Tag Archives: retronaut

1892 – Advanced Hat Making Class

c. 1892: Evening class in Advanced millinery

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1897: Costume ball

Costume Ball 1

 

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1884: The Stevens Bicycle Rifle

1884: The Stevens Bicycle Rifle

March 7, 2014
Stevens-Bicycle-Rifle

Source: Old Bike
Nothing says Second Amendment rights like a nice rifle bicycle.  Stay in shape, get around, and protect yourself.  Could be good for a zombie apocalypse too…  Of course if they made something like this is Massachusetts today, the ATF would raid them.

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1887: Octopus chatelaine

1887: Octopus chatelaine

January 30, 2014
A chatelaine is a decorative belt hook or clasp worn at the waist with a series of chains suspended from it. Each chain is mounted with a useful household appendage such as scissors, thimble, watch, key, vinaigrette, household seal, etc.

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1882: Patented Rat Exterminator

1882: Patent rat exterminator

January 23, 2014
Patent Rat Exterminator 1

To all whom it may concern –

Be it known that I, JAS. ALEXANDER WILLIAMS, 0f Fredonia, in the county of San Saba and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Animal Traps; and 1 do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in animal-traps; and it consists in the combination of a suitable frame upon which a revolver or pistol is secured, a treadle which is secured to the front end of this frame, and a suitable spring and levers, by which the fire arm is discharged when the animal steps upon the treadle.

The object of my invention is to provide a means by which animals which burrow in the ground can be destroyed, and which trap will give an alarm each time that it goes off, so that it can be reset.

The accompanying drawing represents the side elevation of my invention complete.

This invention may also be used in connection with a door or window, so as to kill any person or thing opening the door or window to which it is attached.

I am aware that burglar-alarms of various kinds have been used, and which have been connected to windows and doors in such a manner that the’opening of the window or door causes a pressure upon a lever which discharges a fire-arm; but in no case have the parts been arranged and combined as here shown and described.

Patent Rat Exterminator 2

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Learning to Drive a Car in 1898

Learning to Drive a Car in 1898

1898:  How to Become a Driver

Source:  Bibliotheque Nationale de France

Through Retronaut

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1873: Steam engine on a Rigi railway, Switzerland

1873: Steam engine on a Rigi railway, Switzerland
“Rigi Railways are a group of railways on Mount Rigi, Lake Lucerne, Switzerland.The Vitznau-Rigi Bahn is also notable as the first mountain rack railway in Europe”

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1883 Illustrated Guide to Insane People

This is a pretty chilling look into the ‘state of the art’ definition of insanity in 1883.  This is an illustrated guide published to help other ‘mental health’ professionals at the time with diagnosis and treatment, a precursor to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, known as the DSM-IV-TR, or the fourth version, text revision.  Chances are in the Age of Steam you would be locked up in a cell for the rest of our life if you were considered a risk to self or others.

1883:  Illustrated Guide to Insane People

 

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1876: Cutting Edge Machinery

The Centennial in 1876 included the showcase of modern machinery in Philadelphia.  Remember, there were no machines to speak of just 50 years earlier.  Manpower, supplemented by horse power, was all there had been.  The Age of Steam brought about the Industrial Revolution, created larger cities, factories and changed everything we know.  The Civil War had ended just 12 years earlier and the Indian Wars were still going on.  Every picture you see of a machine was made without machining tools, computers or even the ability to improve on earlier designs.  The cross country railroad was being built but rails still suffered from a lack of standard gauge tracks.  Electricity and oil had yet to prove themselves as the energy of the future and were just beginning to be explored.

1876:  The Machinery Hall at the Centennial Exhibition Philadelphia

“During the Centennial year of 1876, Philadelphia was host to a celebration of 100 years of American cultural and industrial progress. Officially known as the “International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and Products of the Soil and Mine,” the Centennial Exhibition, the first major World’s Fair to be held in the United States, opened on May 10th.”

Click a photo to enlarge, then you can arrow left or right to see the rest in full screen.

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1874 – Cincinnati Public Library – Impressive!

Today, we have that many books available on our phone through Kindle.  Makes you think what the next hundred years will bring.  As an author, I hope future generations care about reading as much as those in Cincinnati obviously did in 1874.

1874:

Interior of the Public Library of Cincinnati

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