Back in Those Days — #1
Posted On October 7, 2003
Back in Those Days — #1
Let me solve the mystery for you. The bemused somewhat misplaced fellow would have been me. And the source of my mirth would have been some of the articles and advertisements found in old back issues of Sky & Telescope. One of my projects in 2002-2003 at Sky & Telescope, where at that time I was the Electronic Publishing Coordinator and past Webmaster, was the updating of the magazine’s database of articles, dating back to the first issue of “The Sky” in 1941. The further I progressed back in time updating the database the more I would stumble across articles that taught me more than astronomy. Reading old magazines, regardless of their subject matter, gives insights, often humorous, of our lifestyles back in “those days”. For example, in today’s enlightened age an ad for any non-tobacco product would never picture someone smoking a cigarette. Yet in a 1960’s Questar ad a self-confident man walks along, his Questar case hanging from his shoulder and a cigarette poised between his fingers. I think I just detected a smile on your face.
Anyone that has been to our Anza site has seen my Star Cruiser Observatory from where I conduct observing sessions from home via the club’s Internet satellite link. As it so happens our satellite dish is right next to Star Cruiser Observatory, mounted on the side of the club observatory. See the image above left.
But if you go back deeper into the pages of S&T you would stumble onto what is truly a funny image in a display ad in the October 1955 issue (see below). Now that’s a dish! I wonder what the neighbors thought. And I can hear it now “Honey, you’ll never guess what I bought today.” That’s it for this month. Be sure to check back next month for another romp in the past back in those days. |