VINTAGE PHOTO: COLORIZED ALBERT EINSTEIN - 1884

 

Source

Until I came across this photo I had only pictures of the Theoretical Physicist when he was an elderly gentleman. 

I wonder if the theory of Relativity was bouncing around in his head then?  

UNIQUE ANTIQUE: OIL LAMP HEAT POWERED FAN

Source:  Modern Mechanix

It seems odd that a fan can be powered by heat, but in older times, and still today in some countries without electricity, there are oil lamp powered fans.

The above is from the November 1956 Modern Mechanix magazine

It appears the oldest lamps date back to 1845 by East India Company.  An article on Dusty Old Thing indicates:

"The fan, made with a fan guard that you could easily fit your hand in (it was another era), was made in 1845 by the East India Company, 13 years before the First War of Independence in India. At the time the East India Company had an army twice the size of the official British military presence in India, and they ruled and traded using their military upper hand. However, the company name comes from their previous excursions to the Dutch East Indies, known today as Indonesia. “The Company” as it was known traded in opium, ambergris, spices, and even issued their own currency- such was their power.

While the history of the East India Company had many gruesome twists and turns, it’s interesting to note that at least some of their products were built to last. We looked up the 1845 fan and you can buy it, of all places, on Amazon– which has been offering used items and antiques for years now."

Below is a video of one of the fans in action.

Pre-Electric Fan from r/InterestingVideoClips

UNIQUE PLACES: LENNOX CASTLE, SCOTLAND - BUILT IN 1800s

View this post on Instagram

Lennox Castle, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 . . Lennox Castle was built between 1837 and 1841, in the square style of a Norman castle for John Lennox Kincaid In 1927, the castle was purchased by Glasgow Corporation for £25,000, together with 494 ha (1,222 acres) of the Lennox Kincaid estate, as part of its plans to create a hospital for the mentally-ill. In 1987, the original Lennox Castle building was no longer required by the hospital, and was vacated. A phased closure plan for the hospital began in the 1990s, including a planned resettlement of all the residents. Lennox Castle Hospital closed in April, 2002. By 2004, only the original Lennox Castle building remained on the site, all other hospital buildings having been demolished, and the site cleared. . . Photo by @lone_wandererz . . #mobicastle #instatravel #instagram #history #world #europe #europetravel #traveleurope #zamki #castillo #burg #chateaux #schloss #castle #castles #lennox #scotland #scotlandhighlands #scotlandtravel #scotland_greatshots #scotlandphotography #scotlandexplore #scotland_ig #scotlandtrip #scottish #lovescotland #travelinggram #instascotland #scotlandbeauty #scotlandroadtrip

A post shared by 𝕸𝖔𝖇𝖎𝕮𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖑𝖊 - 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 𝖔𝖋 𝕮𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖑𝖊𝖘 (@mobicastle) on Jul 10, 2020 at 11:00pm PDT

EVOLUTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY

The video below has firsts in the evolution of photography. 

The above is a screenshot from the video from 1825 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, a French inventor and pioneer in the field of photography, and is the earliest known heliographic engraving.

MUM'S CLOTHESLINE RULES

Source

Although the dryer was invented in the 1800's and the first patent for one was to George T. Simpson in 1892 and the first one went on the market in 1915, they were cost prohibitive and many homes still did not have electricity at that time, so it was more into the late 40's to early 1950's that they became more affordable in most households.

Back then for, and even now for people who do not own and dryer (or even today or to save money or the environment) laundry was/is hung by a clothesline in the yard or in bigger cities between buildings and the unwritten "ruled" applied.  

I can attest to this as I grew up in a household without a washer and dryer and my Mom hung out our laundry on a clothesline and when I became tall enough to help I got quipped at many times for not following them.

The clothesline being wiped down was because dew and pollution could gather (not to mention bird poop) and you didn't want that on your freshly washed clothing.

I never did get what the big deal was over the socks being hung by the toes or why in a certain order, but the shirts being hung by the tail was that where the clothespins were clipped might leave marked.

The reason for using the same clip on the edge of two items was to cut down on the number of clothespins used and the reason for bringing them in was they were wooden back then (and many today still are) and it would rot the wood and if there was metal in them it would rust and it could ruin your clothing.

I have to say that frozen clothes look pretty freaky.  And sometimes they still felt a little damp when thawed.

As an aside, when I was in college a fella that I dated briefly had a roommate that refused to spend money on drying clothing at the laundromat and would bring home his wash and hang it about the room on hangers and draping it and turn on several fans he had purchased just for that.  When I was over there during one of his "drying" sessions even though it was a hot summer day and they didn't have air conditioning, it was loud and felt like being in a hurricane.   

Have you or anyone you know used a clothesline to dry clothing?