Dieselpunk + Steampunk Culture

September 2010 Articles (79)

Tony Curtis

Farewell to Tony Curtis who passed away on 9/29/2010. Though his career was at the very end of the diesel era he was certainly a great actor and a man of class and sophistication.

Added by Larry on September 30, 2010 at 10:30pm — 6 Comments

Knights of the Air - Reporting from the Front

Back from a mission, French airmen busily write reconnaissance reports in a tent at Luneville, France. Their accounts of enemy troop dispositions and movements were digested, plotted on large maps and circulated in official dispatches.…

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Added by Tome Wilson on September 30, 2010 at 12:00pm — No Comments

1948 Crosley Car Brochure Gallery

I've uploaded a 1948 Crosley Car brochure with some really nice automotive illustrations.

Crosley Motors Incorporated was created by Powel Crosley Jr. in 1939. Before that he had built his fortune making affordable radios. Rumor has it that he was disturbed by the $120 price tag for a radio he was going to buy for his son, so he set out to create a radio that anybody could afford, which he did. The average price of a Crosley radio was $7. He later moved on to refrigerators, and then… Continue

Added by Scott on September 30, 2010 at 12:00am — 7 Comments

On Wings & Tracks II: HS-294

It's said that in war, the victor writes the history. However, when World War II closed and the Allies won a decisive victory, it was German technology that earned hallowed place in the minds of many. From the Vengeance weapons to small arms, the Germans undoubtedly honed the cutting edge in many ways. And in part, due to pre-war advances and research, the Germans created a series of guided weapons that capture technophiles imagination.

From the X-4 and Fritz-X to the X-7,… Continue

Added by Jake Holman Jr. on September 29, 2010 at 2:00pm — No Comments

A man and a woman with a lion in her sidecar inside a circle of death

Via: lnago

Added by Tome Wilson on September 29, 2010 at 11:00am — 6 Comments

Two Fisted Tuesdays with Philip Marlowe - The Ruston Hickory

Welcome to Two Fisted Tuesdays, Dieselpunks' weekly beat on the mean streets.

Starring Gerald Mohr and starting with the famous lines, "Get this and get it straight! Crime is a sucker's road and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave." The Adventures of Philip Marlowe runs about 25 minutes without commercials. You can listen to this blast from the past in MP3 format for free at the link below.…

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Added by Tome Wilson on September 28, 2010 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Conservative Rant in a Dieselpunk Society (Excerpt from upcoming Drunk on Diesel story)

Hello all, this is a small text I did for my upcoming dieselpunk story named Drunk on Diesel

If you haven't heard about it and would like to read a prologue, you can do so for free here.

Enjoy this conservative rant in my imaginary world, and please do share your feedback. It is very important!

---

I was about to reach the corner that would…

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Added by Hayen Mill on September 27, 2010 at 5:00pm — 5 Comments

Miskatonic Mondays - Supernatural Horror in Literature (8 of 10)

Lights out, everybody.

On Miskatonic Mondays, we celebrate the "weird" fiction of HP Lovecraft and the genre of otherworldly horror that it spawned.

This week, we're continuing our look at "Supernatural Horror in Literature" by HP Lovecraft. First published in 1927 in the one-shot magazine The Recluse, "Supernatural Horror in Literature" is a long essay by the celebrated horror writer H. P. Lovecraft surveying the field of horror fiction.…

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Added by Tome Wilson on September 27, 2010 at 12:00am — No Comments

On the road in 1927

Washington, D.C., 1927. "Nature Magazine -- Walter Layman." Traveling the country with his dog Little Pocahontas, Walter Layman documented Native American culture with photographs that appeared in magazines including National Geographic and Nature. National Photo Co. glass negative.

Photo via:…

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Added by Tome Wilson on September 26, 2010 at 9:00am — 2 Comments

Sunday Streamline #2: Churchill's Red Arrow

In 1930s, the Swiss Federal Railroad (SBB) decided to build the most unusual "flagship" - high-speed electric motor twin carriage. In 1938, two carriages of the SBB CLe 2/4 class (dubbed Roter Pfeil in German, i. e. "Red Arrow", also known as Fleche de Jura, i. e. "Jurassic Arrow") were rebuilt into…

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Added by lord_k on September 26, 2010 at 8:30am — 2 Comments

Diesel-era sex symbol - Clara Bow

Clara Bow remains an enigma. Her life remains a tangled mass of quivering femininity, depraved childhood, and Hollywood super-stardom. Her beaming porcelain face and sparkling eyes belied the truth, the shadows, that surrounded her. She seemed to dance her way through life (and into our hearts) as the care-free 'It Girl' and seemed surrounded in a posh…

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Added by Tome Wilson on September 25, 2010 at 4:00pm — 6 Comments

Saturday Matinee - Guardians of the Constitution: Mayhem on Mars

Welcome to the Saturday Matinee on Dieselpunks.

Do you like adventure? Do you like pulp adventure?

Let me repeat, do you like Pulp Adventure! ?

Great! Then you'll love Guardians of the Constitution: Mayhem on Mars.

Created by Dieselpunks member J. Fjeld Jr. and his faithful crew, Guardians of the Constitution is a serial style…

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Added by Tome Wilson on September 25, 2010 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Wrist Computer

On January 13, 1946, Dick Tracy received his 2-Way Radio aka Wrist Communicator.

Six years earlier, a small Swiss company applied for a patent for Wrist Computer design, humbly called a slide-rule wristwatch, christened Breitling Chronomat. It was not the first slide rule watch in history and of course not the last one. If you want to know what the slide rule watches are for and where they come from,… Continue

Added by lord_k on September 25, 2010 at 6:30am — 2 Comments

We're trying out some new tech this weekend

I'm testing a new bottom navigation bar this weekend.

It will help people to connect on Dieselpunks by using their existing Twitter and Facebook accounts. So, once you're logged in, you can connect with other people regardless of what network they're on.

We also updated the page translator with a more accurate engine, and added the ability for people to donate to Dieselpunks on any page.

Check it out, play with the new toys,… Continue

Added by Tome Wilson on September 24, 2010 at 3:30pm — 9 Comments

Anarchists take to the air in Jules Verne's Robur the Conqueror (1886)

Robur-the-Conqueror is a science fiction novel by Jules Verne published in 1886. It is also known as The Clipper of the Clouds. It has a sequel, The Master of the World, which was published in 1904.

The story begins with strange lights and sounds, including blaring trumpet music, reported in the skies all over the world. The events are capped… Continue

Added by Tome Wilson on September 24, 2010 at 9:55am — 1 Comment

Lord K's Garage - #56. 1942 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Bertone Coupe

This is one of only 40 Alfa Romeos built on the lightweight Super Sport chassis during World War II. Mario Revelli di Beaumont designed this unique coupe and the body was built by Bertone. This year (by coincidence, the year of Alfa Romeo 100th anniversary), the car completed a major restoration in Italy and made its world concours debut at Pebble Beach.…

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Added by lord_k on September 24, 2010 at 7:00am — 2 Comments

The Network of Death

Ten years of Komi,

Malakhov (1931)

The autonomous region of Komi is a vast territory in north-eastern Russia, rich in natural fuels such as oil and charcoal. In the 1930s, it was used to house many infamous gulags of the Stalinist era, including Oukhtapetchorlag, Sevlag, and Vorkuta.

Via:…

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Added by Tome Wilson on September 23, 2010 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Knights of the Air - World War I pigeon technology

A pigeon is released from an RNAS seaplane to carry a message home.

Before air-to-ground radios became standard equipment, pigeons often were used to transmit emergency messages that led to the rescure of dozens of downed fliers.…

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Added by Tome Wilson on September 23, 2010 at 12:00pm — No Comments

On Wings & Tracks: Stand Off Weapons of World War II

Mark Twain saw power in weapons guided from afar. He also saw money to be made in the devices conjured up by his friend, brilliant Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla.

You see, in the late 19th century Tesla created the first remotely operated vehicle in his teleautomaton, a small radio controlled boat. Tesla believed armies of the free world would line up to buy. They didn't.

However, the seed of practicality was planted and it would be 30 plus years before the… Continue

Added by Jake Holman Jr. on September 22, 2010 at 2:00pm — 2 Comments

Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Tyrant's Daughter

Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Tyrant's Daughter

Originally broadcast on October 17, 1955

The adventures of master detective Sherlock Holmes as he and his assistant, Dr. Watson, (and somewhat reluctantly, the bumbling Inspector Lestrade) battle criminals in London.

In this episode: A chemist is accused of the murder of his fiancé's stepfather. Although there is mounting evidence of the… Continue

Added by Tome Wilson on September 22, 2010 at 11:00am — No Comments