Posts Tagged ‘Meccano’
“Any workout which does not involve a certain minimum of danger or responsibility does not improve the body – it just wears it out”*…
If you are one of the 51.8 million people in the U.S. who use a treadmill for exercise, you know there’s much pain for your muscle-and-fitness gain. On your next 30-minute jog, as you count down the final seconds, ponder whether the hard work made you a better person. Consider whether the workout would feel different if you had powered something, even a fan to cool yourself off.
Two hundred years ago, the treadmill was invented in England as a prison rehabilitation device. It was meant to cause the incarcerated to suffer and learn from their sweat. It would mill a bit of corn or pump some water as a bonus…
How an early-19th century penal innovation became the top selling piece of exercise equipment in the U.S.: “Treadmills were meant to be atonement machines.”
* (That well-known fitness expert) Norman Mailer
###
As we try to find our rhythm, we might send well-constructed birthday greetings to Frank Hornby; he was born on this date in 1863. A visionary toy designer, he created the Meccano construction set (in 1901), a toy that used perforated metal strips, wheels, rods, brackets, clips, and assembly nuts and bolts to allow kids to build unlimited numbers of models. A huge success, it spawned a monthly magazine– and U.S. competition (e.g., the Erector Set). He introduced Hornby model trains in 1920 (originally clockwork and eventually electrically powered with tracks and scale replicas of associated buildings); the “Dinky” range of miniature cars and other motor vehicles was added in 1933 (spawning such competitors as Corgi, Matchbox, and Mattel’s Hot Wheels).
“Note, to-day, an instructive, curious spectacle”*…
Domino builder Hevesh5 spent 25 hours over eight days building the pattern with 15,000 dominoes. The entire structure takes less than two minutes to come down as the chain reaction works its way along three separate paths at three different heights…
More at “Watching 15,000 dominoes fall in a triple spiral will make your day.” And here it is in reverse:
* Walt Whitman
###
As we line ’em up and knock ’em down, we might spare a thought for Frank Hornby; he died on this date in 1936. A visionary toy designer, he created the Meccano construction set (in 1901), a toy that used perforated metal strips, wheels, rods, brackets, clips, and assembly nuts and bolts to allow kids to build unlimited numbers of models. A huge success, it spawned a monthly magazine– and U.S. competition (e.g., the Erector Set). He introduced Hornby model trains in 1920 (originally clockwork and eventually electrically powered with tracks and scale replicas of associated buildings); the “Dinky” range of miniature cars and other motor vehicles was added in 1933 (spawning such competitors as Corgi, Matchbox, and Mattel’s Hot Wheels).
You must be logged in to post a comment.