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saleintothe90s · 2 years

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464. The Create a Card Machine

This is something I only remember seeing in stores for about a year, and that was it. It was definitely one of those we flew too close to the Sun ideas from the 90s. We were throwing our money away back then.

My WalMart in Hampton, Virginia had one of these, in the card section. I only ever remember kids, like myself and my niece and nephew playing with it, making our own cards, and stepping around the paper from cards nobody paid for.

I can't find the source on this image-any help would be great.

You already know the reason why these machines captured my attention -- there were Simpsons custom cards. My niece and nephew actually made me a Bart one for my 12th or 13th birthday. I just remembered he was at a hot dog stand and there was a joke about Weiners.

I've only found one example of a card online, on Reddit Here's an archive of the funny story behind it. Like I said, these machines were not in stores for very long in the mid 90s.

I'm looking at this photo from the article, and I now remember how flimsy these cards felt. It was very thin cardstock. It definitely felt like something you would just print at home. Also, they were nearly $4, which back then was a lot of money for a card.

Here is a photo of one at an abandoned mall. Another image where I can't find the source.

It seems like the machines were a runaway hit .... at first (1994):

``When we launched Creatacard, we had no real business plan you could follow,'' John Barker [company spokesperson] says. ``We started from scratch and planned to set up 3,000 [electronic] kiosks in retail stores. The demand was so strong, we ended up placing 9,000.'' 1

At Hills Department Stores, Canton, Mass., a one-unit test started before Christmas and has produced outstanding results, said Gary DeMarchis, general manager of the chain’s Robinson Town Centre store in the Pittsburg market. Use of the machine is so high that DeMarchis had his store associates learn how to service the machine themselves rather than use American Greetings’ field service organization. 3

Two years later:

American Greetings now expects the number of its CreataCard machines to drop from about 10,000 in 1995 to about 7,500 this year. Hallmark anticipates that the number of its Touch-Screens will decline from 2,700 to about 1,500.

[...]

“What maybe this is proving is people just don’t have the time,” said Marianne McDermott, executive vice president of the Greeting Card Assn., a trade group.

“Time is such an important factor now. With the basic, traditional card, someone has already designed a message. Probably that’s the way people want to go. But people also want choices.”

Curtis Nelson, 43, of Cleveland, spent about 30 minutes at a CreataCard machine recently at a suburban mall to make a card for his girlfriend after a spat.

“My only real complaint was it seemed to lack enough of a selection and detail in the graphics. Too much of it is too cute. It needs to me more serious and still more creative,” Nelson said.

Christian Science Monitor. ‘Greetings Made Easy: Card Company Goes On-Line’, 16 August 1994. https://www.csmonitor.com/1994/0816/16092.html.

‘Sales Rush Wasn’t in the Cards for Personalized Greetings’. Los Angeles Times, 27 June 1996. https://web.archive.org/web/20220730005443/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-06-27-fi-18966-story.html

IndexArticles. ‘CreataCard Personalizes Greetings; New Computerized Card Designing Kiosk Is Catching on at Discounters’, 1993. https://indexarticles.com/business/discount-store-news/creatacard-personalizes-greetings-new-computerized-card-designing-kiosk-is-catching-on-at-discounters/.

Blackwell, Roger D., and Kristina Stephan. Customers Rule! Why the e-Commerce Honeymoon Is over and Where Winning Businesses Go from Here. 1st ed. New York: Crown Business, 2001.

#the 1990s #1990s #greeting cards #create a card machine #createacard machine #create a card kiosk #1990s retail

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theam-cjsw · 1 year

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The AM: March 6, 2023

This week’s AM features a few happy returns, with new music from AM favourites Nabihah Iqbal, Mega Bog, and Benoit Pioulard (to name a few). Plus a throwback to classic mid-2000s chamber pop, violins played in the LA river, a David Axelrod track that’s technically credited to someone else, Morabeza Tobacco getting as close to the "Good Times" bassline as is legally allowed, and a healthy mix of atmospheric sounds, post-punk raves, experimental compositions and other offbeat easy listening for a Monday morning.

Listen on Soundcloud

Hear it at CJSW.com

Other listening links

Ongoing Spotify playlist (to avoid my commentary)

Tracklist after the break.

Hour One:

réfraction Onur Tarçin • Single

Ellipses Andrew Bird • Echolocations: River

A Constant Source of Joy and Fascination waivestate • Sprout Sessions

Vivid Elskavon • Origins

Bruises Earth Trax • Closer Now

Sweltering Drive Masahiro Takahashi • Humid Sun

Our Future Salad Days Dreamsploitation • The Soft Focus Sound of Today

Synchronized Swimmers Contagious Yawns • Dream of Consciousness

Bolan Muppets Glissandro 70 • Glissandro 70

Hour Two:

Les Points Cardineaux YouYourself&i • L'Amour des Anoures

Betwixt & Between Spencer Cullum, featuring Erin Rae • Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection 2

Walking Through Morning Dew Shana Cleveland • Manzanita

Synesthetics L.T.Leif • Come Back To Me, But Lightly

O Torto Santo Bike • Arte Bruta

Tonight’s Episode Yo La Tengo • This Stupid World

Elementary Particles The Hylozoists • La Fin du Monde

Warning Against Judging a Christian Brother The Hylozoists • La Fin du Monde

The Edge David McCallum • Music: A Bit More of Me

I Have Been Alone The Common People • Of The People / By The People / For The People

Way Far High Season • The Call

Anniversary Dawn to Dawn • Postcards from the Sun to the Moon

Hour Three:

Line in the Sand Brian Eno, Hot Chip, goddess • Single

The Void Benoit Pioulard • Eidetic

Manitou (Single Edit) Zoon • Bekka Ma'iingan

The Clown Mega Bog • End of Everything

The World Couldn’t See Us Nabihah Iqbal • DREAMER

Mariana's Web Uncanny Valley • Fevering Stare

Saturnus Morabeza Tobacco • Shadow of the Cherry

Destiny Decisive Pink • Ticket to Fame

NST Gnoomes • Ax Ox

High and Low Shirley & The Pyramids • Maid of Time

Medicine Road Fog Lake • Dragonchaser

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ndellasall · 2 years

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6 Key Concepts Regarding Race/Racism.

White Supremacy

Pictured above is Jeffery Dahmer. Dahmer is a white male serial killer who ate, violated, and brutally murdered his victims. His victims were mainly young brown and black men. His youngest victim was a 14 year old boy of Asian descent, in fact his victim managed to escape into Dahmer’s apartment hallway where his neighbor Glenda Cleveland a black woman and her daughter saw the young boy, drugged, stumbling and clearly needing help, so she called the police. When the police arrived Jeffery had told them the young naked boy was his “19 year old boyfriend”, after this with no further questioning or investigation toward the boy they allowed Jeffery to take him back into his apartment where he later strangled the boy immediately after.This shows how white cops automatically believed Jeffery over Glenda because he was a white man.

Hypodescent

Jussie Smollet, pictured and tagged above is biracial. His father is a white Jewish man and his mother is black (also pictured on the right), yet his classification is simply “black”. This portrays how being a “Hypo-descent” is still a modern issue. It could be a drop of African American in his blood and yet just like that, he is no longer regarded as even “half white” to racists.

Microagression

Most people may not realize when they are performing an act of microagression. This is why it is important to be cultured and respectful. Racial aggressions are not stereotypes, they are racist statements in a form of a backhanded question or compliment. The photo above references some every day sayings you may want to reflect on before you say aloud.

Institutional Racism

Institutional racism is by far the best example of modern day segregation. In the video above you will see how it is exactly broken down. An example, would be HBCU’s and PWI’s. HBCU’s are historically black colleges and universities, where majority of the students are black, on the other hand PWI’s are predominantly white institutions. Both teach the same things yet HBCU’s receive a drastic funding difference then PWI’s and it is not a upgrade.

Racial Ideology

Today, some common ideological forms of racism include the belief that Black women are loud and ghetto, that Latina women are “spicy” or “hot-tempered,” and that black men and boys are criminally inclined. This form of racism has a negative impact on people of color as a whole because it works to deny them access to and/or success within the educational and the professional world, and subjects them to heightened police surveillance, harassment, and violence, among other negative outcomes we see daily. (Source linked)

Colonialism

In the GIF above the words “bloody” are portrayed as we see the Europeans putting up the British flag at what seems to be newly found land. This however was done in real life in real time. The British army still till this day is one of the strongest army’s in the world. They enslaved and sold many slaves, goods, and land. They swept the world of its riches vastly and while they did it they ran the rivers with blood. This is colonialism, in turn stealing a world that isn’t yours and saying you found it and it is now “yours”.

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meowmeow-motherfucker · 15 days

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The Fox & the Squirrel- Chapter 19

Summary: Chasing yet another demon in a long line of hunts, the Winchesters get help from an unlikely source. But their new recruit isn’t exactly who she says she is. Savannah is used to looking over her shoulder. Life in hiding doesn’t leave much room for enjoyment, but traveling with the Winchesters just may give her a new lease on life.

Fic pairing: Dean Winchester/OFC Savannah Hart

Trigger warnings: elements of horror and witchcraft, references to past torture/trauma, Crowley is a dick, lies and deception, mutual pining, flirting, sex, typical Winchester shenanigans.

Read it on AO3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16242644/chapters/37972217

“Whatcha thinkin’ about, pretty lady? You’re uh...lookin’ a little hot and bothered.” Dean pressed his lips to her neck, grinning when she shivered. They were working a case in Cleveland, Ohio, investigating a string of mysterious drownings. Sam was holed up in the library hunting down local legends about the Cuyahoga River. Dean and Savannah had gone to the coroner’s office to investigate the bodies.

“Honestly? I am. Which is a little strange, considering where we just came from.”

“Knew it. It’s the suit isn’t it?” Dean guessed. Savannah groaned, dropping her head back onto his shoulder. She did love his fed suit.

“You caught me.”

“Well, we have a little time to kill before we meet Sammy...what did you have in mind?” An arm wrapped around her middle, bringing her further into his chest as he nipped below her ear. “Want me to make you come with my fingers? Or maybe try something new?”

“I want to touch you.” Savannah cupped the back of his head, locking their gazes together as she rocked up to her tiptoes to kiss him.

“Shit, okay,” Dean gasped against her lips, surprised by her boldness. “Let’s go for a ride.”

Dean drove them to a secluded wooded area on the outskirts of town. He parked the Impala out of view behind a dense tree row and climbed out, circling the front end of the car to open her door.

“Now where are we going?” Savannah asked as he offered his hand to help her get out. She stepped out easily, watching curiously as Dean took her seat.

“Nowhere, I just want you...here,” Dean pulled her into his lap, planting his feet on the floor board as she straddled his thighs. “Perfect. Might wanna get the door though,” he chuckled, holding onto her hips as she leaned out to grab the door handle. With the door shut, she descended on him, licking into his mouth as she ran her fingers through his short hair to cradle his head in her hands. His fingers flexed on her hip, his cock jumping to attention when she shifted from his thighs up to his hips. “How d’you want to do this? It’s your show.”

“Um...I’m not sure. Maybe...lose the shirt?” Savannah suggested. It’d been a long, long time since she’d been this close to someone, and she didn’t quite remember what the next step was. Dean complied readily, shrugging off his suit jacket and tossing it in the back seat as he sat up. He undid the buttons on his dress shirt quickly, his lips tantalizingly close to hers as she watched him undress.

“How’s that?” Savannah hummed appreciatively as she took in the sight of him leaned back in the seat.

“Can I?” she asked tentatively, hands aloft above his skin.

“Of course.” Dean watched patiently as she bit her lip hesitantly, before bringing both hands to his chest.

“You’re pretty.” she blurted, her face warming when Dean chuckled.

“Thanks.” Savannah met his eyes to see a faint blush covering his cheeks. She grinned, and the blush deepened, creeping down his neck and spreading across his chest.

“That’s interesting,” Savannah laughed, her fingers skimming his heated skin. “So when I made you blush the other day, this is what happened?”

“Don’t make fun of me, woman.” Dean griped.

“I’m not making fun of you; I think it’s cute,” she giggled at the withering look Dean gave her. “Can I kiss you?”

“I’m gonna make you work for it after that. Callin’ me cute.” Dean scoffed. He held her gaze as she leaned forward to kiss him, turning his head at the last second so she kissed his cheek instead of his mouth.

“Dean!”

“What?” he grinned. “I thought you wanted to make out?”

“You moved!” Dean pursed his lips.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Try again,” This time her lips met his chin when he moved, and he chuckled as she growled. “You’re not very good at this.” he teased.

“Only because you’re being a jerk!” Savannah objected, slapping at his chest.

“Me? I’m a jerk?” Dean feigned confusion, laughing when she rolled her eyes. “Can I make it up to you?” he asked.

“You can try.” Savannah replied stubbornly.

“C’mere,” Dean could tell she thought he was going to move away again, but instead he raised his head to capture her lips, threading his fingers through her hair as she gasped into his mouth. He groaned as she let her weight drop onto him and he nipped at her lip, ramping up the pace of his kisses as he tugged her jacket off and sent it flying. He wasn’t about to strip her completely, not with the potential for discovery, but at least he could touch her more freely without the jacket on. “Can we undo some of these?” his fingers played with the buttons of her shirt, teasing her skin through the fabric.

“Go for it.” She took control of the kiss, making him fumble as he worked to reveal more of her skin. She shifted in his lap when his fingers grazed the bare skin of her breasts, urging him on as he sought out her nipples and pinched them through the satiny fabric of her bra.

She gasped and her hands slid from his shoulders down to his stomach, making her breasts jut out and his cock twitched in response. He grunted, both in want and annoyance. He hated the suit trousers; they were more uncomfortable than necessary.

“You okay?” she asked, pulling back to look him over.

“Yeah, it’s just these damn pants. They’re not comfortable.”

“So...take them off?” Savannah suggested. Dean smirked.

“Is that an order?”

“Do you...want it to be?” Savannah volleyed back and Dean gave a breathless chuckle before his hands dove for his belt and a second later, she was raising up so he could shove his pants down his thighs and she could see all of him.

“Oh wow.” Her eyes darted from his lap to his face and back.

“What?” His immediate thought was she was mocking him, but Savannah wasn’t that kind of person...was she?

“I’m a little intimidated, to be honest,” Savannah chuckled. “Can I-’

“Please,” Dean gave a needful gasp as she ran a finger up the length of him. She was killing him; a light breeze could come and knock him on his ass any second. “You don’t have to do that.” he said.

“Do what?”

“Act like you’ve never seen a dick before.”

“I haven’t…”

“You...what?! Never ever? Like...ever?”

“Like ever,” Savannah confirmed. “Avoiding it, remember?”

“Hold on, does this mean you’re a virgin? Because it’s cool if you are but we shouldn’t be doing this in a car-”

“I’m not a virgin,” Savannah shook her head. “Let’s just say my previous experiences weren’t that great and leave it at that.”

“What does that mean?” Dean asked.

“It means I don’t want to talk about it. They aren’t good memories, Dean. I want to focus on this, okay? I need better memories and I want to make them with you.”

“O-okay,” Dean relented. “We don’t have to talk about it. What do you want to do?” Savannah gave a sigh of relief and looked down at his flagging cock.

“Show me what to do.”

“Gimme your hand,” Dean instructed, carefully showing her how to grip him in her palm. “Start slow and you can go faster later on.” Savannah nodded, starting to move her hand slowly like he’d shown her. Down to the root, up to the crown, and repeat. She rubbed the pad of her thumb around the crown, making Dean squirm in the seat.

“Like this?” she asked doubtfully, risking a glance at his blissful face.

“Yeah, baby, just like that,” he panted. “You can grip me a little tighter if you want,” he murmured, groaning loudly when she tightened her grip as she moved. His breaths were coming in ragged pants and his thighs were twitching beneath her. “Fuck, yes, go faster please. Can I touch you?”

“Please.” Dean growled, using both hands to grip her hair and bring her mouth down to his.

“Have I told you how much I love this new fed skirt we got you?” he asked. “Makes your ass look so good,” he ran his hands down her body, squeezing her backside with both his hands and giving her left cheek a gentle slap. “This okay?”

“Yes!” Savannah gasped as his fingers delved under her skirt, making a beeline for her panties. He tugged the material down around her thighs and quickly found her clit, making her jump. She whined as he matched the rhythm she was torturing him with, making him chuckle.

“What’s the matter, baby? Too slow for ya?”

“Just a little bit.”

“Well let’s fix that.” Dean captured her lips as he sped up his fingers, grunting when she did the same. She whimpered against his mouth and he wanted to come right then. He loved the noises she made, loved knowing he was the reason she made them.

He slipped a finger inside her heat and she gasped; her movements stuttering for the briefest moment before she gripped him tighter, her amped up rhythm making him curse and plead. He added a second finger, twisting his hand to reach her G-spot and crushing her mouth to his.

“Oh God, oh God!” Savannah sobbed, her walls clenching around his fingers.

“You gonna come for me, baby?” Dean grunted, pressing on her G-spot firmly and making her writhe.

“Oh fuck, yes, please, fuck!” her back arched as her orgasm exploded, her hand falling slack as he sat up to bury his face in her chest. He quickly took over for her, groaning around her breast as he brought himself to completion and managed to work her through her peak. Both her hands were buried in his hair, anchoring him to her ample chest as she writhed above him. Dean could have died happily in that instant, and if the quivering in her thighs was any indication, Savannah could have too. When she was able to collect herself, she kissed the crown of his head before releasing her grip on him, giggling when she saw the dazed look on his face.

“You okay?” Dean sagged against the seat, still breathing heavily.

“Awesome. You?”

“Really, really good.”

“Yeah? Good memory?”

“Definitely. Thank you.” Savannah kissed him sweetly, cupping his face in both hands as she leaned into him.

“My pleasure. We should probably get cleaned up though.” Dean chuckled.

“Probably. Sam's probably wondering where we are-oh my goodness! Um…”

“What?” Dean followed her concerned gaze to the mess he'd made on his stomach. “Right. There should be a couple napkins tucked in the glove box.”

“Is that um...is that normal?”

“Yeah, sweetheart, it's normal.” Dean chuckled, taking the napkins from her when she held them out.

“Don't laugh at me!” Savannah scolded. “How would I know?”

“They not teach sex ed in Georgia?”

“My parents were really religious,” Savannah shrugged. “They always made it seem...like it was something to be avoided except for making babies. They didn’t like when I asked questions.”

“It’s nothing to be scared of. But if this is going to be a thing between you and me, I want to make sure you understand what’s happening. I’d be happy to answer any questions you have, and if I don’t know the answer, we’ll figure it out together.”

“Really?”

“Of course,” Dean nodded. “Sex is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Thank you Dean.”

~~~~

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Dean’s voice made her jump, her eyes darting from the case notes in front of her. It was quiet in the hotel room and she’d been hyper focused on their findings, practically blocking out the canned laughter from the television and the sound of the shower.

“Of course. Did I do something wrong?”

“No, not at all,” Dean sat at the table across from her. “I’ve just been thinking about what you said in the car. About bad experiences.”

“Oh.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything if you really don’t want to, I just wanna make sure you’re one-hundred percent okay.”

“Are you asking because you regret what happened earlier?” Dean leaned back, looking slightly offended.

“No, of course not! Do you?”

“No,” Savannah shook her head. “I actually really enjoyed it.”

“Me too.” Dean smiled warmly.

“I’m...not used to that.” Savannah admitted, a shy smile slipping onto her face as she ducked her head. She was still floating on cloud nine.

“Not used to what?” Dean asked hesitantly. “Enjoying it?”

“I told you they were bad experiences, Dean.”

“I know that, but...that can mean a lot of things. Was someone too rough with you?”

“Yes.”

“They force you?” Dean’s voice was tight and brimming with anger. Savannah faltered in the face of his anger, unsure what to say.

“I...yeah, I guess. I mean it was my fault I put myself in that situation-”

“That don’t matter. If you said no, whoever you were with shoulda stopped. End of story.”

“But-”

“No buts, sweetheart. It ain’t your fault.”

“Please don’t hate me,” she begged, her voice small and timid. “I don’t have anyone but you and Sam; I couldn’t bear it if-”

“Savannah, no,” Dean was up in a flash, rounding the table to crouch by her chair. “You shouldn’t blame yourself for this, okay? You didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t hate you.”

“But you’re not gonna want anything to do with me.”

“Who says? I’m still here, aren’t I?”

“Yes, but...what if that changes?”

“Sweetheart the only thing that’s gonna change is that you are gonna call all the shots from here on out. I’m not gonna push you, we’ll go at your pace; you decide when you’re ready for something more. But this...this isn’t gonna change how I see you, I promise. Okay?” Savannah nodded, her face wet from the running tears.

“Okay.” she eked out.

“Can I give you a hug?” Another nod, and Dean rose to his feet to pull her into his arms. He held her tightly, her face firmly planted in his chest. He pressed a kiss to her hair as she clung to him with shaky hands. “C’mon, sweetheart, let’s go watch some cartoons.” Dean guided her over to the bed he’d abandoned, fluffing the pillows as she got settled. He sat beside her and leaned back into the pillows, holding his arm up to let her snuggle close to him. She furled into his chest readily, happy to wallow in the comfort he provided. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and sighed happily when he draped the blankets over them.

“Thank you,” Savannah mumbled, smiling when Dean brushed the hair back from her face. “This is nice.”

“It is,” Dean admitted. “I’m sorry you had such bad experiences. If you want, I can kill them for you.” The threat sounded so innocuous in Dean’s teasing tone, but Savannah knew he meant it.

“Maybe later,” she snuggled deeper into his embrace. “Tom and Jerry’s starting.”

“Okay, later it is.” Dean chuckled, squeezing her gently. They both stretched out comfortably, their legs tangling together as a new episode of Tom and Jerry began to play.

#meowmeow writes #dean winchester #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural fic #the fox & the squirrel

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incorrectprodigalsonquotes · 6 months

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Martin: Let’s kill him.

Malcolm: That’s your solution to everything!

Martin: Well, could we just try it once!?

#incorrect prodigal son quotes #prodigal son #martin whitly #malcolm bright #source: hot in cleveland #incorrect quotes #prodigal son incorrect quotes

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therighthandofvengeance · 7 months

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Londo: Now you may not realize this, Vir, but we are in the presence of a genius. Ill-tempered, disagreeable, snarky; yes. But I would trust him with my life, and more importantly, with my hair.

#who are queue? what do queue want?#londo mollari #incorrect babylon 5 quote #source: hot in cleveland #victoria chase #he’s talking about G’Kar— isn’t he?

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xtruss · 2 months

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Capturing The Sun Queen! How Mária Telkes And Her Radical Design Modeled A New Future.

— Published: March 27, 2023 | Kirstin Butler

Mária Telkes outside of the Dover Sun House, 1949. Ralph Morse/LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Celebrated LIFE Magazine photographer Ralph Morse captured scores of notable Americans—actress Audrey Hepburn posing with the Oscar she won for the film “Roman Holiday,” baseball legend Jackie Robinson stealing home base at the 1955 World Series, astronaut John Glenn suiting up for space—but before all of them came the “Sun Queen,” and her house.

In the winter of 1949, LIFE sent Morse to Dover, Massachusetts to train his lens on Mária Telkes, a Hungarian-born inventor and chemical engineer who earned that regal nickname for her relentless pursuit of solar technology. As a freshman at the University of Budapest, Telkes had read a book called Energy Sources of the Future, about the sun’s vast potential to meet human energy needs. “This was the deciding moment,” she said later. “The book described experiments, mostly conducted in the United States, and therefore this was the place for me.”

After receiving her doctorate in physical chemistry in 1924, Telkes immigrated to the U.S., where she worked as a biophysicist at the Cleveland Clinic. She then joined Westinghouse Electric as a research engineer, developing thermocouples that could transform heat energy into electricity. While at Westinghouse she heard about an initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that aligned with her desire to harness the sun’s power. She wrote to MIT’s solar project asking for a job, and when hired in 1939, became the project’s sole woman.

It wasn’t only gender that differentiated Telkes from many of her colleagues. While they focused on academic analysis, she was practical-minded; Telkes was interested in the widest real-world applications of solar-powered technology. She was also strong-willed, and her penchant for self-promotion put her at odds with the MIT project’s leadership. Finally, Telkes decided to forge her own path—and found two new collaborators.

She identified a patron in Amelia Peabody, an heiress who owned hundreds of acres in Dover, Massachusetts, a rural town about 45 minutes outside of Boston. Years earlier, Peabody, who was also a sculptor, had commissioned Boston architect Eleanor Raymond to design a sculpture studio on her Dover estate. Like Telkes, Raymond was herself a pioneer in a nearly all-male field. The three women now teamed up to realize Telkes’s ambition: a home relying on nothing but the sun for its heat.

The May 1949 issue of LIFE Magazine included an illustration of Telkes’s innovative design for keeping the Dover Sun House warm.

The main challenge vexing MIT’s theoreticians and pragmatists alike was the question of energy storage. Capturing the sun’s heat was one thing, but storing it for use on cloudy days was, Telkes noted in a 1949 paper, “the critical problem.” She saw a potential solution in phase-changing materials—chemical compounds that held or released heat when changing form from solid to liquid, and back. Specifically, Telkes was interested in a substance called Glauber’s salt.

A sodium form of sulfuric acid given the name sal mirabile, or miraculous salt, by the German scientist who first synthesized it, Glauber’s salt was solid until it reached 90o Fahrenheit, at which point it liquified. When the salt cooled down again, it recrystallized, releasing all of the stored heat it absorbed. In the Dover design, Telkes placed 4,275 gallons of the salts in drums inside the home’s walls; fans then blew the hot air through the house via ducts.

On Christmas Eve 1948, the home’s new inhabitants moved into what came to be known as the Dover Sun House. The two-bedroom structure was wedge-shaped with its living areas on the first floor. The second story consisted of 18 windows facing south, for maximum sun exposure. Behind the windows were black painted panels to maximize absorption of the sun’s rays; this solar-generated heat was then used to heat up the Glauber’s salt, which then performed its miraculous task. Telkes had succeeded in realizing the world’s first fully solar-powered home.

The Sun House quickly became a landmark. Twice a week, thousands of visitors arrived for tours. The media also came calling. LIFE sent its top photojournalist to capture Telkes’s brainchild, which struck as dramatic a pose in its environment as she did in her fur coat before it. “Its stark, modern lines stand out in the New England countryside,” noted the May 1949 issue of Popular Science, which featured an illustration of the home on the front cover. Andrew Nemethy was three years old when he and his parents took up residence in the Sun House. “By mid-century architectural standards, it might as well have been dropped in the middle of a field by aliens,” he wrote in the Boston Globe, 70 years after his family’s part in Telkes’s experiment.

The March 1949 issue of Popular Science magazine featured a stylized illustration of the Sun House on its cover.

Eventually, however, the experiment began to fail. Glauber’s salt had a few problems: Over successive heating and cooling cycles, it stratified permanently into solid and liquid components, requiring the bins to be replaced. The salt was also corrosive, and began to leak from its metal containers. Midway through the home’s third winter, the heating system broke down.

For Telkes, however, perfection was never the point. She understood the necessity of exciting the public imagination about the possibilities of solar power. “Each new house,” she explained in 1950, “is another experimental stepping stone toward the use of the sun as a fuel resource.” Before the adoption of a new technology, people needed to be sold on its value—its glamour, even. If cutting a fashionable figure in front of the Sun House quickened support of solar energy, she would play to the camera.

When Ralph Morse first set out to become a photographer, one of his first jobs was at Harper’s Bazaar magazine. After only three days, though, he quit—according to his 2015 New York Times obituary, “he found fashion shoots vapid.” The image he captured of Mária Telkes could just as easily have appeared in Vogue as in LIFE, but in this case Morse’s subject satisfied his need for substance. Mária Telkes wanted nothing less than to transform the way society got the power it needed to thrive. “It is the things supposed to be impossible that interest me,” she once said. “I like to do things they say cannot be done.”

#The Sun Queen #Article #From The Collections: A Thousand Words | The Environment #NOVS | PBS #Mária Telkes

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