Comments on: Vintage wartime technology illustrations

Vintage wartime technology illustrations

madamjujujive — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 10:53:29 -0800

Unusual technical images of equipment used in World War II - vintage public information illustrations from the pre-computer graphics era.

By: 327.ca

327.ca — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 11:12:22 -0800

Great post. It's sobering to see (once again) how much the world has changed since the decade before I was born...

By: adgnyc

adgnyc — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 11:16:24 -0800

Fascinating. This is the sort of thing that made me fall in love with these Internets in the first place.

By: Steve_at_Linnwood

Steve_at_Linnwood — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 11:23:19 -0800

Excellent! Much thanks madamjujujive.

By: berek

berek — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 14:00:30 -0800

What's supposed to be so unusual about these images? I can walk through the stacks of Iowa State University and find thousands of books full of similiar images.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 14:22:45 -0800

By: alumshubby

alumshubby — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 14:26:22 -0800

Cool...I was just thinking about the legendary Bren light machine gun this morning. I've handled one at a an air show that featured WW II static displays of infantry equipment, armor, etc. and can't believe British paratroopers used to jump out of airplanes carrying these immense things.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 15:11:23 -0800

I can walk through the stacks of Iowa State University and find thousands of books full of similiar images. you may find this rather stunning, most of us are not you.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 15:12:14 -0800

you may find this rather stunning, but most of us are not you.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 15:53:33 -0800

Yes, berek, but now you can enjoy these images while clothed only in your underpants! Aint't the internets grand?

By: quonsar

quonsar — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 15:56:10 -0800

yes! allow your pantsfish to breathe a little!

By: 327.ca

327.ca — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 16:54:48 -0800

I can walk through the stacks of Iowa State University and find thousands of books full of similiar images. Awesome! Next time you're online, could you please post them?

By: dhartung

dhartung — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 20:40:42 -0800

There are two scans referring to "Armour on a Battleship." The first one is actually what the US Navy called a cruiser (as does the caption in the book). Did the British apply "battleship" more generally? I think it's just sloppy civvie usage. The pictured ship HMS Ajax is a light cruiser in Royal Navy parlance as well. With a displacement of 7000 tons, it's a third the size of its predecessor HMS Ajax, which was a true battleship of 23000 tons displacement. The only difference is that the Royal Navy termed its modern battleships "dreadnoughts"; since there wasn't an actual battleship class, the word may have taken on a broader meaning. Today, of course, there are no active battleships in any navy. I love these; cutaway drawings seem to reflect an era when having this kind of broad mechanical knowledge was important. Today, so many devices resist this sort of learning by burying functionality in electronics.

By: .kobayashi.

.kobayashi. — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 21:31:05 -0800

Great stuff, thanks!

By: carter

carter — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 07:42:07 -0800

What's supposed to be so unusual about these images? It's an organized collection focused about a coherent theme - public information leaflets sent by the government and others to the relatives of those in the armed services, presumably in order to reassure them in some way; although I'm not sure if The Size of Bombs is reassuring or not ... Thanks once again, mjjj!

By: dazed_one

dazed_one — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 10:18:44 -0800

Great post! Thanks!

By: longbaugh

longbaugh — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 10:31:55 -0800

This reminds me a great deal of some of the Home Guard instruction manuals my grandfather owned - I was the only 8 year old on my street who knew how to field strip a water-cooled Vickers gun. Also reminds me of COMBATO! featuring Bill Underwood instructing the citizens of England how to manhandle the evil boche.