1920s
Testing Cab Drivers
Back in the 1920s, one Chicago cab company had some interesting tests it required its drivers to take. One was a "strength trial for the arms" in which the driver had to hold down a spring with his outstretched arm for as long as he could. There was also a psychological test:Perhaps Uber should consider similar tests for its drivers.
Sedalia Democrat - June 15, 1926
Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 27, 2018 -
Comments (7)
Category: Jobs and Occupations, 1920s, Cars
Mystery Gadget 67
What's going on here?
The answer is at the link.
Or after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 17, 2018 -
Comments (5)
Category: Science, 1920s
Gasmask Testers
This was obviously before the creation of OSHA, or its British equivalent.
Los Angeles Times - Oct 21, 1927
Harrisburg Evening News - Nov 1, 1927
Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 10, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Jobs and Occupations, 1920s
Artwork Khrushchev Probably Would Not Have Liked 16
Xul Solar, "San P," 1923
I think we should just nominate Xul Solar as someone whose entire output would have displeased our Soviet realist.
More images here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 09, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, 1920s, Russia
The Anti-Dancing Devil
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 19, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Antisocial Activities, Costumes and Masks, 1920s, Dance
Vital Power Vacuum Massager
A questionable medical device widely advertised in the early twentieth century.The article "Two Millennia of Impotence Cures" details some similar "equally flawed" devices including "the Erector-Sleigh, Gassensche Spirale, Gerson’s Constriction Bandage, and Virility, a double cylinder connected to a bellows to produce a vacuum."
If the Vital Power Vacuum Massager cost $15 in 1921, that would be around $500 today.
Jackson Daily News - Oct 30, 1921
via National Library of Medicine
Posted By: Alex - Sat Aug 25, 2018 -
Comments (6)
Category: Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, 1920s
Making a silk purse from a sow’s ear
Back in 1921, the chemist Arthur D. Little took it upon himself to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Or rather, he figured out a way to produce a silk-like thread out of sows' ears and wove a purse from this.Actually, he made two purses. The Smithsonian has one of them. MIT now has the other. (Little was an MIT grad).
The picture of the purse (below) looks nothing like the illustration of it. I wonder what happened. Did the dye fade, or something?
More info: MIT Museum, MIT Library
Pittsburgh Press - Dec 28, 1975
Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 19, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Science, 1920s
Mystery Illustration 74
This young lass is delighted to be offering an armful of potatoes to someone. Who and why? PS: They are not the product of her personal horticultural skills.
The answer is here.
And after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 17, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Food, 1920s
Lota Cheek
Apparently Lota Cheek was her real name.She was the daughter of Georgia farmer Leon Cheek. After winning a beauty contest in 1921, in which she was declared America's prettiest girl, she became a successful actress in New York City. In 1922, she was involved in a scandalous divorce case (her husband was simultaneously married to another woman). By 1925, she had remarried and took the name of her new husband, Sanders. The last record I can find of her is from 1927, when she was featured in an ad for Colgate toothpaste.
Wilmington Morning News - Jun 15, 1922
Baltimore Sun - Dec 8, 1927
Posted By: Alex - Wed May 30, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Odd Names, 1920s, Actors
Puzzle devotees throng reading room
Crossword puzzles first became a fad in the 1920s, and immediately created a problem for libraries as puzzle devotees thronged reading rooms, putting a strain on library services, wearing out the various reference books, and generally being a nuisance to regular patrons of the library.
The Wilmington Evening Journal - Apr 13, 1925
Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 21, 2018 -
Comments (4)
Category: Games, Libraries, 1920s
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