Proper Name

Gadget used as the proper name for a particular object.

◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎

Year: 1905

Quote: “But, as above stated, the methods of tying the cotton while under this extreme pressure as usually practiced are such that when the pressure is removed the bales expand until their density is only about 22.5 or 23 pounds to the cubic foot. Various methods have been used to prevent this expansion, at least in part, and so produce a bale of greater density. These methods seem to be practicable, though of varying utility, but they all involve increased expense. Among them is the Gadget process, so called, an attachment by which wires are drawn tightly around the bale and twisted while the cotton is held between the jaws of the compress. By this method a density of perhaps 30 to 35 pounds is retained, and bales of that density and consequently smaller size would apparently permit car loadings of 40,000 pounds and upwards. To what extent the Gadget attachment is in actual use is not disclosed by the testimony. […] By the use of the Gadget attachment and similar devices a bale of still greater density is produced which loads readily 35,000 to 40,000 pounds.”

Author:

Source: Interstate Commerce Reports vol. 11.

Year: 1909

Quote: “The smooth patch, together with paper or tin bags properly marked, I am quite sure would preserve the identity of each bale of cotton from the time it leaves the compress until it reaches the factory; and in the case of the tin tag this would be true though every particle of the covering should be torn from the bale in transit. The tin tag in its present shape can not be used successfully on cotton banded with Churchill patented wire-tying machine, the ‘Gadget,’ but it would no doubt be made to conform to the new system. When the ‘Gadget’ comes into general use cotton would be so much more mercifully handled by stevedores in breaking out at destination port that the smooth patch and the paper bag will likely be found to accomplish the end aimed at.”

Author:

Source: Compilation of Convention Topics: American Association of Local Freight Agents’ Associations 412

Year: 1916

Quote: “There seems to be, or have been, three devices for accomplishing this result, i.e.: 1st, The Churchill ‘Gadget.’ 2nd, The new Nesbit ‘Standard’ Compress. 3rd, The Webb High Density Attachment. The first (Churchill ‘Gadget’) does not seem to be actively offered and is apparently not a live prospect. The second (Nesbitt Press) is a new style of compress, the process of which differs somewhat from the compress in general use. They ahve one or two plants in experimental operation. The third (Webb High Density Attachment) is intended for use in connection with their regular compresses. The Webb compress is in general use and their attachment is in successful operation at a number of places.”

Author:

Source: Proceedings of Transportation and Car Accounting Officers. Ansley Hotel, Atlanta, GA. December 12-13, 1916. p.4684

Year: 1918

Quote: “”

Author:

Source: Issued by The Gadget Staff. 1918.

Year: 1938

Quote: “When the pneumatic-tube system was installed at the Exchange in 1917, the widgets were called “ tube carriers. “ It was a financial writer, in a rare sportive mood, who later gave them the nickname. The Stock Exchange librarian, Mrs. Meredith, investigated the word recently and found it in Weseen’s Dictionary of American Slang, published in 1934? “ Widget: an indefinite substitute name for any appliance or device. “ Or, as they now say at the Exchange, “ A widget is a gadget. “ Widgets are manufactured by several competing companies, which submit sealed bids for orders to the Exchange’s Division of Supply. They come in three colors – natural maple, red, and blue; the colors have no significance. They have to be breakable, or else when they got out of shape with wear they’d clog up the pneumatic tubes. They travel on the main floor of the Exchange at an average speed of 15 M.P.H.”

Author: White, Katherine S.

Source: New Yorker: 1938-01-01: p. 11-15

Year: 1949

Quote: “”

Author: Hubbard, L. Ron

Source: Astounding Science Fiction. vol. 44, no. 2. October, 1949. p. 77.

Year: 1953

Quote: “The Soviet thermonuclear explosion of August 12 may have been ‘weak,’ i.e., compared the first ‘thermonuclear experiment’ at Eniwetok in 1951, rather than to th full-fledged explosion achieved on November 1, 1952; and the latter itself may have been the try-out of an earth-bound ‘gadget’ rather than of a deliverable thermonuclear bomb. It needs, however, little optimism–if optimism be the right word–to predict that the ‘gadget’ will soon be converted into an H-bomb capable of delivery by a bomber, and that a Soviet H-bomb will follow the American without much delay.”

Author: Rabinowitch, Eugene

Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Oct 1953.

Year: 1958

Quote: “In this connection I do remember calling in 1944 a meeting of my cyclotron group at Los Alamos. The subject of the meeting was rather pretentiously announced as ‘The Impact of the Gadget [the bomb] on Civilization.’ The meeting was advertised to other groups at Los Alamos, and between 50 and 100 scientists attended. We discussed what the world might be like as a result of our endeavors.”

Author: Wilson, Robert R.

Source: Scientific American 199, (December 1958). p. 145-155

Year: 1972

Quote: “By this time, Gloriana, being young and basically healthy, had completely revived. She thanked us for our rescue efforts, and began prattling along enthusiastically about how much she was enjoying what she considered a great adventure, and how much she admired the woods, the mountains, the beautiful white snow, and the entire State of Vermont. Meanwhile, I was congratulating myself on this extraordinary piece of good luck. Monkeyface had not yet arrived to strike a sour note by arguing and objecting. So Gadget and I had a clear field to pour on the syrup. And we did a wonderful job. We agreed with everything Gloriana said. We suggested gently that we were all three of us a group of nature lovers, and that Monkeyface, although a bit gruff and tough on the outside, was inwardly more of a true nature lover than anybody.”

Author: Birmingham, Frederic A.

Source: Saturday Evening Post. Summer 1972.