Mystery Gadget 27
What did this big monster machine do? I'll mention that it was not a one-off experimental device, but something in daily use in New York City.
The answer is here.
Comments
The Google Books link is throwing an error on both Chrome & IE for me. This isn't the 1st books error of the day for me either so.....
Ok.. it's not a washing machine.
Ok.. it's not a washing machine.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 05/07/15 at 09:25 AM
I can't find it either.
My guess is that it is some sort of traffic-signal controller, either for streets, or for the subway.
My guess is that it is some sort of traffic-signal controller, either for streets, or for the subway.
Posted by Joshua Zev Levin, Ph.D. on 05/07/15 at 10:21 AM
I say it's a Folliculefizzulator. It makes your hair grow without the need for chicken crap.
Posted by KDP on 05/07/15 at 10:30 AM
If anyone is having trouble with the embedded link to the answer, see if this tinyurl helps:
http://tinyurl.com/lwv4lhg
http://tinyurl.com/lwv4lhg
Posted by Paul on 05/07/15 at 11:00 AM
Nope, that link doesn't work either... Oh well, life as we know is is coming to a screeching halt and all hope for the world is lost.....
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG the interweb is broken!!!! :ahhh:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG the interweb is broken!!!! :ahhh:
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 05/07/15 at 11:27 AM
Try: http://earlyradiohistory.us/1914tick.htm
Posted by Phideaux on 05/07/15 at 11:45 AM
Yup, that one worked. I was close thinking it was a switchboard but I couldn't reason why it had so few nodes. (Nodes was a real word back then?)
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 05/07/15 at 12:12 PM
I thought switchboard or something to do with radio waves, so nope.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 05/07/15 at 04:21 PM
It could have been a switchboard with very few phones. When I first when to Beijing, there were so few phones that they had 5-digit numbers and you had to go to the district phone office to make a call. It was a building with three phones and twice as many staff. I liked it better that way.
Posted by Harvey on 05/07/15 at 10:07 PM
How old are you Harvey??
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 05/07/15 at 11:42 PM
@Harvey : Watch out for Patty .. she will just get you in trouble in so many ways. Trust me on this.
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 05/08/15 at 12:03 AM
@Harvey: Watch out for BD .. he's in cahoots with Patty. Trust me on this. :lol:
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 05/08/15 at 12:32 AM
Who me? I am just sweet and innocent.(bats eyelashes) 😊
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 05/08/15 at 08:35 AM
No doubt a infernal device of the devil. Perhaps a Steam Punk machine for men with erectile dysfunction.
Harvey, My dad grew up in China between the wars, WWI and II. He told similar stories of a lack of telephones and superstitious Chinese refused to use them because they felt the voice of the devil came over them. When his dads hospital got one the locals would spend hours waiting for it to ring and watch the foreigners speak to the wires. The X-ray machine totally freaked them out...
Patty for president or at least a VP running mate for Hillary.
Harvey, My dad grew up in China between the wars, WWI and II. He told similar stories of a lack of telephones and superstitious Chinese refused to use them because they felt the voice of the devil came over them. When his dads hospital got one the locals would spend hours waiting for it to ring and watch the foreigners speak to the wires. The X-ray machine totally freaked them out...
Patty for president or at least a VP running mate for Hillary.
Posted by Gator Guy on 05/08/15 at 10:04 AM
I'm a spring chicken 😊 , and laying low, just like my wife likes me.
Actually, I first went to China 30 years ago, and in many ways, it felt like I had time-travelled back to the 50s. They had a lot of those old hutongs -- centuries-old neighborhoods walled off from the main street with small one-floor homes and very narrow streets only negotiable by very small cars. I watched a garbage bicycle go through, with residents turfing their waste into the driver's baskets. Right in the middle of the one of the worlds greatest cities. Farmers were still bringing in food in horse-drawn carts. They blew most of those hutongs out and slapped in a batch of ugly towers. That took away a lot of the magic for me.
Actually, I first went to China 30 years ago, and in many ways, it felt like I had time-travelled back to the 50s. They had a lot of those old hutongs -- centuries-old neighborhoods walled off from the main street with small one-floor homes and very narrow streets only negotiable by very small cars. I watched a garbage bicycle go through, with residents turfing their waste into the driver's baskets. Right in the middle of the one of the worlds greatest cities. Farmers were still bringing in food in horse-drawn carts. They blew most of those hutongs out and slapped in a batch of ugly towers. That took away a lot of the magic for me.
Posted by Harvey on 05/08/15 at 11:15 AM
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Category: Technology | 1910s