Another job you wouldn't want to do: Painting the Brooklyn Bridge 1930's

Herbert R. Simonds.  Finishing Metal Products.  New York:  
McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1935.

Little British Cars (and one Italian) in 1967

"Popular-priced cars, and all value for money.
Top:  The Mini De Luxe.  All Minis are now made with Hydrolastic suspension.
Centre left:  Small though the Mini is, it is very sturdy, and can carry a roof rack, or even a boat, as seen here.
Centre right:  The Triumph Herald, a design which has been most successful, and produced for some years now.  Its popular characteristic is its very small turning circle.  This Herald has had a sunshine roof fitted, which can now be fitted to most cars.
Bottom left:  The Riley Elf, another version of the Mini, but it retains its familiar Riley radiator shell.
Bottom right:  The Italian 500 c.c. Fiat which is very popular not only in Italy but elsewhere in Europe."

S.C.H. Davis. Cars Cars Cars Cars.  London:  Paul Hamlyn, 1967.

We used to make things in this country #48. Northern Electric in Wartime

Yamaha XJ650 Midnight Special

Yamaha introduced the Midnight Special series of customs in 1980 as a restyling of their Custom line. They were well received by the motorcycling community and 30 years later, here's one in the neighbourhood doing daily service...minus it's rustprone stock exhaust.

Street Rod 1953

1963 Edition.

Discussing one of Felsen's earlier books, Hot Rod, one reviewer had the following to say:

"Although author Henry Gregor Felsen was not a master novelist, he was good. Unintendedly, he wrote a time capsule that captured a unique era in Americana and in our car culture. The War was over and the country was prospering. Car ownership, with its joys and hazards, was becoming accessible to almost all teenagers. This was truly the dawn of the "hot rod" culture, and indeed this title of Felsen's novel was not a household word at the time.

Felsen documents the spotlights, white steering wheels, and squirrel tails that adorned the early rods. The multi-carbs, straight pipes, and 3-speed stick shifts. And the jargon that now sounds so dated, but was so out front at the time. The machines were incredibly simple by today's measure, but even then there was a sort of priesthood of those few boys/men that knew how they worked and could make them run (I intentionally exclude the feminine gender, because that's how it was. Though I never met one, I suppose there were exceptions, just as there is the occasional two-headed cow)."

For another fan's viewpoint, visit Pop Void.

Can bombers be used to heat houses?

The World Book Encyclopedia.  Chicago:  Field Enterprises Educational Corporation, 1971.

Another job you wouldn't want to do: Assembling TV consoles

Louis V. Newkirk, Ph.D.,  General Shop for Everyone.  Boston:  D.C. Heath & Company, 1952, 1959.

Locomotive snow plough

Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario, Smiths Falls.

Blisworth Tunnel

Below, two photos of the Blisworth Tunnel on the Grand Junction Canal in England.  It's 2813 meters long and was completed in 1805.  Note that there are no towpaths for pulling the barges.

Barges were moved through the tunnel by "leggers."  One old boatman described it thus:

"Legging?  We put the boards out on each side of the boat at the front, and fastened them there.  Then we skipped a half sack of corn under as a cushion, see, and just walked our way along the sides of the tunnel, inside.  'Arecastle, that is, weaving our feet over each other, lying half sideways all the time.  We just kept on walking!  It took us about two hours and a half, and very damp it was too.  Dripping damp and dark."

From Roger Watson.  Focus on History.  The Transport Revolution.  London:  Longman Group Ltd., 1971.

Allstate Motorcycle Model 810.94222

From the Sears service manual for the 250cc Puch "Twingle" sold through the department stores in the early-mid 1960s. Pretty exciting to order your motorcycle through the Sears catalog and have it delivered to your door in a big wooden crate. These are the first few pages of the manual. Unfortunately, these bikes were dated and couldn't compete with the offerings from Japan.