Miscellaneous Objects
Contents
24" Dobsonian Telescope
In chapter 15 of Rocinante, Mark and Jackie meet John Dobson and get to view the sky through his 24" self built telescope.
The Wikipedia entry for that style of telescope is here: Dobsonian Telescope.
The Wikipedia page for John Dodson is here: John L Dobson
Here is a link to a page about John Dobson with pictures of his 24" telescope
Darby Handcuffs
In Andromeda Chained Carole Carter and Brenda Hodunk wear Darby style handcuffs. The brand (Soliel) that Wes named was fictional but the style was from real life.
The Wikipedia entry is here: Handcuffs.
From one of Wes' fans: No one seems to talk about the history behind the Darby handcuff. There's a bunch of sites selling them, vintage and modern replicas, and some sites focusing on collectors of Police, etc., restraint gear, but really, not much about their origins. Darbies, per se, seem to go back to at least the 1870s, but the hinge mechanism used in modern versions of handcuffs, including Darbies, is post WWI. The entemology of the name itself is in question; it is suggested that it somehow derived from the cuff being shaped like a "D".
While there are some Darbies with keys of the type Wes described, ie a standard flat key such as used in house locks, the vast majority appear to use a round, threaded, key. Part of what led to their falling out of favor was Harry Houdini demonstrating that it was possible to open the adjustable version without a key or lock pick; you just had to hit them against a hard object with sufficient force in line with the locking pin such that momentum would cause it to shift position just enough to momentarily clear the notch in the arm of the Darby, allowing you, if prepared, to tug them open before the pin reset in the notch.
Erector Set
The Erector Set from Forgotten Killer, Chapter 17, contained a Walking Beam Engine. This makes it possible to determine just which Erector Set it was.
The 1950s 7 1/2 Set contains a Walking Beam Engine, modified from the original Steam powered version to run on a motor utilizing household electricity. It was aimed at the seven "and a half" year old market, and Ryan is nine, which actually is a point in his favor, as it gives more basis for his looking at the repetitive up and down motion of pump head and realizing that this could be transformed into the motion needed to open and close the pressure relief valve.
One of Wes' fans writes: In regard to Ryan's comments, as an adult, concerning the later Erector Sets, "My personal experience with the Erector Set I received as a child in the mid 1960s was that the girders were a piece of junk that bent without hardly any pressure being applied. The impression I have is that the earlier Erector Sets, prior to A.C. Gilbert's death in 1961 and the sale of the company, were of much sturdier construction."
Girders and Gears has a good article concerning the 7 1/2 Erector Set as issued in 1953, also referred to as the "Engineer's Set". As Forgotten Killer's events take place in 1955, this is very close to the version of the set that Ryan would have been using, depending upon how long he had the set prior to the story.
The Wikipedia entry is here: Erector Set.
Fish Coop
In Winter Layoff Jim Wooten has a Fish Coop, which is a small shack mounted on skids or runners that can be towed out onto a frozen lake for protection from the elements while ice fishing.
The Wikipedia entry is here: Ice Shanty.
Iron Lung
In chapter 6 of Forgotten Killer The Boy Scout camper Bob Rathburn has been diagnosed with Polio. To try and save his life Phil Gravengood flies him to University of Wisconsin Hospital to be placed in an Iron Lung.
The Wikipedia entry is here: Iron Lung.
Superior Dome
The Superior Dome on the Campus of Northern Michigan University is the largest wooden dome in the world. The Spearfish Lake Marlins football team has playoff games there.
The Wikipedia page is here: Superior Dome
WOODEN IRON LUNG
In chapter 13 of Forgotten Killer Garth Matson finds the plans for an emergency wooden "iron lung" in a January, 1952 copy of Popular Mechanics. He recruits Brent Clark and a group of Spearfish Lake men including, Dan Evachevski, Joe Paulsen and Brent's son Ryan Clark, to build an emergency wooden respirator to those plans.
Here is a link to an online reprint of that article: Wooden Respirator.
