race to the planets
BY WILLY LEY
It won’t be long! Earthmen are fast removing all obstacles to me conquest of Interplanetary space* EARTHMEN have set their thoughts on the conquest of space. More than that, they have set their hands to it. In dead earnest they are committed, in both the Old World and the New. It now can definitely be said, the race to the planets is on!
Most experts are agreed that the first unmanned guided missile will strike the Moon some day during the next ten years. The fist manned Moon rocket will probably follow within five years after that. But that trip will not include a landing; it will be merely a trip around the Moon, at a comparatively close but respectful distance, with return to Earth after circling it a few times.
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He Popped Corn Into a Fortune
From buying furs to selling popcorn was quite a jump for Clyde Gould. But he made it— and sales are really popping.
By Bruce Morgan
CLYDE “Blackie” Gould, a 30-year-old Minneapolis man, had always been nuts about popcorn. Like millions of others, he ate the stuff in theaters, at fairs and sports events and he saw so much corn popping wherever he went that he felt it might be an easy way to make money. As a result he came up with a brand new idea for selling popcorn and in the first year his cash register played such a pleasing tune to the accompaniment of popping corn that his idea is destined to turn into a nationwide bonanza.
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For some reason when I first saw this I thought that the guy skiing in the robe was the pope.
SKIING ROBE—INDOOR SKI TRAILS
ONE of the latest innovations for skiing, exhibited at the Winter Resorts during the past season, is the robe shown here. This serves a dual purpose. With the wind behind the sports enthusiast, his progress across the snow is speeded up greatly. When it becomes necessary to negotiate jumps, the robe serves partially as a parachute. The reader should not think that this robe decreases, to any appreciable extent, the speed of “flight” through the air. The robe merely serves as a means for maintaining balance.
In Paris, indoor ski tracks have coconut matting sprinkled with hypo making an effective snow substitute.
Kiddie Car-Belt
RICHARD G. OSTRANDER of Yonkers, N. Y. is not a man who puts things off till tomorrow!
Recently his young son narrowly escaped injury when he was thrown off an automobile seat by a sudden stop. To Ostrander this was a situation when stop meant go. He decided to do something about it and a few days later he presented to harassed parents everywhere his Wiggly Car Belt, a safety device for youngsters.
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One Woman’s Confession: I HATE SUBURBIA
Yes. I’ve been a long-term resident of the suburbs,” the attractive woman next to me replied in answer to my question. Her brown eyes seethed with excitement. “And I think the word ‘term’ is very appropriate. It’s been almost a jail sentence!”
We looked around us as we drove through the streets of one of the towns in a suburban area called The Five Towns, on Long Island. Neat little houses bordered the roads, each painted white and framed by shrubbery or forsythia, with the number of the house painted in script above the garage. Often, a car was parked in the driveway. It seemed to be Hollywood’s version of suburbia—a way of life to which every young woman facing marriage must aspire.
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Build A Glider-Copter
AN 86-lb. helicopter glider, believed to be the smallest aircraft in the world today, has been developed and flown by Bensen Aircraft Corporation of Raleigh, N. C, for use in engineering tests of lighter-than-man helicopters.
Like soaring gliders and sailplanes, the helicopter glider has no engine; it is towed by a car until it becomes airborne and will stay in the air as long as it is towed or as long as there is sufficient wind to keep its rotor blades turning.
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Scientific Explanation of the Mexican Jumping Bean
THE Mexican jumping bean, that playful little legume which many suppose to be nature’s attempt to furnish a concentrated meat and vegetable ration, needs no longer puzzle the uninitiated, for science has laid bare the secrets of its life.
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Blind Can Now Read Printed BOOKS
ORDINARY printed books can now be read by the blind, thanks to the genius of M. Thomas, a French inventor, whose remarkable device is illustrated on this page, photo-electric cells, which, as is well-known, are sensitive to light, hold the secret of the machine’s operation.
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Studillac is the best car name ever.
MI Tests The Studillac
RAYMOND Loewy, Studebaker designer and chief stylist, proved once again in 1953 that he’s the guy the rest of the country’s designers wish they were. Back 1n 1946 he inspired the industry to steal his notchback Studie designs and in 1953 he came out with a car that made the typical monsters of Detroit look as modern as Ben Hur’s chariot in a stock car race. The engine of these showroom Studebakers is the same V-8 they had in 1952, a competent power plant which has proven responsive to hopping-up treatment. And now, the sporty lines of the 1953 models have inspired Bill Frick to create the “Studillac,” a real hydrogen bomb in spades and about which I propose to tell you more forthwith.
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Madness I tell you, pure madness.
Hangover Heaven is the apt name of the unusual bonnet at right. Originally developed by makeup man Max Factor for the benefit of actresses who wish to refresh their faces on hot studio sets without spoiling their makeup, the facial ice pack was quickly diverted to another purpose by festive Hollywoodians. The headpiece, adorned with water-filled plastic cubes, is kept in the refrigerator while the water freezes.
Yay for early DRM. How long do you think it would have been before some Norwegian kid built themselves a Descrambling Card Simulation System (DeCSS) and gave the plans to all of their friends so they could view scrambled broadcasts on their non compatible European TVs?
Subscription TV
WOULD you like to see the opera, ballet, latest sports events, movies and Broadway plays on TV, sans commercials? If the FCC okays Skiatron, by merely inserting special program cards in a decoder unit attached to your set, you’ll view special programs at nominal fees.
