Category: Man Made Muscle

Tank Reindeer Outdoor Christmas Display, 1963

As published in First Armored Division Association Bulletin, “Old Ironsides,”, No. 3, Vol. XV, Winter 1963 – 64; caption and info:

13th Horse Has Best Outside Christmas Display

The tank-reindeer display of the 2nd Battalion, 13th Armor, Lt Col John F. Hooks Commanding, was adjudged best of outdoor Christmas displays in the 1st Armored area last Christmas. Colonel Hooks is President of the Old Ironsides Chapter and a member of the Board of Directors of this Association.

“Good Morning Mr. Khadafy… This is your wake-up call.”

Dug this t-shirt, circa 1986 and commemorating President Reagan’s U.S. naval fighter action against Muammar Gaddafi, out and put it up on eBay because now it is a true collector’s item. Marking a specific event, it is perhaps even more ephemeral than paper works as these tees were worn and washed until they wore out!

Along with the phrase, “Good Morning Mr. Khadafy… This is your wake-up call,” there’s an F/A-18 (which looks like it’s straight out of Jane’s). I don’t suppose even the mighty US military can wake Muammar up now.

The State Of Delaware Was Proud Of Their Drivers’ Ed Cars

Not one, not two, but three photos of the public instruction vehicles for driver education adorn the pages of Safer Motoring: A Guide For Young Drivers, prepared by the State of Delaware State Department of Public Instruction, Division of Health, Physical, & Driver Education; circa 1957. Plus, one of some cars and drivers which is without a caption or credit.

Gernsback’s ADD & ADHD Treatment

The Isolator by Hugo Gernsback, as it appeared on the cover of, and the pages in between, the July 1925 issue of Science and Invention.

While Attention Deficit Order, with or without hyperactivity, isn’t mentioned (it didn’t exist as a diagnosis back then), The Isolator was designed to help focus the mind, particularly when reading and writing (literacy is hard work!). The helmet not only eliminated all outside noise, limited sight to just one line of text at a time, but it also pumped in oxygen. From the looks of it, the contraption would also assist in limiting hyperactivity by limiting movement, or, between weight and limited visibility, it would at least slow you down.

Via A Great Disorder and 50 Watts. At Boing Boing, Mark captions the mag cover “Portrait of a Blogger in the 1920s.”

Vacation Hell: Trapped In A Trailer With Guitar-Playing Dad

Photo found inside Vacation On Wheels booklet, by Maury Delman, distributed by National Research Bureau, Inc. No date; circa 1970s.