April 2012 Articles (43)

Yes the Retrofuturism themed monthly magazine for Spanish speakers, produced by the collective of creatives Mercenarios de DIOS, came again with a dieselpunk themed issue.

Just take a look at:…

I actually didn't know that today (April 30th) is International Jazz Day, so any jazz content in the May edition of Pilsner's Picks is strictly coincidental. However, everything except for the Klezmer music and the Hoosier hokum qualifies as jazz, in one way or another. Sorry that I haven't included any tracks by that great Traditional New Orleans Jazz musician Bruce Springsteen— but at least it's all free.…

While viewing London on Google,especially the area where the Olympics are,I found a rather interesting building. Now called the Warton House Office Centre, it's the old Yardley Fragrences building.Notice in the pictures the Lavander Girls logo on the front of the building

It seems to be getting a new lease on life due to the Olympics,good show London.

Bandnerd51…

Another diesel train featured in our old Flying Americans article: the GM&N (later GM&O) Rebel.

Here is its story, told by Marty Bernard @…

Igor Sikorsky is remembered as an aircraft designer well ahead of his time. But at least once in his long career, he was unfashionably late.

As early as in 1913, he designed world's first four-engine bomber (initially destined for transport &.research). Nine years later, he…

One of France's most impressive and highly successful cars - the Renault 40CV Type NM des Records aka the Montlhéry Coupe:

In the 1920s, vehicle manufacturers were locked in an all-out race to set new records, a fashion encouraged by the construction of speed rings. In France, the Montlhéry ring built in 1924 set the stage for many a confrontation, with the last word going to…

The pocket pistol to some evokes images of cheap, dangerous handguns that often are more deadly to their handlers than opponents. However, well made pocket pistols was one of the strong suits of the firearms giant Mauser during the first decades of the 20th century.

Mauser produced a series of pocket pistols the Model 1910, 1914 and 1934 designed to be slipped into a…

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!

Since hitting the airwaves in August 1930 as part of the "Detective Story" radio show, The Shadow has become one of the most beloved heroes in pulp history.  On Two-Fisted Tuesdays, we'll follow the adventures of The Shadow as he battles a rogues gallery of crooks and villains from around the world.

Click on the link below to download…

Today, I'd like to present a small collection of posters created by one of the most influential Polish artists during the Interbellum.

Stefan Norblin was born in 1892 in an artist's family in Warsaw. His father, Piotr Norblin, was a well-known painter. Young Stefan studied art in Antwerp and Dresden. He opened his own atelier in early 1920s.

Norblin was a dazzling figure…

Hula hula Hooptylau and Tiki Time on the Trolley!  There are strange tropical rumblings in San Fransisco today as we celebrate a slice of quasi-Polynesian culture in the City by the Bay! 

Overproof Libations...the real San Fransisco Treat!

 …

The Mitsubishi Ki-15 (allied designation: 'Babs') was the main reconnaissance aircraft in use with the Imperial Japanese Army at the start of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, and was still in front line service during the Japanese conquests at the start of 1942.

The Ki-15 was developed in response to a specification issued in 1935 that called for an aircraft with a top speed of 280mph at 9,845ft, an operating altitude of 6,560-13,125ft and the ability…

Long before the terms "SUV" and "crossover" were coined, Volvo started to build off-road vehicles.

The TPV (Terrängpersonvagn m/43, i.e. Off-road Passenger Vehicle, M1943) was a crossbreed between a light truck and a taxicab. The platform and some mechanical parts were borrowed from the LV-series light truck, and the body from the…

There is a good chance you have heard about this already, but in case you have not: The European Steampunks, Dieselpunks, Clockpunks and whatever other shades are available are planning a major event in September.

More info available here and behind the next link.

In order to get some initial funding, a project was set up on…

This piece is dedicated to the 70th Anniversary of the Doolittle Raid.

The April 1942 air attack on Japan, launched from the aircraft carrier Hornet and led by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, was the most…

Welcome to Knights of the Air, a weekly series on Dieselpunks spotlighting the aces and pioneering aerial technology of World War I.

From the moment the flying machine showed signs of military usefulness, navies of the world sought ways to employ airplanes at sea. In a 1910 experiment, American pilot Eugene Ely took off in a Curtiss biplane down a sloping ramp built above the foredeck of the cruiser USS Birmingham. The plane dipped so low that the…

In the world of pistols the .45 ACP still hold sway over all other semi-automatic handgun calibers. Sure there is .357 Desert Eagle. And 10mm from Glock burned a few hundred pages of gun magazines in the 1990s. But outlasting them all is the .45 ACP. Designed in the first decade of the 20th century, the .45 ACP round is still loved by gun enthusiasts everywhere, including…

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!

Since hitting the airwaves in August 1930 as part of the "Detective Story" radio show, The Shadow has become one of the most beloved heroes in pulp history.  On Two-Fisted Tuesdays, we'll follow the adventures of The Shadow as he battles a rogues gallery of crooks and villains from around the world.

Click on the link below to download…

Edward McKnight Kauffer was one of Britain’s most highly influential 20th Century poster artists and graphic designers.

Beginning his professional life as a painter, Kauffer soon embraced poster art as a form of visual communication, enabling the public to view Modern Art through the display of his posters on the streets.

In the early 1900s, Kauffer…

...I've just been fooling around with a new computer and some new graphics software, and this is something that came out of my feverish brain. Anyway, if it's not Dieselpunk art, what is it?

Last Saturday, my favorite photographer turned 100 years old.

His birthday was celebrated worldwide. The celebrations were led by Google, sticking a one-day doodle on their main page. Better later than never - let's celebrate too.

You can read Robert Doisneau's biography…