logic gates

Via Pasa Bon! we are presented with an educational toy in the form of a mechanical computer invented and marketed in 1965 by John “Jack” Thomas Godfrey called the Digi-Comp II that used marbles rolling down an incline through customisable, programmable interventions, like a pinball game (Flipperkast) or pachinko to teach coding. These basic calculations were accomplished—less kinetically—on the predecessor game with gears and latch circuits as a demonstration of binary logic. Much more to explore at the link up top including a giant model and a Lego version of the visual calculator.

6x6

schröder staircase: prize-winning optical illusions 

well, the spam, eggs, sausage and spam—that’s not got much spam in it: McDonald’s in China releases a special, limited edition burger  

every day, the same, again: miscellany from the New Shelton wet/dry 

black mirror: a Claude glass was a handheld Instagram filter of artists and sightseers in the late 1700s

back contamination: NASA’s efforts to contain a lunar pandemic (see previously) that never came to pass and what lessons it can teach us in this current situation

frame-included position shift: another impressive optical illusion

7x7

repetition: an exploration of built-environments as an audio-visual landscape of infinite regression  

a pigment of our imagination: the illusory nature of colour  

nationally determined contributions: European Union agrees to more than halve its carbon emissions by 2030—via Slashdot 

awesome sauce: a safari-pak of canned-meats from 1967 

road gritters: track Scotland’s fleet of snow-plows in real time by name  

training a generation of future karens: this scholastic kids books series are clearly coding adults as happy and confident with their life choices as monsters and misfits—via Super Punch 

a universe of imagination: revisiting a classic and inspiring documentary (previously) on cosmology on its sixtieth anniversary

8x8

regolith: British R&D company working on process to extract oxygen from lunar soil and using the by-product to three-dimensionally print a moon base—via the New Shelton wet/dry  

gentle giant: David Prowse, the British weight-lifter and character actor who played Darth Vader, has passed away 

person, woman, man, camera, tv: Sarah Andersen’s funny take on our future senility  

kung-fu grip: new research suggests that Neanderthals did not use their hands and thumbs in the same way as Homo sapiens 

 handkerchief flirting codes for post-humans: Janelle Shane (previously) trains a neural network on late Victorian courtship etiquette 

wilmarsdonk: the remains of a village in the middle of the Port of Antwerp, mostly vacated for the busy shipping hub’s expansion  

social harmony: queuing guests practise distancing on a length of music notation, producing a movement from Gymnopédie  

pareidolia, apophenia: brain neurons juxtaposed with galactic clusters connected by filaments of dark matter

goût grec

We rather enjoyed looking through these fantastical masquerade outfits informed by neoclassical Greek columns and other architectural elements from the imagination of Ennemond Alexandre Petitot—himself the court architect and influencer (railing against this particular style) of the Bourbon Dukes in Parma, printed in 1771, not as sketches for buildings nor actual fancy dress but rather gentle derision on the obsession for “Greek taste” that dominated French fashion and decorative arts with Ionic scrolls, key and fret work and similar patterns—sort of like the tiki aesthetic of its day. Much more to explore at Public Domain Review at the link up top.

7x7

more than meets the eye: introducing the Ephemera Society of America through Hunt’s Remedy—via Everlasting Blört

cheesemongers: a tour of London’s venerable Leadenhall Market  

divergent media narratives: a battle designer wargames the upcoming US presidential election to terrifying, bleak ends  

more than means the eye: transforming everyday objects from the studio of Max Siedentopf  

try this at home: a demonstration of the allassonic phenomenon—also known as the hot chocolate effect  

non-canon: among the three hundred known apocryphal books of the Bible includes epic wizard and demon battles and a border guard that tried to help Jesus from Strange Company  

parfumez vu: an antique, coin-op scent dispenser

7x7

the trouble shooter: a truly bizarre and blessed vintage cartoon

single-camera setup: more lockdown sitcom episodes from Poseidon’s Underworld

far from the madding crowd: a backyard shed that’s the ultimate weekend, quarantine project—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links

sidebar: the hobby and craft chain Michael’s has a community chatroom that’s become an affirming if not wild forum—via Waxy

kingston’s good ghosts: an Art Deco inspired (see also) custom roadster

rave cave: party-goers in an Olso bunker hospitalised for carbon monoxide poisoning

obscure media: Miss Cellania’s Video of the Day “Robot Love” from a decade ago

omnia omnibus ubique

Having first encountered the massive catalogue on Things Magazine (with more on the theme mail-order shopping), we were quite intrigued and a bit frustrated that Project Gutenberg where the 1912 tome in its entirety is archive (an undertaking it took thirteen years to scan) is unironically blocked in Deutschland, and so appreciated the curation by Open Culture of some of the limitless wares on offer by ringing up “Western One” (true to the motto above) for anything at any time day or night.
Some of the particularly Victorian goods and services available included an on-call taxidermist, engage a band of musicians for an occasion, cocaine infused throat lozenges all shipped anywhere in the Empire. The flagship store of course still exists though now under the ownership of the state of Qatar. Much more to explore at the links above.

hanging chad

Prior to the introduction of paper balloting, polities in the United States cast their vote in a variety of fashions including standing on opposite sides of the road during a roll-call or signifying one’s support with kernels of corn, and as we learn from this review from Hyperallergic prior to the advent of secret voting straight party ballots were dispatched by political parties to the faithful of Alicia Yin Cheng’s study This What Democracy Looked Like and the evolution of the enduring, ephemeral tools of voting from the perspective of history and graphic design. It is interesting how typography and format can be used to nudge and obfuscate and how the dazzle and economy of space reveals the complexities of the law and hierarchy of elected office. Much more to explore at the link above.

mittelmosel

Again passing through the Calmont, we got a chance to inspect one of the monorail cars that climb the steep hillside so pickers can collect grapes and tend the vines on some of the sheerest arable cliffs in the world—I couldn’t say I’d enjoy the ride, seeing the track tapering off vertically in the distance.
Taking a slow, meandering drive along the many curves and turns, we stopped at the village of Lösnich (Losuniacum), a typical wine-growing town with this beautiful 1906 Jungendstil (Art Deco) Winzervilla by representative architect Bruno Möhring, who also designed many of the outstanding buildings of Traben-Trarbach.
Next we proceeded to the main town of the Central Moselle, Bernkastel-Kues.
There H and I explored the market square—with an ensemble of medieval Fachwerk (half-timbered) buildings including the Spitzhäuschen and the abutting vineyards partially enclosed by the old town walls and learned about the local wine’s reported restorative properties (see also) that gained the town prominence enough to get trade privileges and a defensive castle—the partially ruined Burg Landshut dominating the town from above, the stronghold overseeing trade in the region traded between France and Prussia over the course of several skirmishes before finally sustaining damage due to a fire that could not be brought under control during a plague outbreak in 1692.

bodice-ripping

In order to keep up with the pace of publication of pulp fiction paperbacks and special interest magazines cover artists and illustrators often turned formulaic, perhaps becoming generic and predictable.
Active from the mid-1950s through the late 1970s and under contract to Man’s Life and True Men Stories, no one embraced and mastered the model and method better than Wilbur (Wil) Hulsey (*1925 – †2015), we learn thanks to Miss Cellania, whose commissions almost invariably consisted of virile man (the gallery’s curator sees a resemblance to David Bowie) defending a distressed damsel (present or implied) from exotic animals, the protagonist himself sustaining bodily damage whilst trying to rebuff the attack. The subgenre of illustrated narrative that Hulsey propagated is sometimes referred to as “Weasels Ripped My Flesh”—though Cannibal Crabs or “Chewed to Bits by Giant Turtles” would do as well, albeit that none other are Frank Zappa song titles.  See more cover art at the links above.

jetway 707

Having a cameo in no less than All the President’s Men featuring Dustin Hoffman as Carl Bernstein and clocking in at an impressive eight-and-a-half metre length, via Things Magazine, we’re pleased to be acquainted with the wonderfully outlandish airport stretch limousine (produced from 1968 to 1970) from Oldsmobile and its subsidiary American Quality Coach designed to shuttle VIPs (seating twelve to fifteen) and their luggage from the terminal to the tarmac (see previously). Much more to explore at the links above.

#lastnormalphoto

Via Kottke’s Quick Links with more to explore on social media under the titular hashtag, BBC asked readers to submit the last image on their phones taken before their world was radically changed with lockdown, teleworking and social distancing measures imposed to stop the spread of COVID-19 and save lives and to share the stories behind them, scenes that seem nearly inconceivable and unconscionable just a few months later. One of the last normal activities I took part in was on 1 March, going to a local flea market—I miss those—and showing off a couple of finds in this stoneware pitcher and brass relief etched sculpture of a sailboat. I remember the virus being discussed among vendors and visitors at the multipurpose hall where the sale was being held. What is your last documented moment before this upheaval and pause?

typatune

From the venerable bon viveur Card House, we are presented with another novel approach to teaching those aspiring touch typists in the form of this melodious marvel from 1945 whose notes correspond to keystrokes (see previously) which surely must have resulted in a discordant cacophony with the prescribed exercises. No font specimen is available as the contraption instead operated like an accordion and though it seems rather counter-productive to play a QWERTY keyboard like that of a clavier, perhaps there was some method to this music box.

analytical analyser of harmonics

From Pasa Bon! we are acquainted with the with the 1959 breakthrough computing advancement from engineer and scientist Jacek Karpiński (*1927 – †2010) in collaboration with Janusz Tomaszewski, the transistor-powered AKAT-1.
Constructed to solve differential equations for better modelling of heat dissipation in motors and shock absorption in brakes and building off the success of an earlier prototype used to make more precise weather forecasts, Karpiński gave his latest analogue unit a space-age housing and interface that looks like something out of science-fiction. Later achievements in the industry include standardising coding language and a machine called the Perceptron that could distinguish objects by shape and was one of the pioneering examples of algorithmic learning through supervised learning. Normally the AKAT-1 can be visited at the Muzeum Techniki in Warsaw.

pachyderm

The incredibly prolific design duo of Ray and Charles Eames (see previously here and here) had great affection for elephants and prototyped a moulded plywood multipurpose piece of furniture for children in 1945—which never went into production until 2007. Our friends over at Pasa Bon! (don’t be intimidated by the language difference) give a bit more background and history on the design and present several scalable tutorials to create one yourself out of paper or sturdier media as a fun and engaging project for any one.

plaster of paris

Our faithful antiquarian and bibliophile, JF Ptak Science Books, is always uncovering interesting historical passages and ephemera and lately directs us to an 1834 invention by M. Richard Rettford to take casts mechanically by recording the impression of the object to be modelled by the indent on a matrix of tiny needles through a mesh. Though we all might be familiar with the pin art screens that are the domain of executive toys, back in the nineteenth century proposing such a solution as this physiognotype for non-intrusive three-dimensional sampling and replication was a really innovative idea.

winsor mccay: the famous cartoonist of the ny herald and his moving comic

Better known by its short title, Little Nemo, by the eponymous illustrator (previously here and here) debuted his silent, mixed live-action and animated short—one of the first of its kind and certainly counted as the most influential—based on and extending the story first framed by a full-page Sunday strip in the Herald in October 1905 on this day in New York theatres. Over four thousand drawings on rice-paper were sketched out—notably not cels due to the lack of background, and assigned series numbers for easier collation and a good portion of the film covers the foibles of production and the technical struggles of putting together the cartoon.
Little Nemo

qwerty or 🦆🐈🐄🐿️🦃🐢

To our delight we discover that in the mid-1930s—in order to raise qualified typists Smith Corona introduced a portable unit with animals on the keys to make the exercise more kid-friendly plus a set of nine rings—one for each finger and the right thumb to drum the space bar, to teach touch-typing and reinforce and associate letters with their rows through muscle-memory—knowing that one should use the birdie finger, doggie finger, etc, rather than by hunting and pecking. The most ambitious tutorial toy of its age, the typewriter looked to have promising Christmas sales the year it premiered but the Great Depression rather put a damper on further production and idea was abandoned to be championed later in other forms.

stemmario

Once again Present /&/ Correct directs us to a brilliant curated collection in the 1938 redesigns of municipal crests and regional coats of arms executed by futurist sculptor and graphic designer Fortunato Depero (*1892 – †1960)—whom founded a utopian, reinventionist art movement similar, parallel to Bauhaus after World War I in Rovereto.
We especially liked the blazons for Como and Pisa but all have the same visually striking effect. Depero unfortunately is not accorded the same level of attention as some of his peers but enjoys a legacy nonetheless, including the unique and ubiquitous design of the bottle that Campari soda comes in.