Nothing makes for better reading than white men, savages and explosives.
Read the story here.
The experts predicted that the man vs. horse tug-of-war organized in Waterloo, Oregon back in 1947 would be no contest at all. The man, 225-pound Chester Fitzwater, was lying on the ground, his feet braced against a wood block. To win, he simply had to remain in place for three minutes. The horse, Big Baldy, was said not to have a chance.
Scientists Favor Man
Dr. Raymond T. Ellickson, physics professor at Reed College in Portland, estimated 1900-pound Baldy would have to exert about 16,000 pounds worth of effort to up-end Fitzwater.
Ellickson figured it would take a 3000-pound pull just to get the long rope taut, and then Baldy would have only an angle of 1 degree from the horizontal to pull against.
Other scientists advised about the same, and an even more discouraging report—for old Baldy—came from rope dealers. They said the one-inch rope would break at approximately 9000 pounds of pull—far short of the 16,000 Dr. Ellickson believes necessary.
It took about a second for Big Baldy to prove the experts wrong. As soon as the rope tightened, "Fitzwater lurched into the air, knocked over a photographer and some spectators, and crashed into the mud."
Several other brawny men subsequently challenged the horse to the same contest, believing they would last longer. They didn't.
The News-Review (Roseburg, Oregon) - Dec 12, 1947
The News-Review (Roseburg, Oregon) - Dec 15, 1947
The connection between "the girl" in the swimsuit and the "faultlessly lubricated" car seems a bit of a stretch. But hey, who needs a logical reason when you've got a girl in a swimsuit in your ad!
Source:
Time - Feb 16, 1948
Back in the 1940s,
electro-shock therapy (or "electro-tonic therapy") was promoted as a breakthrough treatment for depression. But it never managed to live up to the hype and was eventually mostly replaced by chemical treatments (popping pills). Though, from what I understand, it's still used in certain situations.
If the medical industry was promoting electro-shock therapy today, I imagine they'd show pictures of happy people running through fields and playing with grandchildren. But this 1948 ad (
Time - Sep 20, 1948) offered a slightly more realistic and disturbing image.
Note the line: "Brain disclosed for illustration only." Glad they clarified that.
What is the meaning of this display?
The answer is here.
Los Angeles auto dealer Hilton Tupman wanted to level the playing field between motorists and pedestrians. So he invented a horn that pedestrians could use to honk at motorists. And he made it loud enough to be heard within a 1-mile radius.
Source:
Popular Mechanics, May 1948
Ecowarriors love 1) electric cars and 2) wind turbines. A stroke of genius to combine the two!
Original article here.
Don't be a "tearer-downer," always causing a "rumpus!"
Judy the dog survived internment in a Japanese POW camp. Her story is told in
No Better Friend (see sidebar).
Stops spies from sweating during torture.