Sunday, May 29, 2011

Women at War

WAAF armourers preparing a bomber aircraft for an operation

Source: RAF Museum

Saturday, May 28, 2011

The Flying Crocodile

A Tupolev ANT-9 trimotor used in 1930s by the Soviet propaganda squadron. Named after the Krokodil (Crocodile) satyrical magazine, it was painted and decorated after a design by VB Shavrov.



Friday, May 27, 2011

Private Hospital: 1939

Operating room at Herrin Hospital (private)
35mm nitrate negative by Arthur Rothstein

via Shorpy

Dutch Electric Power

A Mat '24 electric motor unit of the Netherlands state railways (1924) near the Teleac educational broadcasting company building (1998) in Hilversum

By Photo JB Hilversum @ Flickr

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Casa del Balilla

Junior sports school in Arborea (former Mussolinia)
Architect: Giovanni Battista Ceas
1934-1935

Photo by seier+seier @ Flickr

Friday, May 20, 2011

Silver Torpedo

Diesel-hydraulic motor unit
Three cars (total weight 100 ton), two 350-hp Diesel engines, top speed 142.4 km/h

Designed by vasillich for the Atlantic Republic project

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Facelift, Swindon Fashion

Locomotives in "A" Shop, GWR Swindon Works
24th February 1935
From the collection of Mr T. Midwinter

In 1935, the Great Western Railway 6014 King Henry VII (at left) and the Manorbier Castle (right) received a very similar treatment - an aerodynamic "nose bullet".

All rights reserved by Swindon Collection, Central Library

Monday, May 16, 2011

Connecting Neutral Capitals

The Aeroflot (USSR) - ABA Aerotransport (Sweden) joint air service timetable cover.
1940

The air liner is Douglas DC-3, of course

Source: Airline Timetable Images

Saturday, May 14, 2011

The Guardians of the Constitution, Pt. 3


Norway, 1929. Secret agent J. Fjeld Jr. has been bitten by a werewolf, accused of murder and is now hunted by his own colleagues. And things are about to get worse...

via J. Fjeld Jr. @ Dieselpunks.org

Friday, May 13, 2011

Streamline Fasces

A proposal for Casa del Fascio in Venice
by Quirino de Giorgio
1930s

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Too Late

The AMX-40 has been developed as a potential successor to SOMUA S 35 cavalry tank. It was built around a relatively small 160-hp diesel engine. Sloped armor (up to 60 mm) provided good protection for the crew of three. Main armament was a 47-mm gun backed by two MGs. This small, light (20 ton) and advanced vehicle remained on paper due to the fall of France in 1940.

Image: WW2 Drawings

Monday, May 9, 2011

Three Shakers

These silver plated cocktail shakers were made by the Napier Co. (Meriden, CT) in the 1930's. The first one is from 1932 and was the first cocktail shaker manufactured by Napier. It is the Tells-You-How-Mixer (just turn the body and the ingredients for all your favorite drinks appear in the windows). The middle one is the rare pengiun shaker from 1936 by Emil A. Schuelke. His beak opens when you pour. The third one is a sleek conical design from 1934, also by Schuelke.

Berlin, 1945

Red Army soldiers with a bronze eagle removed from over doorway of the State Chancellery building

Photographer: William Vandivert
© LIFE

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Madrid Metro

The first line of the Madrid metro opened on 17 October 1919 under the direction of the Compañía de Metro Alfonso XIII, with 8 stations and 3.5 km (2.2 mi). It was constructed in a narrow section and the stations had 60 m platforms. The enlargement of this line and the construction of two others followed shortly after 1919. In 1936, the network had three lines and a branch line between Opera and Norte railway station. All these stations served as air raid shelters during the Spanish Civil War.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Pepa Bonafe

Artist: Jean Carlu
1928


One of Carlu’s most celebrated posters. A classic Art Deco poster, showing cubist influences, by Jean Carlu, one of the early twentieth-century’s preeminent poster designers. On his famous image of the comedienne Pépa Bonafé, Carlu explained: "The Pépa Bonafé agent asked me to create a poster but I was not, like Loupot, a posterist of women. I did not feel comfortable. However, by stylizing her profile, I immediately caught the resemblance. Pépa Bonafé did not look her best, but she understood that this poster on walls would be excellent publicity. I combined curves and straight lines so that I could associate the mask of joy with the mask of sadness. " (Source)

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Once Upon a Time in Palestine

Short S.17 Kent Satyrus at the Galilee Lido
1930s

Matson Collection / Library of Congress
via A30yoyo @ Flickr