. Not too many details but it apparently flew successfully but was later destroyed when it hit a log in the water.

 From this experience, the boatbuilders acquired a contract to build a 2 seat flying boat to be used as a fire patrol craft. It also was successful on a few test flights, but suffered engine failure as it flew over the city. It crashed into the roof of a house and was destroyed. 

In 1929, Boeing acquired the Hoffar-Beeching yard and used it to build their seaplanes.

1927
Westendvancouver

First advertised wireless broadcast

Dame Nellie Melba, the famous Australian prima donna broadcasts from the Marconi works in Chelmsford England on June 15th 1920.

 Dramatization on Youtube. About 44 minutes in...

 

Steel castings

Flickr

 Locomotive 576, Nashvillesteam.org

Tank encyclopedia

I was recently catching up on the Pennsylvania Railroad T1 Trust steam engine reconstruction and noted that they are constructing the main frame as weldments instead of the original castings. I guess that makes sense, casting huge pieces of steel isn't as common as it used to be, the required strength of the frame can be determined by using FEA, the casting can be redesigned as a weldment. Pieces are laser cut and then welded together, no issues, it's a tried and true technology. But I remember reading about large (huge) castings being made more than a hundred years ago, whole 50 or 60 foot long steam locomotive or tender frames being cast in one piece, armour plate tank hulls cast in one piece... Those guys were massively skilled.

The Blitzen' Benz

   Fitted with a 21,504 cc four cylinder engine producing 200 hp at 1500 rpm, this car achieved a speed of 127 mph at Brooklands in 1909, piloted by Hector Hémery. A year later Barney Oldfield went even faster- 131.7 mph on the beach at Daytona.

 

Octave Chanute glider test

 A.M. Herring pilots a multi wing glider built by Octave Chanute in 1896. 

   Chanute, a railway engineer, became interested in flying after seeing a balloon flight in Peoria in 1856. When he retired from his career in 1883 he began studying flying, publishing a book Progress in Flying Machines in 1894.  He built a series of gliders and tested them on the dunes near Miller Beach. The Wright brothers corresponded with him for several years before they achieved powered flight in 1903.
 

Wood plane, section view

Peter Collinette, Woodworking school, Quill Pub. 1984

 I don't do a lot of plane posts, other sites do wood planes far better- people that know their planes, know their planes.

 But this is a nice cross section drawing for someone just learning...

1956 Cadillac ad

Let's gather around the pool, gowns by James Galanos

 

Morgan 3 Wheeler 2011- 2021

Powered by  a 2 litre S&S V twin coupled to a Mazda 5 speed transmission, I expect this thing is a lot of fun to drive. The replacement model featured a Miata motor.

Morgan 3