Popular Mechanics Magazine Pdf
Concordia Zentner
In 2013, the US edition changed from twelve to ten issues per year, and in 2014 the tagline was changed to "How your world works."[6] The magazine added a podcast in recent years, including regular features Most Useful Podcast Ever and How Your World Works.[7]
Popular Mechanics was founded in Chicago by Henry Haven Windsor, with the first issue dated January 11, 1902. His concept was that it would explain "the way the world works" in plain language, with photos and illustrations to aid comprehension.[5] For decades, its tagline was "Written so you can understand it."[8] The magazine was a weekly until September 1902, when it became a monthly. The Popular Mechanics Company was owned by the Windsor family and printed in Chicago until the Hearst Corporation purchased the magazine in 1958. In 1962, the editorial offices moved to New York City.[9] In 2020, Popular Mechanics relocated to Easton, Pennsylvania, along with the additional brands in the Hearst Enthusiast Group (Bicycling and Runner's World).[10][11] That location also includes Popular Mechanics' testing facility, called the Test Zone.[12]
From the first issue, the magazine featured a large illustration of a technological subject, a look that evolved into the magazine's characteristic full-page, full-color illustration and a small 6.5" x 9.5" trim size beginning with the July, 1911 issue. It maintained the small format until 1975 when it switched the larger standard trim size. Popular Mechanics adopted full-color cover illustrations in 1915, and the look was widely imitated by later technology magazines.[13]
Several international editions were introduced after World War II, starting with a French edition, followed by Spanish in 1947, and Swedish and Danish in 1949. In 2002, the print magazine was being published in English, Chinese, and Spanish and distributed worldwide.[14] South African[15] and Russian editions were introduced that same year.
The march 1962 issue of popular mechanics magazine aided in the June 1962 Alcatraz escape attempt, where three men, Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin, used the magazine as a reference to build life vests and a raft out of rubber raincoats and contact cement.
Articles have been contributed by notable people including Guglielmo Marconi, Thomas Edison, Jules Verne, Barney Oldfield, Knute Rockne, Winston Churchill, Charles Kettering, Tom Wolfe and Buzz Aldrin, as well as some US presidents including Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. Comedian and car expert Jay Leno had a regular column, Jay Leno's Garage, starting in March, 1999.[16]
*In general, dates are the inclusive issues for which an editor was responsible. For decades, the lead time to go from submission to print was three months, so some of the dates might not correspond exactly with employment dates. As the Popular Mechanics web site has become more dominant and the importance of print issues has declined, editorial changes have more immediate impact.
In 1999, the magazine was a puzzle on Wheel of Fortune.[33] In April 2001, Popular Mechanics was the first magazine to go to space, traveling to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz TM-32 spacecraft.[34] In December 2002, an issue featured the cover story and image of "The Real Face of Jesus" using data from forensic anthropologists and computer programmers.[35]
In March 2005, Popular Mechanics released an issue dedicated to debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories, which has been used frequently for discrediting 9/11 "trutherism."[36] In 2006, the magazine published a book based on that article entitled "Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up to the Facts," with a forward by then senator John McCain.[37]
An October 2015 issue of Popular Mechanics, featuring director Ridley Scott, included an interactive cover that unlocked special content about Scott's film The Martian.[38] In June 2016, the magazine ran a cover story with then senator Joe Biden called "Things My Father Taught Me" for its fatherhood issue.[39] Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook guest-edited the September/October 2022 of Popular Mechanics.[40]
In June 2020, following several high-profile takedowns of statues of controversial historical figures, Popular Mechanics faced criticism from primarily conservative commentators and news outlets for an article that provided detailed instructions on how to take down statues.[42]
In early December 2020, Popular Mechanics published an article titled "Leaked Government Photo Shows 'Motionless, Cube-Shaped' UFO."[43] In late December, paranormal claims investigator and fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), Kenny Biddle, investigated the claim in Skeptical Inquirer, reporting that he and investigator and CSI fellow Mick West identified the supposed UFO as a mylar Batman balloon.[44]
BY AL CHASE.
For several years previous to 1901 Henry H. Windsor of Evanston edited serious, solemn, scientific journals which only the tall browed could fathom. All that time he kept himself at his work with this thought:
BY H. H. WINDSOR
IN occupying our new building and issuing the first copies from it, we have thought some of our readers would be interested in a few words as to how the magazine was originated and its development.
The first copy of Popular Mechanics was issued January, 1902, from one small room, by its founder and present editor. The idea had been developing in his mind for five years, suggested by reading a large number of other technical and cIass publications while publishing some of his own. He realized the enormous number of articles of a highly interesting and instructive character, including science, mechanics, engineering, industry, and discovery, which were expressed in technical terms that the layman could not understand, and limited to the comparatively small circulation of such publications in those days.
The first copies contained 16 pages in the form of a weekly, which two years later was changed to its present monthly magazine size. From the first it was liberally illustrated, although at that time few publications indulged in many pictures.
A long-time policy is an absolute independence of the editorial and advertising departments. Readers frequently inquire why the name of the inventor or manufacturer of something described is almost never printed. It is to avoid even the appearance of advertising in the editorial pages.
This first small room, however, was soon outgrown, and from that day to this, the space required in which to produce the magazine has been steadily increased, until its present seven story home became necessary in order to properly produce the publication.
View of the Popular Mechanics Pressroom with the Big Rotaries at Work: The Room Has a Floor Space of 10,000 Square Feet. and Every Corner of It is as Light as Day. This Issue is the First Printed in the New Building. Each Press Produces 384,000 Printed Pages per Hour, Folded and Ready for Binding. Which is Equivalent to More than 1,000 Complete Books. All Machinery in the Building is Motor-Driven and under Instant Control by Means of Push Buttons Located at Convenient Intervals.
The Popular Mechanics building occupies 85 by 120 feet, on a lot 120 by 165 feet located on the northeast corner of Ontario and St. Clair streets, Chicago. It is devoted exclusively to our offices and printing plant.
The first floor is used as a pressroom and was built especially for that purpose. The height from floor to ceiling is 15 feet, which allows ample space over the presses. The presses 1;1sed are rotaries.
LEFT: Office of H. H. Windsor. Editor and Founder of Popular Mechanics Magazine on the Day of the Formal Opening
RIGHT: The Office of the Vice-President. H. H. Windsor. Jr., A1so Taken on the Opening Day: The Eastern End of the Room is Seen in This View
The fifth floor is devoted to the editorial department, the bureau of information, and the library. The bureau of information gladly answers any inquiries regarding articles in the magazine, as well as furnishes any other information in its power, with absolutely no charge. The editorial department is so laid out that each writer has a room to himself.
Our art department on the sixth floor, in its arrangement and equipment, is among the finest in this country, the photographic branch being particularly complete. Something over i5,OOO illustrations have appeared in our pages since the first copy of the magazine was published. The building is fireproof throughout, being constructed of brick, steel, concrete, and tile. It was completed in 10 months, by Marshall & Fox, the architects and builders. At the formal opening recently, over 700 guests inspected all departments
It is the policy of the magazine not to indulge in special editions, nor to announce forthcoming features. Our effort is to try to do each month at least a little better than the one before; it should be no violation of policy to say we hope to at least live IIp to this endeavor. When in Chicago, our readers will find a warm welcome, and a guide to take them through all departments of the making of a magazine, should they honor us with a call.
Sale of the Popular Mechanics building, 200 E. Ontario st., to Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co., Evanston, for one million dollars was announced yesterday. The seller was Hearst corporation, New York City.
Popular Mechanics magazine, which had been published in Chicago for 60 years, moved its publishing, editorial, and advertising operations to New York City earlier this month. Hears corporation purchased the property in 1958.
Howard L. Storch, president of Browne & Storch, Inc., who was the broker in the sale, said that a substantial amount of money will be spent to modernized the building. Browne & Storch, which has been named rental agent, will concentrate on advertising, publishing, and graphic arts firms as tenants, he said.
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