Gadgetry v1.3

A functional and fictional device.

About Colophon Data Decades Graphics

Gauge

An add-on, modification, accessory, or component to an existing tool, vehicle, or activity like photography or fishing. Especially a gauge that displays system status.



◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1904

Quote: “He stood up and steadied himself by a stanchion, in the middle of the front seat, which carried the big acetylene lamp. / ‘This is like the gyroscope gadget on the Portsmouth submarines. Does she dive?’ said he.”

Author: Kipling, Rudyard

Source: The Metropolitan Magazine. v21n1. October, 1904. p. 4

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1914

Quote: ““Having personally searched through the British patents before taking out my own, I can well understand your objection to ‘gadget’ stabilisers. Only one or two, if any, of the inventions ot be found there bear the stamp of the practical man, few appear to be products of men who had had any experience of aeroplanes, mostly the inventor seems to have had a ‘nebulous fancy which passed with him for thought.’ None the less, when one considers how cheaply such an apparatus as I have suggested could be put to the test, it seems a pity that we should not learn whatever it has to teach us, always bearing in mind that experimental mechanism must be capable of instant disconnection at the pilot’s discretion.” / A well known aviator writes:–“I must give vent to my feelings about ‘gadget stabilisers.’ First of all I must admit ot being prejudiced against any such thing. Not only would any such device give me ‘cold feet,’ but probably cold hands as well, having nothing to do with them, in the shape of stick wagging, etc., but seriously there is one point which I do not think anybody has yet brought up, and that is this: With the arrival of the fool-proof aeroplane, which the birth of ‘gadget’ devices seems to herald, there will have also to arise, and probably will, a fool (not proof) market to buy them. This, as it should be, is good for trade, but m yfear is that with the arrival of this class of buyer there is a grave danger of there arising a host of incompetent builders, who each and all will strive to turn out a cheap machine, and in this ambition they will be most undesirably assisted by the ‘gadget stabiliser,’ for instead of spending money on designing a machine properly, any old thing with wings will do, if fitted with some patent gadget which will do it for them. But what about it, if this gadget jams or dislocates itself, as all such things must do some time or other?””

Author:

Source: The Aeroplane, January 29, 1914

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1914

Quote: “Of the making of motor accessories anything that can be screwed or stuck on to any part of a car under the claim of increasing the efficiency of that part—like the making of books, there is no end. Most of them outweigh by their certain cost and manifest complication, any advantage their use could obtain. I make however, an exception of the tell-tale type of gadget, as prevention of trouble is better than the cure which at the same time may kill. One of these is an overheating tell-tale in the form of a plug set into the water circulation, electrically connected with a tiny red lamp on the dash board—which I saw at a depot for American accessories in Shaftesbury Avenue W.C.”

Author:

Source: Indian Motor News, August 1914, p. 619

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1914

Quote: “Imagine sitting outside a Dreadnought and trying to stabilise it with external gadgets, in the shape of water-ailerons worked by a lever from the bridge an da series of relay mechanisms! / Incidentally, “automatically” stable machines, consisting of aeroplanes of the present type stabilised by means of gadgets such as gyroscopes, pendula, and so forth, do not seem very promising.”

Author:

Source: Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News, v. 6

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1915

Quote: “There are rival methods of achieving this end, some constructors (among them Orville Wright in America) seeking to attain it by ‘automatic’ and others by ‘inherent’ stability. The latter speak disrespectfully of the devices of the former; they call them ‘gadget’ stabilizers. The word is a trifle obscure, inasmuch as ‘gadget’ is the sea term for any miscellaneous article which does not appear to have a definite name, or at least one which comes ready at the moment. I asked a famous expert the other day to define a ‘gadget stabilizer,’ and he did s promptly and forcibly as ‘any old thing which you hang on.’ Less picturesquely an automatic stabilizer is some means of giving stability, such as a gyroscope or a pendulum, which is put to a machine, and is not in itself an essential part of its construction. / The inherent stability people maintain that by careful design and constructino alone, by theorist and practical man working side by side, by scientific disposal of weights and surfaces, different tendencies may be made to balance and correct each other, one set of oscilations to damp out another, and so the perfect machine be evolved. Further they have proved their point by succeeding. The naturally stable machine is no dream of to-morrow but the realization of to-day; not sprung upon us in a moment by some fresh epoch-making discovery, but now arrived at as the consummation of the labours which began with the earliest pioneers.”

Author: Bacon, Gertrude

Source: London: Methuen & Co, 34-5

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1916

Quote: “”

Author: Lodge, Sir Oliver J.

Source:

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1917

Quote: “Every other officer has a pet mechanical originality. Marmaduke is preparing a small gravity tank for his machine, to be used when the pressure tank is ventilated by a bullet. The Tripehound has a scheme whereby all the control wires can be duplicated. Some one else has produced the latest thing in connections between the pilot’s joystick and the Vicker’s gun. I am making a spade-grip trigger for the Lewis gun, so that the observer can always have one hand free to manipulate the movable backsight. When one of these deathless inventions is completed the real hard work begins. The gadget is adopted unanimously by the inventor himself, but he has a tremendous task in making the rest of the squadron see its merits.”

Author: Bott, Alan

Source: 186-87

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1918

Quote: “War tempts imaginative, restless people, and a stagnant peace bores them. And you’ve got to reckon with intelligence and imagination in this world, Nobby, more than anything. … INventive, restless men are the particular instruments of my Old Experimenter. Under no circumstances can you hope to induce the chap who contrived the clock fuse and the chap who worked out my gas bag or the chap with a new aeroplane gadget, and me–me, too– to stop celebrating and making our damndest just in order to sit about safely in meadows joining up daisy chains–like a beastly lot of figures by Walter Crane.” Gadgets as the wonderful and seductive tools produced by a wartime nation”

Author: Wells, H.G

Source:

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1918

Quote: “A patent gadget invented by Guns [the gunnery officer] allowed the gun-muzzles a certain amount of play up and down, play which careful calculation showed would pour a couple of streams of bullets across the end of the wood up and down a height extending to about a thousand feet, that is, 500 above and 500 below the level at which it was estimated the Huns usually flew on these night raids. It simply meant that as soon as the sound was judged to be near enough the two guns only had to open fire, to keep pouring out bullets to make sure that the Huns had to fly through the stream and ‘stop one’ or more. It was, in fact, a simple air barrage of machine-gun bullets.”

Author: Cable, Boyd

Source: New York: E.P. Dutton & Company. 1918.


◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1918

Quote: “On a dashboard in front of the pilot are various engine controls, comprising an independent throttle lever for each engine, a revolution counter, spark controls for both magnetos, a grease pump, gasoline regulator, and various other ‘gadgets.’ The flying controls do not differ in any particular way from those of the ordinary machine, the Deperdussin wheel type being adopted. Naturally, they are much more powerful, and by an ingenious system of springs worked round a small hand-winch close to the pilot’s seat, the elevator can be locked in any position desired.”

Author: Williams, Bertram W.

Source: Scientific American. October 5, 1918, p. 274

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1918

Quote: “A discussion arose at the Plymouth meeting of the Devonshire Association in 1916 when it was suggested that this word should be recorded in the list of local verbal provincialisms. Several members dissented from its inclusion on the ground that it is in common use throughout the country and a naval officer who was present said that it has for years been a popular expression in the service for a tool or implement, the exact name of which is unknown or has for the moment been forgotten. I have also frequently heard it applied by motor-cycle friends to the collection of fitments to be seen on motor cycles. ‘His handle-bars are smothered in gadgets’ refers to such things as speedometers, mirrors, levers, badges, mascots, &c., attached to the steering handles”. / ‘Gadget’ is a colloquialism in the Navy for any small fitment or uncommon article–for example, ‘a curious gadget.’ I never came across anybody who could give a derivation.” -A.G. Kealy / “In a list of words and phrases used by our soldiers at the Front, sent to me recently from Flanders, there is the word ‘gadget,’ and its meaning is given as billets or quarters of any description, ‘and sometimes it is used to denote a thing of which the name is not known.’” –Archibald Sparke. / ‘Webster’s New International Dictionary’ says that ‘gadget’ is often used of something novel, or not known by its proper name (slang).’ It is a word in frequent use in this sense by seamen and other workers.” –F.A. Russell”

Author: Tapley-Soper

Source:

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1919

Quote: “But the Rolls-Royce Company would never pay big dividends upon the patronage or custom of the minority who buy their cars as toys–to play with all the intriguing little gadgets with which they are fitted.” (124) / “The motor car trade is a ‘fashion’ trade, just as much as ladies’ hats, and if there is a desire for taper bonnets or pointed radiators, or any of the many gadgets we have to fit, it is necessary to conform to that desire, or else the car is difficult to sell.” (140) / IN THE RETORT/CONVERSATION: “The author cannot seriously suggest that the gadgets designed into the majority of cars, especially the high-priced types, are undesirable fads. That would be an insult to the intelligence of their sponsors, who are presumably men who know their jobs both on the technical and financial side. Any gadgets embodied in a design are, rightly or wrongly, provided for a specific purpose and achieve some refinement which a competitor’s car does not possess. I say rightly or wrongly, as they do not always fulfil [sic] expectation.” (143) / “I really cannot help wondering whether all the gadgets on those big, magnificent cars we aw at Olympia are really necessary, when I can get equal or greater comfort, smoothness and quietness without them. IT is very nice, of course, to be able to sit back in a chair and adjust the petrol-feed of the carburettor to such a degree that the mixture can be gradually varied while under way. It is beautiful for the man who wants to do it, but the very man who buys a GBP 2,000 car does not do it.” (148) / “The man who can afford GBP2,000 for a chassis , who can afford all the gadgets in the world, and who sits in the car while his man does the rest, does not care how many gadgets the car is fitted with, so long as he gets from his house to his office in time.” (157) / “As a designer I object to exaggerated smoothness of design, and though at a Motor Show clean outline may look charming, I feel that external smoothness can be overdone. The question of suiting the springing of a car to the load in the car has always been rather a fancy of mine, and although it is an extra gadget I think it will shortly be fitted on a number of cars. I do not say it is a good thing on every car, but there are plenty of people who will appreciate a device which will ensure equally good suspension, whether the car is light or loaded. […] As far as other gadgets go, such as controllable carburettors, I must say I do feel that if the owner drives his car–and we are always being told that owners will drive, and not have chauffeurs–he will appreciate them. A water circulation thermometer is a ‘gadget,’ but I find it very useful.”

Author: Duffield, Edgar

Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Automobile Engineers. vol. 14. 1919

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1919

Quote: “In order to make possible the translation of this specimen of ‘Flyese,’ our British contemporary, Flying, has published the following list of aeronautic slang phrases, with which some of our airmen are no doubt familiar. … Gadget – Accessory, fitting, anything difficult to remember or define. Super-gadget – The latest thing in fittings. “

Author: Edwards, R. Stanley

Source: Aerial Age Weekly. July 21, 1919

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1919

Quote: “he would turn up suddenly, by air or road, with an oily old raincoat, a long lurching stride, a deep voice, a noisy laugh and a tentative unsymmetrical smile half-hidden by a large grey-brown moustache: and would proceed at once to ‘touch off’ a rocket, to fire incendiary bullets into a gas-bag or a petrol-tin, to inspect some new ‘gadget’ for a machine-gun, or to practise some other of the many strange arts of which Orfordness was the home.”

Author:

Source: The Alpine Journal. no. 219. June 1919. p. 353

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1919

Quote: “We don’t let’ em see, neither, if we can ‘elp it. Once or twice Turkish (mime’ ve seen us at play, but they only laughs. They ‘ates the Huns a blurry sight more ‘n we do. Why, I remember when a coupler Turks’ elped us in the good work one mornin’. “ “ Guns an’ aererplanes is’ andiest, “ he continued, reflectively. “ Yer see, when we finds the breech-block uv a gun it don’t take long to take aht some gadget er other, accordin’ as the gunners with us sez. Aererplanes we attacks mostly on the longeerongs? those ribs o’ wood that runs claim the length of the body, ain’t they? English pilot’ oo passed dahn the line some months ergo give us the tip.’ Corse, we gives the other parts a bit uv attention? wires an’ spars, an’ such like…. No, it don’t seem likely that those things over there’ll fly fer.”

Author: Bott, Alan

Source: Harpers. September 1919. pp. 563-571

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1920

Quote: “They call out the seconds and she begins to porpoise, and at zero out of water goes her periscope again and the Herr Kapitan has another look, and it’s a sure bet then he’s all set to blow up the works. He whistles to the guy Fred to be ready and Fred fixes his eyes on a gadget that shows red and green lights when it flashes. And the diving rudder man stands about an ninch [sic] closer to his little wheel, meaning he’s all set too.”

Author: Connolly, James Brendan

Source:

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1923

Quote: “The addition of a fifteenth instrument without doubt gives the car that possesses it a modicum of greater luxury than is enjoyed by the driver with but 14 assorted gadgets at his disposal. But we would rather have the presence of a large variety of non-essentials on the dash regarded as a matter of minor interest–of interest undoubtedly, but not of such paramount importance as to be worth a whole page of ecstasy at current advertising rates.”

Author:

Source: Scientific American 128, (February 1923), p. 115-118

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1923

Quote: “It would be more than folly to think that it is necessary to produce a freak design, or to plaster the chassis with gadgets, just because an attempt is being made to reach a market in which the conditions are so very different from those at home.”

Author: Acres, F.A. Stepney

Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Automobile Engineers. v. 18. 1923. p. 626

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1923

Quote: “Somebody has suggested that the installation of thermostats, shutters, etc., is a confession of weakness; that a properly designed cooling plant ought to cool the car without the necessity for tinkering with it to meet the vagaries of the weather. The fact is, of course, that overcooling is just as objectionable as constant boiling; and that the only way in which a proper mean can be maintained is by a system that modifies its cooling capacity according to the weather. At the same time, the thing can be carried to an unnecessary degree of fineness. During the season when thermostats are busy and shutters working overtime, while those who do not possess these gadgets fall back mainly upon the use of newspaper and cardboard shields over the lower part of their radiators, the driver whose front-end design makes it possible for him to slip off his fan belt will be able to achieve much the same result in this way, and with a saving of power.”

Author:

Source: Scientific American 128, 139-146 (February 1923)

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1924

Quote: “The painter of houses has always been puzzled for a way to plant his ladder against the side of the house without making a mark on the freshly laid paint. A way to accomplish this is now offered him in the ingenious ladder-support illustrated. On each upright of the ladder, near the tip, is clamped a curved brace, the other end of which is pointed. These two points, one on either side of the ladder, furnish the bearing points for the ladder. […] and they offer an extraordinarily convenient place from which to suspend the paint pot.”

Author:

Source: Scientific American 130, (March 1924) p. 175-175

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1925

Quote: “The famous Handley Page slotted wing, shown diagrammatically in our sketch, when open actually increases the maximum lift between fifty and seventy percent! Its incorporation involves many mechanical difficulties, and aeronautical engineers always like to leave their wings free of all ‘gadgets’ or complications. Nevertheless, this tremendous increase in lift may very well be utilized one day either to diminish landing speeds or to increase the carrying capacity of our planes.”

Author: Klemin, Alexander

Source: Scientific American 132, (April 1925), p. 269-274

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1926

Quote: “Well, gimme the works, and I’ll show you how it’s done [wiring a “spotlight” to the car], and then when you buy a cigar lighter or some other gadget in another town, where they haven’t a good-natured garageman to wire it for you, you can do the job yourself.”

Author:

Source: Popular Mechanics, jan 1926, p. 147.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1926

Quote: “people expected a big novel from burly young Author Hemingway. His short work (In Ou Time, 1925) bit deeply into life. He said things naturally, calmly tersely, accurately. He wrote only; about things he had experienced mostly outdoors, as a doctor’s son in northern Michigan and as a self-possessed young tramp in Europe. Philosophically his implication was: “ Life’s great. Don’t let it rattle you. “ 141029 The gadget in a railroad official’s office car which is most likely to get out of order is the speedometer, whose clock face is usually perched just above and in front of the official as he sits in his accustomed chair before the starboard rear observation window. Nevertheless, last week the Boston &; Maine joined the current race to lure passengers with gimcracks when it installed a speedometer in the solarium of its crack, streamlined Flying Yankee. Developed by Waltham Watch Co., the instrument is actuated by a small electric”

Author:

Source: Time Magazine, November 1

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1927

Quote: “The old Ford was almost austerely a utility. For long it made no compromise with fashion or esthetic demand. Everything was sacrificed to continuous mass production; the one reliance for sales was cheapness and more cheapness. It adopted no mechanical improvements or refinements. It was always black. It was not advertised. It had no gadgets or gewgaws. Its lineS were high and awkward. In short, it was a flivver.”

Author:

Source: The New Republic: 12/14/27, Vol. 53 Issue 680, p83-85

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1928

Quote: “It contains full particulars of the unique Gramophone Service for Records by Post, Records on Approval, the Exchange of Gramophones and Records. Motors, Tone Arms, Soundboxes, and every possible Gadget and Accessory connected with the Gramophone free and post free.”

Author:

Source: The Gramophone, vol. 6. 1928

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1928

Quote: “The Handley Page or Lachmann slot has been applied to actual airplanes with success. Its wider adoption is a matter of the mechanical complexities its use involves, of the objections that constructors and pilots have to the use of ‘gadgets,’ and of doubts as to its mechanical reliability in rough service.”

Author: Klemin, Alexander

Source: Scientific American 138, (February 1928), p. 160-161

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1928

Quote: “Doubtless there are devices which might in some cases assist a trapped crew to escape. But the device which may save life in one contingency will be useless in another and all submaries would be handicapped and their buoyancy seriously curtailed for the one problematical case when such apparatus would be useful. […] So the gain would be worse than doubtful. considered purely from the viewpoint of personal safety, all naval officers prefer a ship which can fight to one cluttered up with ‘safety’ gadgets; witness for instance the fact that a battleship carries no life boats. It is an old saying that ‘a bright look-out is the best lifeboat,’ and that principle applies to every sort of ship.”

Author: Rowland, John T.

Source: Scientific American 138, (March 1928) p. 219-221

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1929

Quote: “To those of us who, by choice or otherwise, spend the winter in the cooler climates where winter golf is the exception rather than the rule, the slowly passing days of late winter bring with them wistful visions of roll­ing fairways and smooth velvety greens. Then out come the clubs for cleaning and polishing and the time is at hand to take stock of the accessories. What have the past few months contributed to the art of golf? you ask yourself. And at least part of the answer is presented on this page where we show a few of the “gadgets” that are now available for the golf enthusiast. May’ they help you to improve your game this season.”

Author:

Source: Scientific American 140, (April 1929). p. 345-345

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1929

Quote: “A ‘Gadget’ for Focussing: [sic] A small negative of smoked glass, with a clear cross scratched on it, fixed at another part of this holder in the same plane as the one to be enlarged from at times very useful for focussing purposes.”

Author:

Source: The Photographic Journal: Including the Transactions of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, Photographic Society of London. vol. 69. 1929.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1930

Quote: “Can you get one and fit it to my car? The circular says it’s a new invention that will give twice as much mileage on the same gasoline and make the motor more powerful. … I’ve seen this one before. It’s a phoney gadget that doesn’t work. … Of course, they’d get better results by adjusting the carburetor for a leaner mixture without bothering with any extra gadget.”

Author:

Source: Popular Science Monthly, July 1930

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1930

Quote: “The entire inventory of materials which C.A. Olson, Oakland Avenue, West­wood, New Jersey, used in making his mirror may be seen in the photograph reproduced below. With the exception of the pitch lap, a few chemicals used in silvering the glass, and other inexpensive gadgets, the whole array is of the kind that can be picked up around the average household and is typical of the kind used in telescope making. Note absence of tools; none are used.”

Author:

Source: Scientific American 142, (February 1930). p. 160-162

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1930

Quote: “In our July 1930 issue we described the very interesting experiments of Dr. Geer of Ithaca, whereby rubber, oil-impregnated airplane “overshoes” seem to have met the danger of ice formation. It still remains to be seen whether practical aviators will resort to these overshoes. Airmen have a horror of gadgets, and operators may fear that the added cost and a possible decrease in aerodynamic efficiency will be prohibitive. In the meantime it is the consensus that it is a very sound plan to warn the pilot that he is flying in a danger zone, namely where temperatures are between -4 degrees and 0 degrees, centigrade, and when he had better proceed to a zone of higher or lower temperatures.”

Author: McHugh, F.D. et al.

Source:

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1931

Quote: “One thing is certain: manufacturers of automobile accessories are going to be affected by the general trend toward complete equipment on the newer cars. No longer need the new·car buyer invest a substantial sum in heat indicators, mirrors, ash trays, air cleaners, oiling systems, and so on.They are all there when the car is delivered.On the other hand, those of us who have, of necessity or choice, to keep our old cars for another season, constitute a potential market for “gadgets” of various kinds that have been developed since our cars were made.”

Author:

Source: Scientific American 144, (February 1931). p. 77-78

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1931

Quote: “There is no question but that the American working man is our biggest customer. He knows that his net income is very much higher under the high wage system than under the other; his percentage of “luxury” or “pleasure” cash is much greater under the former than under the latter. He has, accordingly adjusted his standard of living to a scale higher than Europeans know or have known. He has a car with all the necessary or foolish gadgets, a six- or eight- or ten-tube radio, good clothes, plenty of good food, and more comforts than a medieval king.”

Author:

Source: Scientific American 145, (July 1931). p. 12-13

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1932

Quote: “The answer is a multiple one : The use of rear flaps changes the trim or balance, and therefore stability has to be carefully considered when flaps or variable-area wings are used; human nature is conservative pilots dislike intensely everything that partakes of the character of a “gadget”; cost and weight are always in­ creased no matter what slot or flap is applied.”

Author:

Source: Scientific American 147, (October 1932) p. 232-251

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1932

Quote: “Eisenstein looked at his watch. His boat for Europe, the boat on which he sailed second class because he couldn’t afford the more luxurious rates, sailed in a few hours. / ‘And before I go I must buy a gadget,’ he said. ‘It is a marvelous gadget I heard about. You put it on a water tap and cold water becomes hot. I must take one with me.’ / He thought for a moment. / ‘That’s just it,’ he said. ‘Hollywood tries to use the same kind of gadgets. They want to turn the gadget on a writer and his cold stories are expected to come out warm. They can’t do it. Gadgets are only for mechanics. Not for humans. And picture business is a human business.”

Author:

Source: Variety, April 26, 1932

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1933

Quote: “He realized that they were without his beloved ‘gadgets’ and dependent upon the skill of the pilot alone. And he was one of the newer school, one of these youngsters ‘softened’ by all the mechanical aids developed to lift the burden from their shoulders!” … young pilot decides to fly through: “He was flying blind, solely by his instruments. All of the gadgets which Pop had lavished upon the ships with the idea of making up for the deficiencies of the pilots were useless.” … “The gadget I’ve missed, forgotten, clean overlooked in my calculations is the cool head of the pilot, my boy! That’s what it is! I’ve been thinking the breed had changed, softened up from the old days. Well, they have changed at that! They have grown better! Shake hands, pilot!”

Author: Leyson, Captain Burr

Source: Boys’ Life. Apr 1933

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1934

Quote: “Not a ‘Gadget’: REO self-shifter. As vital as self-starter; a safer, simpler means of driving. The lure of many strange devices has been held out to automobile buyers in the last few years. Gadget after gadget has taken its place in the parade of expedients. It is therefore understandable why some buyers have been confused–have found it difficult to distinguish between a gadget and a genuine improvement. Yet there is a simple way of telling. Try any device you have in mind and see how much actual difference it makes in the operation of a car. Then take the wheel of the Self-Shifting Reo. HERE is something FUNDAMENTAL! No gearshift lever – gearshifting automatic – innumerable clutch operations saved – driving made 33 1/3% easier and SAFER!”

Author:

Source: Popular Science. Sept 1934

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1934

Quote: “Don’t buy ‘gas savers,’ ‘grease absorbers,’ or ‘burner protectors.’ They don’t save a penny; in fact, they usually cost more by increasing gas bills and many of them cause headaches, or worse effects of that stealthy and dangerous poison, cordon monoxide. / The National Bureau of Standards has conducted an investigation of a number of gadgets and appliances that were sold over the doorsill by salesmen who lauded them to the skies in extravagant claims of their value. The results of this research called for a warning against such purchases, which the Bureau issued.” / All of the ‘gas savers,’ it stated, affected the operation of a satisfactory gas range in such a way as to increase the tendency to form carbon monoxide, which even in very small amounts is injurious to health. Although agents sometimes boasted of a reduction in gas bills as high as 30 percent, none of the attachments tested increased efficiency appreciably, while some of them considerably increased the amount of gas need for certain purposes.”

Author: McHugh, F.D.

Source: Scientific American 151, (October 1934) p. 200-221

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1934

Quote: “The title, Gadget King of America, was mentioned. / ‘I don’t know what you mean by that,’ he laughed. ‘Gadgets aren’t things produced and proved by laboratory tests and practical demonstrations. Gadgets are–well, here I’ll show you one.’ / Wood walked over to a twelve cylinder car. He removed from the dashboard an attractive, nickeled object that was about three inches long. / ‘It’s an automatic cigaret lighter,’ he explained, ‘it lights and breathes, inhaling and exhaling, just as you do. All you do is put your cigaret in it, press a button and your cigaret is lighted and puffed on until you take it out. Saves you taking your eyes off the road while driving eight or ninety miles an hour. It’s just a gadget but I think I’ll have it patented.’ / But the Miss America [ship], were there not a lot of gadgets on her? Didn’t gadgets play a large part in the final perfection attained in the assembly of four motors having a total of 6,400 horsepower? / ‘Not on your life,’ Gar replied emphatically. ‘The Miss America X is the result of long research, of many painstaking laboratory experiments and of repeated practical tests. / ‘I am not denying that there are gadgets here and there that fulfil [sic] their purposes, I would even call the self-bailers on the boat a ‘gadget idea’–but the principal reasons for Miss America X’s success lie in the gear-box assembly and the boat’s variable step.” On the next boat Wood is developing: “‘But before we race it we’ll have to do a lot of work on blueprints, hold a whole lot of laboratory tests and do plenty of practical experimenting. The new one won’t be a gadget, or a collection of them, any more than is the Miss America X.”

Author:

Source: Popular Mechanics. Oct 1934. p. 536-9

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1935

Quote: “After he has gotten the “hang of the thing” and achieved some success with his hobby, the camera fan begins to be attracted to the innumerable “gadgets” being offered by the various manufacturers. There is the angle view finder, by means of which the photographer may take pictures unsuspected by the subject; the reflex attachment for converting the Leica or Contax type camera into a reflex camera, thus combining two types of camera in one; the panorama tripod head which permits the miniature camera to do the work of a regular panorama camera; apparatus for converting the cameras into a stereoscopic camera; attachments for photo­ micrography; flash lamps accommodating flash bulbs which may be attached to the camera and made to operate simultaneously with the release of the shutter so that flash and shutter act together; single-exposure attachment with focusing device for close-ups of 10 inches; copying attachments, and many other devices allowing the owner of the miniature camera unlimited scope in his camera adventures, including even col­or photography.”

Author: Deschin, Jacob

Source: Scientific American 152, (February 1935) p. 68-69

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1935

Quote: “In one type, deflectors, consisting of small airfoils, are placed at the side of the wind­ shield and slightly ahead of the screen proper. When these deflectors were turned into the wind, it was found by scientific wind tunnel test that the velocity of the wind outside the cockpit but in the lee of the deflector was reduced to negligible pro­ portions. Therefore the pilot could look out at the side of the cockpit without discomfort. In another type the windshield is divided into two parts, and so arranged that the upper part can be staggered ahead of the lower part. Wind tunnel tests showed here that the air was deflected upwards with­ out any perceptible draught being felt in the cockpit, yet vision through the open­ ing was perfect. While open cockpits are now rarer than was the case a few years ago, anyone flying in an open ship might do worse than to ‘use one or the other of these two gadgets.”

Author:

Source: Scientific American 152, (April 1935). p. 202-221

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1935

Quote: “The true candid camera man is the most self-effacing chap on earth; the more he is ignored, the less he is observed, the better he likes it. Among the array of miniature cameras, accessories and wonder·working films and developing solutions that produce prints which would have been impossible only a few years ago, he wants for but one thing––some magic formula by which he might make himself invisible at will. / Lacking such a formula, however, the exigencies of his ‘now-you-see-me-now-you-don’t’ career have taught him many subterfuges, in which he is ably abetted by a number of ‘gadgets.’ One of the most useful of these is the so-called angle·view finder, a device which by means of mirrors enables the photographer to give the impression of aiming at something down the street while actually taking the picture of a subject standing at right angles to the photographer’s apparent vision. A variation of this, where a low viewpoint is desired, is to point this finder straight down to the floor or sidewalk and become ostensibly immersed in the examination of some mechanical problem of the camera itself.”

Author: Deschin, Jacob

Source: Scientific American 152, (May 1935) p.250-251

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1935

Quote: “She drives a Ford roadster which she calls “Lindsay’s chariot.” It is distinguished for its infinite variety of nickel-plated horns and lights. Every pay day she adds another gadget, until the car is the last word in something or other.”

Author:

Source: Picture Play Magazine

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1937

Quote: “From time to time we have mentioned in this department various new picture markets. We cannot urge too strongly that the amateur attempt to tackle these markets and see if he can’t make them pay for a new camera or some of those expensive gadgets, not to speak of just humdrum necessities such as film and paper and chemicals. Good picture markets are the picture agencies who take your pictures on an outright purchase or commission basis and try to sell them to newspapers and magazines.”

Author:

Source: Scientific American 157, (October 1937). p. 224-252

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1938

Quote: “Write me today and ask for the new Bass Bargaingrams … bigger and better than ever before. Two separate editions … one for the STill Camera addict (fan, enthusiast) filled with thousands of fascinating items, cameras, gadgets, etc., and the other a veritable compendium (encyclopedia) of apparatus, impediments and incunabula for 8 and 16 mm Movie (CINE) operation … Send for one or both … but mention which. They’re free.”

Author:

Source: Scientific American 159, (September 1938). p.152-158

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1939

Quote: “The gadgets! My heart jumped. I at once envisioned the sly gadget, the lovely gadget, gadget par excellence–the angle view-finer. There were a dozen other gadgets in the gadget-bag, a photo-electric exposure-meter, filters, telescopic lenses. They were there for duty.”

Author:

Source: The Menorah Journal. vol. 27 issue 1. p. 41-44.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1939

Quote: “His ‘crash rodeo,’ however, is more than an exhibition of nerve. It is a demonstration of precise planning and of the value of mechanical safeguards. For gadgets play a stellar role in his escapes from death.” i.e.: “A sponge-rubber kneeling pad, of the type used by housewives and gardeners, is fastened to the top of the rear fender. This enables the stunt man to remove the saddle post and sit far back on the machine, with his body low over the gas tank. … Another safety measure is a pad fastened tightly to the top of the motor-cycle frame.”

Author:

Source: Popular Science. Dec 1939.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1939

Quote: “We have been accused of being a nation of gadget collectors; collectors of camera accessories that are bought solely for the purpose of acquiring more gadgets. So what? What finer gadget can you acquire than a gleaming telephoto lens, a combination of steel, glass, and chromium that is beautiful to lok at, that functions like a piece of clockwork and that is a thrill to own? Acquire your gadgets if you can afford it. Buy more lenses, more filters, more copying devices, lanterns, enlargers, and every other device you can afford if you will use them. Learn how they operate; learn the function of every colored filter you get, try out the enlarger under every different condition you can think of and then you will have a real excuse in buying all the different things. But, if you don’t use htem, then there is no excuse for them and eventually you will sell them to some other amateur who will make use of them and at a bargain.” SAME ISSUE: Beers, Nathan Thomas. “The Miniature Camera”: “Gadgets and Short-Cuts.–In the ustle which frequently becomes necessary in the processing of exposures made in connection with one’s profesiosnal work, any gadget or short-cut calculated to save time is certain to be acceptable. There are many of us who have learned the convenience of the miniature camera in making photographic records… […] Figure 1 shows a little gadget which has served us very satisfactorily as a rest or cradle in which to place the reel while being loaded. The M-shaped section may be turned up of tin or aluminum, or made of wood. Ours was made of a sheet of Monel metal and is mounted on a block of wood on the bottom of which four felt corn-plasters serve to give a little grip on the table or bench. […] Figure 2 shows how a tell-tale made by a bit of folded card, and slipped into the finder-=clip, tells at a glance exactly the contents of the film magazine or whether the camera be empty. Where one makes use of two or more cameras of this type this little gadget saves much time. On one side may be printed or written the name of the film being used and on the reverse side the word ‘empty.’”

Author: Buxbaum, Edwin C.

Source: American Photography. June, 1939. p. 432.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1939

Quote: “Chromium plated gadgets and super-streamlining will sell an automobile, but to keep it sold without complaints is the reason why manufacturers maintain elaborate inspection equipment. for example: at the right is shown one of the tests employed by one motor-car maker. Steering knuckles are being magnetized prior to inspection for forging flaws.”

Author:

Source: Scientific American 161, (July 1939). p. 25

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1939

Quote: “ It’s a vast and controversial subject, this matter of guns and ammunition, and there may be times when you heartily disagree with what we have to say. By the same token there will be other instances when you are in accord with the thoughts expressed, but in any event, it is your department, conducted for your pleasure and your information. Ranging through the fields of shot­ guns, rifles, handguns, their applications, ammunitions, and all their various affiliated gadgets, we plan to present unusual and informative angles, current news, and timely data on new developments. Our mail box is of generous proportions-we sincerely trust you will test its capacity to the fullest extent.”

Author: Rathbone, A.D.

Source: Scientific American 161, (November 1939). p. 302-303

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1939

Quote: “Press Conference was all over yesterday but President Roosevelt called it back, holding aloft a small mechanical gadget over which he appeared to be as happy as a boy. Asking if reporters could remember the old cyclometer that used to record mileage on bicycles, President Roosevelt proudly explained that this new contrivance worked after the same fashion, to measure the electricity used in a small house. And instead of costing $10.00 which is what the big meter costs, this new one would cost about halt that. Mr. Roosevelt was so pleased with it that he held it aloft from his swivel chair all the time he talked”

Author: Staff Correspondent

Source: Christian Science Monitor: 19391025

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1940

Quote: “This is the only way I can keep abreast of the terrific pace that the gadgeteers set for me. My shop is filled with these so called aids to better pictures. If you go for truck-loads of trinkets … this is YOUR heaven … or haven. I’ve got them all listed in my new and beautifully illustrated Still Camera Bargaingram No. 242.”

Author:

Source: Scientific American 162, (April 1940). p. 222-246

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1940

Quote: “How that many important cine accessories are unavailable because of war restrictions placed upon their manufacture, building our own gadgets assumes greater importance as one of the most enjoyable phases of our hobby. Fortunately, most of us still have materials in our garage or workshop junk piles with which to make a camera gadget or an accessory for titling or editing our films. “

Author:

Source: January 1943

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1940

Quote: “rod holder, fly box, aluminum creel, trolling fin, kit-bag chair, adjustable rod grip”

Author:

Source: Popular Science. July 1940. 54

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1941

Quote: “With all these built-in gadgets the camera looks lie ka Lilliputian anti-aircraft position detector, and five months went into its construction. But the desired result has been achieved–that of combining the quick-working facilities of the Speed Graphic with the advantage of changing from one focal length to another…”

Author: Caldwell, Erskine and Margaret Bourke-White

Source: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce. 1941.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1941

Quote: “When you look at the gun illustrated below, note particularly the two little gadgets shown under the barrel and the similar gadget on the end of the barrel. The gun itself is a 20-gage, bolt-action, repeating shotgun with detachable clip of two-shot capacity–and a third in the chamber, if desired. But the three little gadgets comprise the crux of this story, for they are machined choke tubes, easily and quickly interchangeable, thereby producing a three-shot scattergun with full choke, modified choke, or improved cylinder choke, as may be desired. And by shooting the gun without any tube attached, you get a true cylinder which, although offering no control over the pattern, is still preferred by some shooters.”

Author: Rathbone, A.D.

Source: Scientific American 165, (August 1941). p. 104-105

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1942

Quote: “The very names ‘dash’ or ‘splash’ board, which, it is believed, were synonymous as applied to earlier vehicles automatically explain the original intended use of this particular part of a vehicle body. That is to say, it was the barrier erected between the horse as the means of propulsion and the passengers carried in the vehicle so propelled. The only instrument likely to be found on these earliest vehicles was possibly a dashboard clock.” … “There appear to have been over a period of years two schools of thought of as regards dashboard equipment, the first extreme being in the direction of fitting the dashboard with almost every conceivable form of gadget which the ingenuity of man has devised, amongst these instruments and knobs being some of the essential ones and many nonessential ones. A rough list would comprise speedometer, clock. petrol gauge, revolution counter, oil pressure gauge, water thermometer, oil thermometer, ammeter, starter switch and light switches, dynamo-charging warning light, oil pressure warning light, cigar lighter, car heater, radio and choke controls, brake self-servo warning light, octane selector, and even such devices as trafficator indicators, time switch for lights, battery level indicators, radiator water level indicators, and possibly others which do not come to mind at the moment. Even some of these have not been commercially produced.”

Author: Browne, D. Bennion

Source: Proceedings of the Institution of Automobile Engineers. v. 36. 1942. p. 179

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1942

Quote: “Navy ingenuity is not confined to these larger items [i.e. aircraft carriers]; any number of important devices and much aircraft material were conceived and developed by the Bureau of Aeronautics. Included is the carrier arresting gear, very secret and said to be finest in use anywhere; flotation gear to, keep both plane and pilot afloat after emergency landings; the Sperry bombing sight, which gained fame in Army hands, but which was originally built to Navy specifications; a vital process for corrosion-proofing of aircraft metals; and many important gadgets and instruments which are the brain children of the design and engineering divisions of the Naval Aircraft Factory.”

Author: Peck, James L. H.

Source: Scientific American 166, (March 1942). p. 121-123

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1942

Quote: “The simplicity of cold-cathode fluorescent lighting is another basic reason for the growing popularity of this form of illumination. There are no accessories or starting gadgets of any sort required. Just the tubing and the transformer complete the equipment proper. When the power switchis closed, the tubing lights up instantly, at full illumination. There is no delay, no sputtering, no flickering. With the absence of starters or accessories, there is virtually nothing to get out of order.”

Author: Lescarboura, Austin C.

Source: Scientific American 167, (October 1942), p. 167-169

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1942

Quote: “Drive clean, simple, free from gadgets and hickerpickers, made by N.J. Schell, 1019 Third Avenue, Beaver Falls, Pa., is shown in Figure 5. Asked to describe it, Schell writes: ‘The drive is used with an equatorial which has for its upper polar bearing a large cast iron flange, or plate, which rolls on two ball-bearing rollers (Porters design, I believe). I found it would be necessary to re-build the whole thing if a worm-wheel was to be used, so tried using a thin band or belt of phosphor-bronze (continuous) which passes around both rollers and under the large flange. This band is just taut when the weight is on it.”

Author: Ingalls, Albert G.

Source: Scientific American 167, (November 1942). p. 238-240

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1943

Quote: “Our fighter planes are almost as fast, and certainly as well protected and armed as any in the world, and are provided with every instrument, accessory, or gadget that it is possible to think of. These planes also are exceedingly robust-far more robust that the almost “delicate” Zero, for example. There has, however, been a tendency in American fighter design to use too much strength and weight, too many gadgets, instruments, and ac­cessories, and finally, to load the wing, in pounds per square foot, to very high values. The result is they lack, perhaps, in maneuverability-the ability to roll, or to dive very rapidly when detaching them­ selves from the enemy.”

Author: Klemin, Alexander

Source: Scientific American 168, (May 1943). p. 232-233

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1948

Quote: “New crop includes everything from retrievers to mirrors to help the duffer approach par. In the perennial pursuit of par, America’s three million golfers spend $40 million annually for equipment. A surprisingly large proportion of this money goes for the scores of ingenious gadgets which are supposed to help every duffer hit his tee shot a little farther, get on the green a little sooner, and putt a little bit straighter. While some of these gadgets help lower the golfer’s score, others soothe his sensitive nerves, like the ‘Retrevit’ which makes it simple to fish a poorly hit ball out of a stream. In spite of the expenditures of cash and energy, however, less than .5% of all the golfers in the U.S. can shoot on par or under.”

Author:

Source: LIFE. July 19, 1948. p. 91

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1949

Quote: “In 1944 he wrote, “I often wonder how privileged I am out here, at my age, Whenever I want something I go to the optical or machine shop and find every­ thing at my disposal. If I get into a jam for a gadget there’s always someone to say, ‘Let me do it for you.’”

Author: Ingalls, Albert G.

Source: Scientific American 180, (April 1949). p. 60-63

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1949

Quote: “The Gadgets: The five-year stage of the program, scheduled to be in full operation by the winder of 1953-54, calls for the installation and standard use of nine major weather-beating devices. … “Because ILS has some drawbacks, it will be supplemented with this descendant of a wartime invention–again a gadget already in use on a limited scale. … With widespread use of these and the other gadgets, plus a few lesser improvements, SC-31 [the plan] declares that weather hazards will be pretty much under control.”

Author:

Source: Changing Times: The Kiplinger Magazine. Oct 1949.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1949

Quote: “An old-timer knew what he had to do in a jam. He didn’t need hundreds of those gadgets to guide him to safety.”

Author: Leyson, Captain Burr

Source: Boys’ Life. Nov 1949. p. 6.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1950

Quote: “Regarding the “utility of the BC-221 frequency meter,” which can be “increased considerably by the addition of a null indicator that gives positive indication of exact zero beat between the crystal and the heterodyne oscillator or the signal from a near-by transmitter. A 6E5 ‘magic eye’ tube can be added without circuit complications…” “The addition of this gadget has made a big improvement in my BC-221, and it is hoped that others will be able to derive the same benefit…” “Needing something in a hurry to replace a smashed neon bulb as an r.f. indicator, I connected a tN34 crystal diode across a 0-1 millimeter as shown at A in Fig. 2. With the addition of a six-inch length of wire as a probe, the gadget can be used for numerous application”

Author:

Source: QST: American Radio Relay League. vol. 34. 1950. p. 66.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1951

Quote: “We are told that the audiometer in the ad is ‘installed in a radio receiver in a scientifically selected radio home. By recording every twist of the dial, every minute of the day or night, the audiometer obtains precious radio data not available through any other means.’ These meters are, of course, isntalled with the consent of the scientifically selected radio-owner.” “Don’t look now, but I hear somebody hooking this gadget to an electronic brain–for the good of mankind, of course.”

Author: McLuhan, Marshall

Source: The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man. New York: The Vanguard Press, Inc. p. 48

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1951

Quote: “Don’t block vision with gadgets and stickers.”

Author:

Source: The Plain Dealer (Kansas City, Kansas) • 06-29-1951 • Page 2

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1952

Quote: “”

Author:

Source: Fountain Press, 1952

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1952

Quote: “The waveguide is only one of many gadgets that microwaves have brought to radio. There are the cavity resonator (which is used to produce high electric fields, to filter signals, to provide circuits in vacuum tubes, and so on), the magnetron and the klystron (used to produce bursts of high power, notably as pulses for radar), and a host of others. But the story of most of them has frequently been told, and this is not the place for a detailed catalogue of microwave equipment.”

Author: Pierce, J. R.

Source: Scientific American 187, (August 1952). p. 43-51

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1953

Quote: ““PATTY They have a fascinating new gadget. Whenever it starts to rain, you press a little button and it squirts water onto your windshield so that the wiper won’t get it all smeared. I think of it every time it starts to rain. … But the boy Vicki goes with does, and he lets me work it. Not drive it. Work the gadget. (31)”

Author: Herbert, Frederick Hugh

Source:

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1953

Quote: “A practical kink for use with a camera gadget bag is to insert plastic panels inside the bag and outside pocket to protect photographic accessories and help maintain the bag’s proper shape. Another idea, which eliminates penning the bag repeatedly, is to attach small zipper-type camera cases to the carrying-strap rings of the bag for filters, shades and other small accessories.”

Author: Winterton, M.G.

Source: Popular Mechanics. Jan 1953. p. 209.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1954

Quote: “Among them were rooms at the Cosmopolitan hotel, jewelry, candy and dresses for Mrs. Peters; camera and gadget bag; portrait of her and her son by a Denver photographer”

Author:

Source: Kansas American (Topeka, Kansas) • 05-14-1954 • Page [1]

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1954

Quote: “Those pictures that appeared on the front page of last week’s issue were definitely not an experiment in surrealism. Although we seem to have dfinitely attained the subconscious or at least the fifth or sixth dimension, it was not our intention. / As we spend a small fortune in flash bulbs and little plaroid film we discover new little gadgets on our camera each day that evidently have a bearing on the end product. Also we aer now aware of that all important element–contrast. We apologize to last week’s subjects, all of whom are handsome men, and promise to do better when we take your picture.”

Author: Saunders, Joseph S. Jr.

Source: Crusader (Rockford, Illinois) • 08-06-1954 • Page 2

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1954

Quote: “Women request mechanical gadgets that they can operate with a minimum of effort. And today’s car has been so tailored to the woman’s tastes that the automobile has taken on a whole new group of functions that men alone would not have dared to demand for themselves with such conveniences as power steering, power brakes, seating adjustments and electric window lifts.”

Author: Cha…?, Mary Lou

Source: The Plain Dealer (Kansas City, Kansas) • 09-10-1954 • Page [4]

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1955

Quote: “”

Author:

Source: Popular Science. July 1955

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1955

Quote: “Subscription TV will add to present programs. It will not replace or interfere with the programs that you now enjoy. The cost of Subscription TV is up to you. You pay a small sum for only those programs that you want. There are no gadgets to buy, either. As a TV subscriber the Phonevision attachment is part of the service.”

Author:

Source: The Plain Dealer (Kansas City, Kansas) • 04-22-1955 • Page [8]

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1957

Quote: “Oh, but they’re Mighty Mouses,’ Jenkins chuckled. ‘They’re as full of electronic measuring gadgets as these wonderful muffins are of blueberries. … And those gadgets will tell us all about conditions in outer space. They’ll make it possible to get a man-carrying satellite up within a few years. We’ll fasten a number of such satellites together and make us a space station. After that it should be easy to get to the Moon, or even to Mars and Venus.”

Author: West, Wallace

Source: Boys’ Life. June 1957.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1957

Quote: “Hush-A-Phone is a cup-like gadget, on the market since 1921, which fits over the mouthpiece of a telephone. Its purpose is to confine the user’s voice in the gadget, thus rendering his conversation private and to keep extraneous noise out of the telephone line, making the circuit quieter. … Telephone companies claimed that the use of Hush-A-Phone violated their tariffs, which forbid the attachment to a telephone of any device ‘not furnished by the telephone company.’”

Author: Rossman, George

Source:

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1958

Quote: “The late John von Neumann liked to cite this example of the relation between technological development and pure mathematics: A hundred and fifty years ago one of the most important problems of applied science––on which development in industry, commerce and government depended––was the problem of saving lives at sea The statistics of the loses were frightful. The money and effort expanded to solve the problem were frightful too––and sometimes ludicrous. No gadget, however complicated, was too ridiculous to consider––ocean-going passenger vessels fitted out like outrigger canoes may have looked funny, but they were worth a try.”

Author: Halmos, Paul R.

Source: Scientific American 199, (September 1958). p. 66-73

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1959

Quote: “To some of us, a new car is to drive, to enjoy and, less pleasantly, to pay for. But to others, it’s a challenge to invest in gadgets that claim to banish wear, eliminate friction, reduce gas consumption and boost performance.”

Author: Kelly, Dale

Source: Popular Mechanics. Jan 1959.


◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1961

Quote: “A fine designer, he sometimes got carried away by his last-minute ideas. Production men and cost accountants were run ragged by his habit of adding strips of chrome and other gadgets to models ready for production.”

Author:

Source: Time Magazine: 1961/02/17

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1964

Quote: “I built my shiny new house, and my children slept in shiny ruffled bedrooms. The whole town buzzed when I had a contractor from Mobile do the kitchen and the bathrooms. The master bath had a sunken tub and a tiny sun-bathing patio. The kitchen was right out of House and Garden: it had everything, every gadget that could be installed.”

Author: Markfield, Wallace

Source:

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1967

Quote: “If you’ve ever doubted that listening to good music at home is as much of a hobby as it is a pleasure, just cast an eve at the assortment of hi-fi accessories that POPULAR SCIENCE has assembled on these pages. We bought them to find out if these gadgets really can improve the sound you hear. Here’s what we learned: Record cleaners. A minute speck of dust looks like a huge boulder to the tiny stylus in your stereo cartridge. Every time the stylus hits a dust speck as it races through a dirty record’s groove, the cartridge generates an output voltage spike that produces crackle and pop.”

Author: Benrey, Ronald M.

Source: Popular Science: 1967: April: 140, 142, 225

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1968

Quote: “Auto manufacturers are adding more safety gadgets to cars every year. Highway engineers spend billions of dollars, planning and constructing super-safe roads and highways, all geared for today’s high-powered cars. Yes, many things are being done for your safety and mine.”

Author:

Source: Milwaukee Star (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) • 06-05-1968 • Page 4

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1968

Quote: “1. Christmas is when you have an allergy for fur and you receive a gift of a squirrel monkey from your favorite aunt on your father’s side of the family. 2. Christmas is when you receive a sled with all of the modern accompanying gadgets and it rains during the holidays. 3. Christmas is when you have $5.07 left for gifts and your two cousins, a grandparent, and a favorite uncle are still outstanding on your shopping list. 4. Christmas is when you run out of hot dogs, potato chips, pop corn, and “cokes” before one-third of your records have been played and one half of your guests have arrived.”

Author: Melendez, Gwen

Source: Bulletin (Chicago, Illinois) • 12-25-1968 • Page Page [4]

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1969

Quote: “Includes camera, 1 roll color print film, 2 batteries, 3 flashcubes, snapshot folder, gadget bag, film developing coupon worth $1”

Author:

Source: Milwaukee Star (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) • 06-14-1969 • Page 2

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1970

Quote: “It is worth extra money to know that when your washing machine begins that low moan that will end in a gasping jerk and a tub left full of water, you can call for a repairman and have a reasonable chance of having him show up on a not too distant date. In selecting any appliance, buy only the conveniences you need. Every extra working gadget on an appliance increases the possibilities of things going wrong often, it seems, in geometric progression. Each appliance has certain basic functions for saving time and labor. Beyond these, think carefully about each additional feature to decide whether it will be of value to you. The top-of-the-line model in the middle or even the bottom line only in the number of extra, but minor, features plus a little trim here or there. Such features may or may not save time […]”

Author: Skelsey, Alice

Source: New York: Random House. 1970

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1970

Quote: “But the device-which is designed to screen drunks by testing judgment, visual acuity, short-term memory and coordinated motor response-will also weed out drug users and those who are mentally or physically deficient. To satisfy the demanding gadget, a driver must be able to read the relatively small lighted numbers, memorize them, recall them, and punch them into the keyboard in a coordinated response within a few seconds. If he can perform these functions he is fit for the road. If he cannot-in three tries-the tester shuts off for a half-hour, giving him time to sober up before another attempt. General Motors is aware that the public will not stampede to buy and install the testers, no matter how inexpensive they are.”

Author:

Source: Time. 1 June 1970.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1972

Quote: “In the tradition of the electric toothbrush and the high-speed electric cocktail mixer, the latest effort-saving gadget is the Name Caller, which does away with the need of dialing a telephone. By pressing a button on the device, which can be easily attached to the phone, a user can reach any one of 38 numbers. Besides its speed and convenience, the Name Caller provides a foolproof way for a baby sitter to phone police, firemen or the family doctor in an emergency. The gadget-about the size of a small bathroom scale-has been available for only four months in seven major markets.”

Author:

Source: Time Magazine. 18 December 1972.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1972

Quote: “But stuck somewhere in every exhaust system will be a gadget called a catalytic converter. Its job is to get rid of most of two serious polluting components of auto exhaust? hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. The next year, when the 1976 cars debut, there’ll be a device which gets rid of the third deadly sin of auto exhausts? nitrogen oxides.”

Author: Hey, Robert P.

Source: Christian Science Monitor. 15 May 1972

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1973

Quote: “This, however, is a mere drop in the fuel tank when compared with the investments of the Unlimited pilots. Cliff Cummins, a Riverside, Calif. radiologist and consistently star-crossed flyer, estimates that he has sunk some $140,000 into his Mustang fighter in the years he has owned it. Cummins, who was once an Air Force gunnery instructor, belly-landed the Mustang in the Nevada desert three years ago during the Reno air races after a small throttle link snapped. The very same gadget failed him on the sixth lap of the eight-lap semifinal heat in Miami on Saturday. Cummins was leading at the time and had recorded the fastest qualifying-heat time of 376.8 mph earlier in the week.”

Author:

Source: Sports Illustrated. 29 January 1973.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1973

Quote: “All an expert would need in the way of equipment to alter tapes would be a recording studio, two to four quality tape recorders, a variety of auxiliary gadgets and perhaps an echo chamber. First he would listen to the tape over and over again until he felt at home with the speech patterns-voice modulation as well as breathing space. When he was satisfied that he knew the voices as well as his own, he would do the easy part first-simply cutting out certain words or sentences with a razor blade and splicing the tapes together.”

Author:

Source: Time Magazine. 11 May 1973.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1981

Quote: “While much of the world switches to smaller cars, Venezuelan motorists crowd South America’s most extensive freeway system in eight-cylinder models laden with gas-guzzling gadgets.”

Author: Benham, Joseph

Source: U.S. News and World Report: 1981: : 33-34

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1982

Quote: “Floyd pointed to a flashing arrow on the display screen, which was now showing a complicated circuit diagram. “ You see this line? “ “ Yes – the main power supply. So? “ “ This is the point where it enters Hal’s central processing unit. I’d like you to install this gadget here. Inside the cable trunking, where it can’t be found without a deliberate search. “ “ I see. A remote control, so you can pull the plug on Hal whenever you want to. Very neat – and a nonconducting blade, too, so there won’t be any embarrassing shorts when it’s triggered. Who makes toys like this? The CIA? “”

Author: Clarke, Arthur C.

Source:

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1984

Quote: “DOMESTIC FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT: Victorian except for kitchens and bathrooms which are as full of modern gadgets as possible.”

Author:

Source: Harpers: 1984-06 p. 35-48

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1986

Quote: “Many of those motorists are bound to indulge in a familiar American pastime: avoiding speed traps. Indeed, U.S. drivers in ever increasing numbers are turning for help in that unsporting effort to one of the hottest of automobile accessories, the miniature radar detector. # Once an obscure gadget found mostly on the dashboards of high-performance cars or in the cabs of long-haul trucks, the portable radar detector is fast becoming standard operating equipment in workaday Chevys, Fords and Toyotas.”

Author: Castro, Janice

Source: Time Magazine: 1986/02/07

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎


Year: 1988

Quote: “An infinitesimal mechanical advantage can make the difference between a winning and a losing sled, and the snoops at Winterberg were hoping to catch a glimpse or a hint or a suggestion of a gadget or an idea that an opposing team may have come up with since last season. It was a tense, watchful scene, worthy of a good suspense-filled cold war espionage movie. . . . Such was the superiority of the two supersled powers, that of the 18 medals awarded in the last three Olympics, 10 went to East Germany (including five of six golds) and five went to Switzerland. Two medals were won by West Germany and one by the U.S.S.R. // The international federation tried hard to halt this expensive technological race. But when it introduced new restrictions, Spezialtechnik would just come up with new gadgets that weren’t outlawed, and the Swiss, working alone in their garages, kept souping up their machines in a similar manner.”

Author:

Source: Sports Illustrated: January 27, 1988

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎