Ptak Science Books found an apparently serious engineering proposal that echoes a satire done more than 100 years earlier: John B. Prather launched an idea in 1945 for building a high-speed pneumatic passenger/freight train connecting New York City to Philadelphia. [It’s described in his] New York-Philadelphia Vacuum Tunnel, Preliminary Design Features and Economic Analysis… One […]
Tag: London
Signs in London, part 2
Some business signs in London (of which more can be found in part 1), these from Ballou’s Monthly Magazine, June 1861: A stranger is surprised in London by some of the signs, which have been handed down for generations, which are used to distinguish particular places of business. Many of them are perfectly unmeaning, but […]
Signs in London, part 1
Some business signs in London, from Western Druggist magazine, March 1887: I must give you a few selections from my note book of some of the business signs in London that struck me as curious. Several signs of artists draping the real figure, otherwise tailors, were noticed; then again another was ;’A professed trousers maker”; […]
Cartozoology: dog of london
Dr. Eilert Sundt Secretary General, Norwegian Cartozoologic Society, writes [AIR 16:2]: “The Mercantile Mongrel Dog prowls the heart of the City of London. Given the sheer variety and denseness of detail that is characteristic of London, this con-tour is best explored in the company of friends.” BONUS: Download a high-res copy of the full article […]