Zenith Console Radio - Better heard than seen.

...At least that seemed to be the prevailing attitude about technology in the home back in 1948. Notice how this massive console radio was built into a cabinet that was basically a credenza or some other piece of furniture.

Back then, the radio was the center of the family room, the way the TV is now. After dinner or whatever, the family would "gather round the wireless" and listen to radio shows. people didn't have TVs in their houses yet.

So what changed? Whenabouts did the family decide it was okay for the entertainment electronics to look like electronics and not a wardrobe? I'm not sure, but maybe in The Sixties, around the time when Danish Modern design started to happen, and machinery became something to admire, and not an eye sore?

Nnnnnnope. There were still plenty of giant wooden boxes around in The Sixties. However, the controls weren't hidden. Maybe we're seeing here the gradual acceptance of visible electronics in the home? By The Seventies, maybe? Let's look.

Not so much. This is still a console radio (now re-termed a "stereo hi-fi" set). It's just all crazy and spacey looking because everyone watched Space 1999 and was also high on goofballs.

I think I'm barking up the wrong tree here. I think it's not matter of people's acceptance, but rather of the scale of the radio itself. Even back in The Forties, there were small table top radios that looked like radios. It's just that, when the thing is the size of a small piano, people want it to blend in with the decor of the room. A small thing can look however it wants and not be visually disruptive. We can now make an incredible-sounding surround system where the components are small and distributed around the room, so you hardly notice it. The hardest part is hiding the wires. It's like the room is INSIDE the radio. Whoa. Dude.

But if you're looking for a time when people were super into the crazy buck rogers stuff, no matter what size it is, The Seventies is all you need. I bet this Galactic Communications Terminal (My term. Not theirs) sounds like crap, but I still want it.

I'll give this old Zenith one thing, though. See how the radio tilts out on a door and can be operated from a standing position because the controls face the ceiling at a 45 degree angle? That's smart. We should see more of that. Stereo components are still designed as if you keep it on a shelf at eye level, or sit on the floor to operate it. ...or, just use the remote, which is far more likely. Never mind. I need some coffee. See you tomorrow.

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Nazi Notes.

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Joke #1 - "Assistance please, herr Vonsiatsky. 'Mary had a little lamb. It's fleece was...' Sir, what's whiter than snow?"

Joke #2 - "Okay. Mad Lib ist almost done, sir. We need a noun, but zis time don't say Blitzkrieg."

Joke #3 - "Sir, the latest shipment of swastika-branded wastebaskets has eaten into the budget for the Enchantment Under the Sea dinner dance."

Joke #4 - "Another 'Bababooie' crank call, sir."

Joke #5 - "Really sir? No cheese either? What DO you like on your pizza?"

Joke #6 - "Seven across, sir. Four letters. 'Globally reviled and paranoid political ideology marked by barbaric hatred of all outgroups and favored political change through violence'. Nope. Me neither, sir."

Joke #7 was luftwaffed in by Herr MeinFancyUberBallz_zwei. Very uber! - "Unt draw me like von of your French gurlz, Herr Jack!"

[Commenter jokes will be added to the post.    -Mgmt.]

Synchro Quality Tools - Sander-Polisher and, uuh, massager.

Hey, handymans! FIX UP around Home! Let Synchro's 240 strokes a second do the work - just guide it! Exclusive Double Arc motion prevents scratches. "loading".

I promise you I am not making this up. That's the ad, exactly as we found it in Popular Science. It's a sander. It's a polisher. It's a massager. And not to put too fine a point on it, way down at the bottom, there's a clip art of a proud man in some kind smock or smoking jacket showing the Synchro to his astonished and delighted wife (we assume).

Because you were especially good this weekend, I had the P.A.G! Graphic Blandishment and Photoshoppery Squad lift the two clip arts from the ad for your sanitation. You can make them point at anything you want. A grocery list... A funny picture... A note reminding your husband to fix the broken sander... You name it! You're welcome! Who's your buddy? ... apart from the sander, I mean.

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Hupmobile - Absolute rulership corrupts absolutely... of the road.

In 1930, Deco was The Shit, even way out in the hinterlands, where The Country Gentleman found a place on every desk, workbench, and haybail. This ad for Hupmobile (?) features a nice stylized deco illustration of the car instead of a painting or photo. Daring! You don't see this any more.

Hupmobile? Yep. I never heard of them either. If Wikipedia is to be believed, the company was based in Detroit, and was started by former Ford and Oldsmobile man, Robert Hupp. In a startling leap of creativity, he tacked "mobile" on the end of his name and put an end to several seconds of brainstorming.

The company didn't do well, once the depression started gathering steam, and was dead by 1940. So what did a Hupmobile look like in the flesh? My dad would argue otherwise, I imagine, but to me, it looks exactly like every other car of it's day. Not that that's a bad thing, but I just can't tell a Ford from a Chevy before 1960-something. Perspective.

This ad promises you Absolute rulership of the road. Wow! Brave words. And I didn't even know there was a power vacuum in The Road back then. I guess anyone riding in the back seat would automatically be given a cabinet-level position. Maybe it's because I've never had a hunger for power, but I don't want to rule the road. Everybody would blame me for traffic problems or, as  was likely the case in rural america at the time, the odd horse carcass blocking the way.

A Thousand and Oneth Post! - The British Library Makes Millions of Graphic Gifts.

Yesterday was Phil Are GO!'s A Thousandth post, which is an arbitrary milestone based on the way humans count things, which is probably based on the number of fingers we have. Hooray I guess! That makes this one here our Thousand and Oneth post, which we are using to commemorate this largely meaningless achievement.

To mark this seemingly significant occasion, the staff will have the day off, taking some time to reflect on humans' desire to get excited over things because the number is nice and round. A Thousand is a nice and very round number, I think you'll agree. So, we'll let the rest of The Internet spew some content into your eye-holes today.

The British Library dumps over a million images onto Flickr and the Public Domain. Last December, The British Library teamed up with Microsoft to scan an undisclosed number of books from the 17th to 19th centuries, which  means they're out of copyright. The images from those digitized books were programmatically dumped onto a Flickr page, meaning it was a huge process done by computers, so nobody has cataloged - or maybe even looked at - all the pictures. There are gobs of images, and the British Library is encouraging everybody to use them however they like, and help them organize the whole mess by adding tags to the images in Flickr.

To find (and rude-finger-save) a high resolution version of any image in there, look for the three dots icon to the right of an image. This will spawn a menu with DOWNLOAD / ALL SIZES in it. In the subsequent screen, you can choose to view the image at original size. From there, you can do a normal RIGHT-CLICK-SAVE IMAGE.

Here are some gems we found. Be careful. It's a fascinating time sink, and you can lose hours this way.

Now Improved with the Double Strength of Two Fancy Men!

New Advanced Developments from the Science!

Revolving jar rack holds twelve jars in space ordinarily required for just twelve jars, revolves.

Well-heeled customer considers custom luxury tumor of opal and gold,

an extravagance for the rich and questionable.

Transparent face mask is also said by inventor to be excellent toy, amuses children for hours, possibly much, much longer. Also in development: wool hats for keeping sandwiches fresh.

Little Ads - Opportunities for the Idle. Idles for the opportune.

Jobs news now, from the small ads in the back of Popular Science, 1940 style. Get yourself a career, or just learn to think. Choose wisely!

Students not guaranteed against career interference by MI6 agents. Results not intended for world domination.

Learn to think with alphabet. Advance self. Mind-train. Word-spell.

*Not a guarantee of Happy Land transport. Deagan Marimba training does not confer to the purchaser citizenship of Happy Land or of any Happy Land controlled territories. Route to Happy Land may not be navigable by mortal means, or exist. Offer void in event of international border conflicts with Happy Land, or international warfare between Happy Land and Joy Region, Ambivalence Town, Concerned Interest Metropolis, Reserved Enthusiasm District, and Village of Polite Disinterest. Fun not guaranteed at parties.