A dumping ground for the bits and pieces I dig up in my work on the history of technology and the technology of history, and anything else I find interesting along the way. I am (soon to be) a PhD candidate at Imperial College and work as a writer and editor at Crimson Bamboo.Tumblr (3.0; @retro-tech)http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/<a href="http://io9.com/5838635/the-million-dollar-space-pen-hoax">The million dollar space pen hoax</a>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/10129926476http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/10129926476Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:39:44 +0300spacescamspensuseless inventions<iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rGaj2VImQec?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/><br/><p>A tech historian at TED! At last!</p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9990283898http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9990283898Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:30:05 +0300unintended consequencestech historyTED<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr53gx7i1e1qkcjuso1_500.gif"/><br/><br/><p>Herbert Paus Popular Science cover, March 1930</p> <blockquote> <p><span>This cover illustration by American commercial artist Herbert Paus shows Germany’s giant flying boat, the Dornier Do-X, cruising over New York City. It was entirely conjectural: the plane left its home port of Altenrhein, Switzerland for America in November 1930, but didn’t reach New York until almost 10 months later, on August 27, 1931.</span></p> </blockquote> <p><span>From </span><a href="http://industrialartifactsreview.com/">industrialartifactsreview.com</a></p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9952526293http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9952526293Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:31:05 +0300aviationflying boatGermany1930sUSA<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr53a90Nht1qkcjuso1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Soviet Camera</p> <p>From <a href="http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/">howtobearetronaut.com</a></p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9913177270http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9913177270Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:31:05 +0300photographyUSSRtech<a href="http://io9.com/5832988/robert-heinlein-and-the-100-year-starship-study">Robert Heinlein And The 100 Year Starship Study</a>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9872682051http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9872682051Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:30:06 +0300spaceexplorationlong-term technology projectsfiction<iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Kc-fCAToACo?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/><br/><p>“London Airport” - The beginnings of Heathrow </p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9828731110http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9828731110Mon, 05 Sep 2011 12:31:05 +0300AviationairportLondon1940s<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr1f7rriS71qd3zcao1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><a href="http://pdsmith.tumblr.com/post/9826054344">pdsmith</a>:</p> <blockquote> <p>“Neon, writing its brazen enticements across the darkness and contributing its simmering hum to the uproar of the street, for me sums up the nocturnal romance of American cities…The technology has something magical and dangerous to it, because gas is another name for chaos. The etymology is the same: gas hints at the turbulence and instability of nature, with contending forces engaged in perpetual combat.”</p> <p>Peter Conrad, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/aug/28/100-years-of-neon">Neon: 100 years of the greatest light show on earth</a>.</p> <p>Image: <span class="caption">Neon signs in Times Square, New York in 1955. </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2011/aug/28/100-years-neon-in-pictures#/?picture=378305643&index=0">Slideshow</a>.</p> </blockquote>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9827629602http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9827629602Mon, 05 Sep 2011 11:18:23 +0300neon signsSignageadvertisingtimes square<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq0u2xoALd1qkcjuso1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><span> <p>Newspaper delivery plane, Berlin 1930</p> <p>“The caption for this photo from a 1930 German book about aviation reads: Airplane as newspaper carrier. The “Berliner Zeitung am Mittag” is carried in its own airplanes to every corner of the country. The newspaper bails are stowed in the cargo area in a particular order. The pilot,  flying over the launch sites, needs only to push a number key on the control panel; the appropriate trap door of the cargo hold opens, and the stowed newspaper bundles fall out.”</p> </span><em>from <a href="http://industrialartifactsreview.com/">industrialartifactsreview.com</a></em></p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9410779709http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9410779709Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:09:06 +0300aviationmedia1930sGermanynewspapers<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq0ttbo7q61qkcjuso1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>A tram passing Westminster, London, 1950s</p> <p>From <a href="http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/">howtobearetronaut.com</a></p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9370164010http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9370164010Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:33:06 +0300tramsLondon1950stransport<iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SSTMraoURco?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br/><br/><p>‘NEW BANKING’, TOMORROW’S WORLD, 1969</p> <p>Like internet banking today, but a billion times more tedious.</p> <p>From <a href="http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2011/08/new-banking-tomorrows-world-1969/">howtobearetronaut.com</a></p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9329154386http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9329154386Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:30:05 +0300bankingmoneycommunications1960s<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq0tcnlDKm1qkcjuso1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Steamship Routes of the World, 1900 (<a href="http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2011/08/steamship-routes-of-the-world-c-1900-and-1914/">click here</a> for zoomable version)</p> <p>From <a href="http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/">howtobearetronaut.com</a></p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9287797786http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9287797786Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:31:06 +0300steamshipsshipping1900scommunications<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq0sx8l4vq1qkcjuso1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><span>“Built on the Czech/German border. This lookout tower was built in the 70s to wiretap German radio signals.”</span></p> <p><span>- from </span><a href="http://www.oobject.com/">oobject.com</a></p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9246246940http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9246246940Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:30:05 +0300cold wareastern blocarchitecturesurveillance<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq0slrD8tw1qkcjuso1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Sikorsky helicopter, night exposure, Feb. 1949 by Andreas Feininger</p> <p>From <a href="http://industrialartifactsreview.com/">industrialartifactsreview.com</a></p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9202614567http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9202614567Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:31:06 +0300helicopter1940saviation<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq0sh9dXwv1qkcjuso1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>From <a href="http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/">howtobearetronaut.com</a></p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9160294820http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9160294820Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:30:05 +0300car cultureEdwardianscolour photography<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq0sc8avi81qkcjuso1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>‘Edison’s Anti-Gravitation Underclothing’, Punch 1879</p> <p><em>From <a href="http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/">howtobearetronaut.com</a></em></p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9117552177http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9117552177Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:30:05 +0300science fictionPunchEdison<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq0s4cFYFX1qkcjuso1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Tesla’s Laboratory</p> <p>- From <a href="http://www.oobject.com/">oobject.com</a> and it’s great collection of inventors’ laboratories</p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9075004699http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9075004699Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:30:00 +0300inventionslaboratories<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpivpkUv7l1qkcjuso1_r1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p><span>A researcher observes a test subject’s ability to reach and push spokes in order to determine how far away the space capsule’s controls should be.</span></p> <p>Courtesy of <a href="http://www.sci-fi-o-rama.com/"><a href="http://www.sci-fi-o-rama.com">www.sci-fi-o-rama.com</a></a></p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9034800068http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/9034800068Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:32:05 +0300space explorationNASA1960s<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpcfdhvVoj1qkcjuso1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Graf Zeppelin (LZ-127) in the Arctic, July 27, 1931</p> <p>From <a href="http://industrialartifactsreview.com/">Industrial Artifacts Review</a></p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/8549791721http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/8549791721Sat, 06 Aug 2011 10:00:05 +0300airshiparcticexploration1930s<a href="http://www.oobject.com/category/top-9-examples-of-technological-regress/">Top 9 examples of technological regress</a>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/8463966559http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/8463966559Thu, 04 Aug 2011 10:00:05 +0300<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lpcf6nZIkq1qkcjuso1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>THE WRITING BALL<br/><br/><span><em>‘The Writing Ball is a thing like me: of iron<br/>Yet twisted easily – especially on journeys.<br/>Patience and tact must be had in abundance<br/>As well as fine [little] fingers to use us.’<br/></em></span>- Nietzsche</p>http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/8421889665http://retro-tech.tumblr.com/post/8421889665Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:20:46 +0300writing19th centurytypewriters