Remembrance day

 

London Auto Co.

 This company seems to have been more of an assembler than a manufacturer. Once again, not a lot of information online.

Monday Mystery; Bottle opener

This little item was sent to me as an unknown, Gratis means "free" so possibly was a giveaway for something? The label would suggest it had been made in Amsterdam but can anyone identify the logo?

 

A triumph of scaffolding

  Cantilevered out from the Manhattan side pier, the Queensborough Bridge is being extended across the East River, with the help of some epic scaffolding. The bridge was planned in 1901 and completed  in 1909.

Sidecar Sunday

 

End of the line

 

   The two foot gauge Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington locomotive #8 derailed in Whitefield on June 15 1933. Business was so poor the company didn't bother to rescue it. By 1937 the railway's locomotive, cars and rail had been cut up and sold for scrap.

 

Silk engine section view

 The Silk motorcycle was based on the long running water cooled two stroke Scott Flying Squirrel. Unfortunately, it was in production for only 4 years, ending in 1979. I had no luck finding a Scott engine section view for comparison. 

Update; I've added images of a disassembled Silk engine and the left side of the engine. (Thanks Jon!)

Also below; added a couple exploded Scott engine drawings. showing the overhung crank throws, and the dual chain primary drive. 

Scott technicalities
https://scotttechnicalities.com.au/

Generator assembler

Another picture from National Geographic 

 1950's worker strikes heroic 1930s worker pose as he tightens jam nuts on a large stator.

Honda CM200T

 The lowly "Tinstar". In a time of 5 and 6 speed sporty 400 twins, Honda made these "custom styled" 4 speed, single carb bikes first in 175cc, then in 200 when I guess they realized they could barely maintain the speed limit. A beginner bike that outlived its usefulness by about the 3rd ride. And they still turn up in good shape.

1952 Golden Anniversary Cadillac

Another pretentious lifestyle Cadillac ad from the 1950s. No beautiful people in gowns and tuxedos this time but we'll throw in a gratuitous picture of an expensive necklace in a rustic setting. Jewels from Van Cleef and Arpel, still around today.

William Marples Brace

Truly a thing of beauty.  Terry found this brace in a local shop, I'm not sure how he could have left it there. Marples has a great history section on their site, find out more about this tool here.

Thanks, Terry!

Another disappeared motorcycle magazine

 I have several issues of this magazine from the mid eighties. This one is volume 5 so I'd guess that's 5 years of life at least... Nothing online that I could find, but  The editor was Mick Walker, author of many motorcycle books but I don't recognize the rest of the staff. Wonder what happened to it?

L'Albatros motocyclettes

  Not much information available but they seem to have been in business from only about 1907 till 1912. The single and twin-cylinder engines were sourced from Givaudan.

Morgan maintenance

Remember, safety is overrated...

When pigs fly

  In response to the old adage, 'When pigs fly!"  J.T.C. Moore-Brabazon takes a pig named Icarus II  for a flight on Nov 4 1909. Neither of them seem to be enjoying it.

 

Safari Toronto

 Cars in the 'hood. Here is a Land Cruiser station wagon fully outfitted for the wilds of the urban streets, I expect someone has imported this lovely old truck from parts unknown.  It's a very basic model, there aren't even seatbelts for the bench seats in the back. 

Another job you may not want to do; Making billiard balls

 

Making celluloid billiard balls at the Albany Billiard Ball Co. (late 19th C)

 Previously made from ivory,  celluloid was developed in the 1860s and was the material of choice for billiard balls till the 1980s when phenolics replaced it. I'm curious about that, bakelite were patented in 1909 and no one got around to trying the material for balls for 70 years?

Sidecar Sunday

Basic wooden structure of a 1950s wooden sidecar by Watsonian.

Velocette in 1960

 

Andree basin wrench

datamp.org

We probably all have a cheap chintzy basin wrench that does the job just fine when occasionally needed but doesn't this old Andree wrench just look so much more business-like?

 

Happy Halloween

From Kladderadatsch, 1931.

 Kladderdatsch was a satirical journal published in Germany from 1848 till 1944.

 No idea what the context of this sketch is, but it looks enough like Halloween to use it here.

Westinghouse ultraviolet tubes

 The fluorescent tube lighting system was introduced in 1938 by GE. The next year the 4 foot tube was released, it became the industry standard. Eighty five years later, fluorescent is still spelled incorrectly by about 50% of the population.

  In 1950, Westinghouse introduced this healthy ultraviolet tube to fit the same system. 

Know your twistgrips...

 From top, Amal screw-pull, second- same with air lever, drum type and a rack and pinion design. And yes, this will be on the test...

Below, Honda 90, BMW  

                                              

                             

                            Twistgrip Patent US765138

Planes in formation, Typhoon Mk 1-B

56 Squadron, March 1943

#2 Alligator wrench

Just another alligator wrench, but I don't recognize the logo.

 

Motorcycles Automoto

c.1930, Max Ponty (1904-1972).

https://encycloduvelo.fr/automoto/

 

Horse and buggy cast iron

 Decorative clevis for hitching a horse harness to a wagon.

Coveted jobs of the past

National Geographic Magazine, Dec. 1950

  

Mailman for the lake boats, sounds like a rather nice way to spend a work day.
 

No better name for a motorcycle

  In 1931 bicycle manufacturer P.J. Meijer offered a variety of motorcycle models under the None Better marque, all of which were re-badged British machines from Wolf and Sun. The name was short-lived, a year or two later, they were called New Rapid.

Snatch block evolution

    One of my ongoing projects involves moving furniture-sized rocks with a pulley/cable system. Years ago I acquired a heavy duty (supposedly) military-surplus pulley. It incorporated an ingenious latch system to allow a quick insertion of the cable. Tip the big hook 90 degrees to unlatch a link, drop the cable in and reverse the process to use the system.

 Recently I needed to get a second pulley and ended up on Amazon for the 30 ton snatch block shown here. It does what the previous one did but with a much simpler mechanism, using just three parts (one used twice) and a circlip. I think it's brilliant, but maybe I just impress easily.