Gertrude McCoy at the Auto Fashion Show, Sheepshead Bay, June 23, 1917
I've never heard of this before!
Friday, January 09, 2026
most bizarre thing I've learned of lately
America's First Radio Tour departs from Detroit, in 1922, heading to the Pacific with Rickenbacker Six cars on the Lincoln Highway, but only 2 photos of that tour seem to exist online
along with a 200-foot loop antenna on the roof, a sign points out that TECLA was providing the radio, they claimed their receiver was able to pick up all American and Ship Stations from New York to Los Angeles.
Rickenbacker automobiles equipped with radio receivers drove across the country, showcasing both the reliability of the cars and the emerging technology of radio broadcasting, though only 20 radio stations broadcast at that time
the best Tecla receiver was installed in the cars, it was the first car radio made for use on automobiles in motion and was available prior to 1922.
It had three stages of radio frequency amplification, three stages of audio frequency amplification, a special tuner for aerial and ground, and a special loop to be used for reception without ground when the automobile was moving.
Two Rickenbackers with advanced motors that minimized vibration were selected for the 2800 mile expedition over a 40-day journey from between June 1 and July 10, 1922.
Where possible, the cars stopped at noon and again every evening to give concerts for the onlookers. This was the first time a radio equipped vehicle crossed the continent and thousands of people were exposed to the experience of broadcast radio for the first time.
Where possible, the cars stopped at noon and again every evening to give concerts for the onlookers. This was the first time a radio equipped vehicle crossed the continent and thousands of people were exposed to the experience of broadcast radio for the first time.
Newspapers, especially the San Francisco Chronicle, carried headlines that let people know when the cars were in their city and advertised the event. America's "ace of aces" Eddie Rickenbacker was on hand in Detroit to see the cars off.
Detroit businessmen and radio operators Wallace Blood and William Heinz and their wives were selected to be in charge.
Above they've reached Utah
Below, they were at the orphan's home in Boyle Heights LA
On July 10th in San Francisco Mrs Blood was quoted: "Every night we would tune in, no matter where we were along the Lincoln Highway. One night, when we were nearing Omaha, we listened to Eddie Cantor and Fanny Brice, who are with the Follies in New York. We had a vaudeville star for an entertainer nearly every evening."
While in Nevada alone they stopped in Ely, Eureka, Austin, and Carson City.
an article in Popular Science Monthly, May, 1938 - Rubber Spokes Give Bounce to Airless Safety Tires invented by J. V. Martin of Garden City, N. Y.
Hard wood, embedded in rubber, forms the rim, hoops of hickory incased in rubber and fitted with criss-cross spokes of ribbed rubber.
A photo of that particular tire clearly shows an interwoven husk of what appears to be metal hoops underlying a heavy rubber tread that is fitted over a standard rubber tire. The underlying rubber tire may or may not be inflated, but regardless of inflation the pneumatic tire hull is supported by the interlocked wire hoops. The wire hoops appear to interlock much like middle-ages chainmail armor.
huh, interesting bad weather windscreens! Thanks to Steve, I learned about it, a Cambridge windshield, they were mostly used on sporting type cars
This is known as a Cambridge windshield and it's made of either isinglass or celluloid - probably isinglass (originally made from fish bladders) in this case.
The earliest mention dates from 1909 and it became a generic term, like the California top became.
https://forums.aaca.org/topic/448353-cambridge-windshield/
Thursday, January 08, 2026
It's one of the intriguing joys of life, that as time goes by, I learn more about a specific topic, and the eventual outcome... like the tv series Space Patrol tv series, that I posted about, I just learned they took it around the country on a publicity tour, prior to giving it away
Ten-year-old Ricky Walker won the first prize in the Space Patrol TV show's Name the Planet Contest sponsored by Ralston Purina.
The grand prize was a 40-foot long rocket clubhouse on a trailer, a replica of Commander Buzz Corry’s battlecruiser, the Terra IV, and a truck to pull it. Ricky's winning name for Planet X was "Cesaria," and the Ralston Rocket clubhouse was delivered to Ricky on 12 January 1954 in the town square of his home town, Washington, Illinois.
Schwinn World Traveler bicycle were the second prizes.
Eventually the novelty wore off and Ricky’s parents sold the rocket playhouse to a traveling carnival for the sum of $1000.
In 1985 it was discovered on the property of a small construction company in Gent, New York.
Then they destroyed it and sold the metal as scrap
https://atomicscout.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/ralston-rocket-at-night.png
this surprised me, the history of the song Convoy! One of my favorites, of course
The song was created by a fictional musician, C.W. McCall, a character created for Old Home Bread Company’s advertising campaign, resulting in a Clio award
An advertising executive collaborated with Mannheim Steamroller founder
The song was a response to the 1974 federal speed limit of 55 mph, from 75 mph that truckers were used to
The lyrics were changed for the 1978 movie made by Peckinpah, starring Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw, and Ernest Borgnine
Toyota's worst seller this year, the Mirai, was still outsold by the car discontinuation in 2023, the Venza
Over the entirety of 2025, Toyota only sold 210 Mirais, down 57.8% from 2024's 499 units. That makes at least two years in a row that it came in at the bottom of the company's sales chart.
This year, though, comes with an additional sting. The Toyota Venza managed to outsell the Mirai.
The Venza was discontinued following the 2025 model year, and it announced that discontinuation back at the end of 2023.
The 707 Venzas sold last year would have been leftovers of a dead model, and they were still enough to outdo the Mirai.
https://carbuzz.com/toyotas-biggest-flop-2025-sold-fewer-than-1000/
Standing ovation to the B52 maintenance crew that invented a better, safer, faster pylon-loading fixture tool! It cuts pylon-loading time from four hours to about 30 minutes while reducing the risk of injury and aircraft damage.
Airmen who maintain B-52 Stratofortress bombers won the Air Force’s top innovation prize after designing a simple adapter that makes one of their most dangerous maintenance jobs faster and safer.
The team from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana took first place at Air Force Spark Tank, the service’s championship round for innovators, for a work platform that cuts pylon-loading time from four hours to about 30 minutes while reducing the risk of injury and aircraft damage.
“We just had to create an adapter … to basically fix it to the lift truck, so it would interface between the pylon and the lift truck,”
“The ALE 25 Pylon Loading Adapter was born out of real-world challenges faced by maintainers,” the research lab release said. “By cutting task times from four hours to just 30 minutes and eliminating risky manual lifts, it’s transforming safety and efficiency for B-52H Stratofortress operations.”
Another finalist, Tech. Sgt. Tylar Cravens, a C-130J Super Hercules engine mechanic at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, represented his team at the competition. His project, Star Forge, uses advanced 3D printing to produce full-scale composite engine models, allowing maintainers to train without removing aircraft from service.
Star Forge reduced training equipment costs dramatically — in one case from $89,000 to $1 — and is expected to improve training for about 2,300 aircraft maintainers, according to the research lab.
https://www.stripes.com/branches/air_force/2026-01-05/air-force-spark-tank-b52-repair-20303218.html
“We just had to create an adapter … to basically fix it to the lift truck, so it would interface between the pylon and the lift truck,”
“The ALE 25 Pylon Loading Adapter was born out of real-world challenges faced by maintainers,” the research lab release said. “By cutting task times from four hours to just 30 minutes and eliminating risky manual lifts, it’s transforming safety and efficiency for B-52H Stratofortress operations.”
Another finalist, Tech. Sgt. Tylar Cravens, a C-130J Super Hercules engine mechanic at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, represented his team at the competition. His project, Star Forge, uses advanced 3D printing to produce full-scale composite engine models, allowing maintainers to train without removing aircraft from service.
Star Forge reduced training equipment costs dramatically — in one case from $89,000 to $1 — and is expected to improve training for about 2,300 aircraft maintainers, according to the research lab.
https://www.stripes.com/branches/air_force/2026-01-05/air-force-spark-tank-b52-repair-20303218.html
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