From Popular Science...

[donnie]

I'm not sure about what point this ad is trying to make, but I like the early 60's look of it.

[Kitty]

Very, very strange......

[donnie]

I was reading a scanned copy of PS from Google Books, and I noticed in the one they'd scanned, someone had gone through the paper copy original and written a number by all (or almost all) the photos and illustrations. It's throughout the whole magazine.

Can you think of any reason why someone would have done that? Strange.

[Kitty]

Can you think of any reason why someone would have done that? Strange.

The numbers seem to be totally random (much like the star dates in Star Trek ) so I thought maybe it was the letter count or character count in each paragraph, but the numbers are just too high. So I don't know!
But I did a quick search (thought maybe Google was going to tell me, it didn't ) and learned that last month, Popular Science ceased publication altogether after 151 years of being a magazine. There wasn't been a paper version since 2020, and they went to all digital. But now they stopped the magazine format altogether!

[donnie]

...last month, Popular Science ceased publication altogether after 151 years of being a magazine. There wasn't been a paper version since 2020, and they went to all digital. But now they stopped the magazine format altogether!

Oh, wow, I didn't know that! What a shame, after such a long history.

Of course, I have to admit I'd not read it in years. That magazine changed so much over its lifespan. When it first started in the 19th century, it was a very scholarly journal with little or no illustrations. Later it became a more general interest, rounded publication with lots of home upkeep tips, handicraft, car reviews, etc., along with the news of what was new in science.

And then in later years, it kind of reverted back to just straight science and technology reporting and ditched a lot of practical and the fun stuff (like that What's Your Ingenuity Quotient? feature).

So I guess those numbers will forever be a mystery. Maybe somebody was just bored and thought, hmm, I think I'll go through the magazine writing random numbers down so whoever sees this in the future will wonder what the heck it is? Could be. Actually when I was a kid I used to sometimes go through magazines and fill out information in ads, making up funny names and addresses, etc.

[donnie]

I knew those oatmeal boxes had to be good for something.

[Kitty]

The original 'life hacks'! What year is this one from? I love the spool/needle one, and if hats like those were still a thing, I'd totally use that, too.

[donnie]

The original 'life hacks'! What year is this one from? I love the spool/needle one, and if hats like those were still a thing, I'd totally use that, too.

It's from the January 1947 issue. This is a page from "Keeping the Home Shipshape" (a regular monthly feature).

...if hats like those were still a thing, I'd totally use that, too.

I'd probably just get a step stool. But it is a novel idea.

[Kitty]

I'd probably just get a step stool. But it is a novel idea.

Speaking as a woman who is shorter than the average, that is quite inconvenient. Do you have any idea how much of a pain in the ass having to lug around a step stool is because everything is made for Colossi??? Do you???

[donnie]

My humble apologies. I stand corrected, and hereby recommend the oatmeal box method.