Modern Mechanix Round-UP
THE YEAR is 1975. For a man of 50 leaving a factory gate at five in the afternoon, you look remarkably fresh. Your light, comfortable-looking summer suit is pressed and spotless, your face and hands are free of grime, and your features show no sign of the strain that men once associated with the heat and noise of a big factory. There is an extra spring in your step as you walk toward the heliport, perhaps because this is Thursday. Your four-day work week is over, and ahead of you are three full days to call your own.
This is the rather optimistic opening to a sprawling 1955 Mechanix Illustrated article titled "How Automation Will Affect Your Job". The whole article is not as cheery; it does predict massive layoffs and the disenfranchisement of unskilled workers as a result. However still flush from the success of the New Deal and massive post-war boom the author anticipates that a coalition of unions, businesses and government agencies will swiftly provide relief when issues emerge.
Today we also looked at a strangely appealing DIY tractor made out of old car parts, Babe Ruth teaching a Belgian general how to bat, and a time in Arizona when copper was so cheap that businesses used thin sheets of it as typing paper. From our Animals for Profit category we have this ad encouraging the reader to follow a "New Road to Independence" by building an indoor chicken farm.
Lastly we have an entertaining article chronicling Tom McCahill's first 10 years testing cars for Mechanix Illustrated. McCahill was an iconic auto reporter who wrote for Mechanix Illustrated from 1946 until his death in 1975. The magazine's reputation was so tightly bound to his image that when he died they refused to acknowledge it for fear it would damage their business. McCahill's gift for hyperbole was part of his charm and the article is sprinked with examples of these "McCahillisms" such as: ". . . It’s rugged, tough and reliable as the Rock of Gibraltar—and just about as fast. . ." and ". . . about as exciting as a pocketful of wet pancakes. . ."
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I like BB's crop of the article photo. All those dials over there are the "special features" on that model.