The Hertella-Auto Kaffeemaschine could be mounted straight onto the dash of a ’59 Beetle, providing occupants with a steaming hot cup of coffee as and when they desired. The Kaffeemaschine as having no on/off switch. When ready, the coffee dispenses straight into a porcelain cup fitted with a metal base that attaches magnetically to the Kaffeemaschine helping to keep things secure and safe. Little known is of the Hertella coffee maker, only that it was available in either 6- or 12-volt versions and that it cost DM65 (Deutschmarks). For context, the price of a new Beetle in 1959 was DM3790

The company was founded in 1955 by an intractable inventor from Lincoln Park, Michigan, named Antonio Pirrello. Retailing for $250, that’s an astounding $2300 in today’s economy, these skates feature a 19-pound gasoline motor that is worn like a backpack. The gas connects to the right skate to push while the skater holds her left foot out in front to steer. A second cable connects to the hand-held clutch to regulate speed. Quite a lot of speed. These skates can roll at up to 40 miles per hour! Mr. Pirrello and his motorized skates were featured in the magazines Life and Popular Mechanics and were guests on You Asked for It and The Today Show

But you’re wrong, for it’s a machine to teach perfect swimming strokes, in 1931. The student rests in a belt cradle as shown, while his feet and hands connect with handles in the mechanical arms. A system of gears and levers to which the guide arms are connected serve to compel movements that conform to correct outlines as set forth by swimming experts

They performed primarily at air shows around Los Angeles and the Southwest but found their niche doing movie newsreels. The group was based at the Burdett Airport located at Western Avenue and 104th Street in Los Angeles (present-day Inglewood), where many worked as pilots and mechanics. Burdett Fuller was a former Naval Reserve flyer and started a flying school and passenger air service in 1919. Among his multitude of students – he soloed about 400 – he taught Jack Frye how to fly, who in turn taught Ronald “Bon” MacDougall. In 1923, Burdett, Frye, and MacDougall teamed up and established the Burdett Air Port and School of Aviation. In August 1925, flying students William E. Matlock and Paul E. Richter graduated from there. These young men – MacDougall, Frye, Matlock, and Richter – along with their friend, Ken Nichols, who would do “anything in aerial stunts,” formed the core of the famous 13 Flying Black Cats and dazzled weekend crowds at the airport with their breath-taking aerial performances. On July 5, 1925, thousands showed up for the “Burdett Field Air Meet” to watch the air races and stunt flying exhibitions, which also included Frank Clarke, Art Goebel, Jack Frye, Frank Tomick, and Dick Grace. The 13 Black Cats were an evolving group with many members including women, who were never official members. With so many coming and going, many of the participants never received their credit due. The 13 Black Cats charged one hundred dollars for an ordinary plane-change. It cost five hundred dollars to make a change made from an upside-down aircraft to one flying right side up. A crowd thrilling addition was a faked accident with the apparent victim falling off the aircraft and tumbling about four hundred feet before a thin cable suddenly opened a hidden parachute, to the gasped relief of the audience. The Black Cats were the first to develop a set scale wage for aerial stunts, which provided a model for the first movie stunt pilots’ union, founded by aviatrix Florence Lowe “Pancho” Barnes (1901-1975) in 1931

In its overall size the anchor measured an impressive 18ft 6in in length. The cast steel head of the anchor measured 10ft 9in in width and the anchor weighed an incredible 15ton 16cwts

The hanger is supported from overhead by an adjustable strap. A shelf holds the folded arms of the traveler, while another shelf has a pillow to support the head

The tractor was used to dust and detassel the high corn. The builder started with a 21-horsepower crawler tractor. He raised the tractor chassis including the motor and transmission so there would be 78 inches of clearance beneath it. Side frames – the “stilts – support the tractor in this position. Additional sprockets and links of track were installed on each side. The result was a tractor that rolls through the high corn, dusting and detasseling it even during wet weather when rubber-tired tractors bog down in the mud. It has 6-1/2 feet clearance and straddles two rows of corn while dusting 12. A framework across the back holds the dusting equipment. During detasseling, men ride on hangers dropped down between the rows alongside the tractor

Its wheels are hollow, bulbous floats that, with the aid of four smaller globes on outriggers, sustain it in the water. All of the floats revolve freely like wheels, resulting in a minimum of drag. When the rider pedals across the water, fins on the rear wheel serve as paddles to drive the machine forward. For a ride on dry land, the outriggers supporting the outer floats may be folded up clear of the ground. Proof that the floats would be sufficiently buoyant to support the rider was given when the inventor navigated his device, without difficulty, across a large swimming pool

Strapped to a band worn about the head, a metal frame extends from the forehead and holds two ovals of amber glass in front of the eyes, where they are normally just out of range of direct vision. A slight turn of the head places the glass ovals between the eyes and the rays of oncoming car lights.

It was one of the largest fires in California history, and burned for three days

A roommate lights a cigarette, places it in a hole in the end of the stick, and holds it to his friend’s lips. To raise his body for the purpose, he uses a support suspended above his bed, as shown. A nail in the end of the holder is used to feed the patient candy

Betsy Golden Kellem investigates the complex of racial and cultural stereotypes that made the Circassian beauty such a sideshow spectacle.

That day, the Committee on Laws of the Board of Aldermen unanimously voted to ban females from lighting up in public places. The law, called the Sullivan Ordinance, put the responsibility of preventing women from smoking not on the women themselves but on business owners. It was named after the man who proposed it: Alderman Timothy “Little Tim” Sullivan. According to reports, Sullivan had never seen a woman smoke in public but was repulsed at the thought of it. Right after the ordinance was enacted, on January 22, Katie Mulcahey, the only person cited for breaking this ordinance, was fined $5 for smoking in public and arrested for refusing to pay the fine; however, the ordinance itself did not mention fines nor does it ban women from smoking in public. “I have never heard of this new law and I don’t want to hear about it. No man shall dictate me,” she reportedly told the judge. She was released the next day. The mayor at the time, George B. McClellan Jr., vetoed the ordinance two weeks later

After repeatedly asking Elvis to move on so he could resume normal business, station manager Ed Hopper slapped Presley on the head and found himself on the receiving end of a punch in the face from Elvis. Station employee Aubrey Brown tried to help his boss, but was no match for Presley. After police are called, Hopper and Brown were charged with assault and were fined $25 and $15 respectively