Uncle Sam Wants YOU on a National Bicycle — 1896

In celebration of American Independence Day, I give you Uncle Sam shilling for the National Cycle Manufacturing Co.

A supine genius who had accomplished more by age 24 than… almost everyone.

Check out the forgotten world of stand pipes — tall, cylindrical water towers often the pride and joy of cities and towns.

It’s a cool and quirky Swiss-designed pen. And it comes with its own launch pad and robot. (…And if you have to ask the price, you absolutely can’t afford it.)

What looks like a ghostly apparition was, in fact, a handy-dandy rubberized portable darkroom with which one could drape oneself whilst processing photographic plates. Read more….

This is not the Stan Lee you’re used to seeing — see the Valentine’s Day installment of the rather obscure, short-lived comic strip at the link.

Self-taught architect Charles Deaton said this about his futuristc-looking bank in, of all places, Casper, Wyoming: “It’s got everything it needs, no more or no less. It’s a complete composition. It has not been modified or changed in the construction or by the bank. It could not have been done if I did not have in the bank a client that wanted a creative effort. […] I have no apologies … no excuses. I like it.” Click to see more photos of this cool building (which, hallelujah, is still standing).

Interested in a step-by-step illustrated tutorial on how a telephone call was completed in 1911, when operators were needed to place all calls? Look no further! Click to read more…

This industrial metal structure — possibly in use at a Texas oil refinery? — looks pleasingly futuristic. The winding exterior staircase is a nice touch.