Posted by jerry on February 24th, 2006 — Posted in History, Journal, Steam, Technology
Now here is a site to see – The Steam Car Club of Great Britain has galleries of images, a UK steam carr register of all known steam cars in Britain – even a for sale and wanted notices section! Yes you could buy a 1903 Locomobile for a mere STG 40,000, or a 1919 Stanley steamer for US$42,500 – oh well perhaps if I have a big lottery win 🙂
There are also galleries of pics from the London-Brighton veteran car run
One of my favourite sections is that on the Field steam motorcycle – complete with a quicktime video of the bike in action. The page lists the rather complex starting procedure for the bike and has some great photos. There is even a later version of the bike that was filmed doing the wall of death – and that means a speed of at least 50mph (about 85kph)
This is a great site and one I keep coming back to 🙂
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by jerry on February 11th, 2006 — Posted in History
I feel I should respond to the message left by gentleman on Sharon’s blog, commenting on my post on the ancient textiles at the National Museum of Denmark at Copenhagen. He is claiming that the images show Iron Age clothing, whereas the the pictures are actually of Bronze Age clothing. I refer the gentleman to p.160 of the museum guide “Nationalmuseets – Arbejdsmark 2000” published by the National Museum in 2001 (ISBN 87-89384-76-8). The Wikkipedia notes that the Nordic Bronze Age covers the period 1800BC to 600BC (add 2000 years for number of years ago), and is divided into roughly six sub-periods. The clothing in question therefore comes from the early Bronze Age.
This is a Bronze Age man’s cloak and hood – and an accompanying hat – both dated by the burial coffin’s tree rings to 3,351 years ago from Borum Eshoj near Arhus
This is a Bronze Age dress and collar-piece from a woman buried 3,370 years ago at Egtved.
This is a recreation of a dress in the style of the Bronze Age dress – the colours taken from a chemical analysis of the original dyes used. The original was stained brown by the chemical action of the bog which preserved it.
I invite the person concerned to leave a comment on my blog here so that I can respond more directly.
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by jerry on January 29th, 2006 — Posted in History, Journal, Technology
Leonardo da Vinci was known for many things – his wonderful paintings, his anatomical science, his optics, his flying machines, his war machines etc – but not so many know he also contributed many innovations to textile technology.
Bear in mind that textiles was one of the leading industries in the Renaissance and played a central role in many European economies at that time.
In addition to innovative mechanical looms and hand looms, Leonardo designed bobbin winders that evenly distributed thread across the bobbins to avoid tangles or high-spots.
He also designed teaseling machines for carding fabric; and a machine for doubling silk – the silk road had been opened to the Orient by then and Europe had a rapidly expanding silk production industry; and a continuous teaseling machine for large bolts of fabric.
So he was clearly as interested and curious about how to solve problems for textile workers as much as for other occupations.
cheers
Jerry
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Posted by jerry on January 26th, 2006 — Posted in History, Journal, Writing
I was having a quick browse of the Project Gutenberg top 100 books for 26 Jan and came across this one not too far from the top – It is the complete “English Embroidered Bookbindings” by Cyril Davenport. This is a fascinating look at embroidered bookbindings, and includes essays on the embroidery techniques employed. The language is a bit “Mr Collins” of Pride and Prejudice – a bit on the precious side, but the articles make great reading.
Davenport categories the bindings into four classes: heraldic, figure, floral, and arabesque. He further divides the figure designs into three: scriptural, symbolic, or portraits. He then also categorises them according to the material on which they are worked: canvas, velvet or satin, noting that canvas was used from the 14th to the 17th centuries, but notes that velvet was most largely used during the Tudor period, while satin was the material of choice for the early stuart period.
The stitching techniques are illustrated, as are examples of embroidered book bags. There is a large number of illustrations – mostly in black and white, but it is clear that there is some exquisite work in these book bindings.
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by jerry on March 17th, 2005 — Posted in History, Journal, Music
Happy St Patrick’s Day! We will be busy today – the band Full Circle is playing two shows today – from 1.30pm-430pm at PJ O’Reilly’s in Civic and 5.30pm-8.30pm at Filthy McFadden’s in Kingston – so if you are in Canberra, Austraalia today, why not drop by and say hello! (I’ll be the one with the fiddle – and the guinness )
The sculpture beneath the hat is called “Blinded by Reggae” and was made and cast by Swaziland-born Western Australian artist Terry Thomas in 1981. I have taken to calling it “The Procrastinator!”
St Patrick is of course the patron saint of Ireland – it appears St Patrick was a real historical figure who lived in the 5th century (Christian Era). Interestingly, while he is said to have used the three-leafed clover, or shamrock to explain the Trinity, the shamrock had long been held as the symbol for Brigit – a pagan goddeess of healing, she was later appropriated by the church as St Brigit!
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