Invisible Themepark

Author: Lee Wallender

  • Quonset Hut / House Cutaway, 1946

    Quonset Hut / House Cutaway, 1946
    Quonset Hut / House Cutaway, 1946

    A gorgeous picture of a Quonset hut from 1946, touted by Popular Science as a possible “stop gap” to the immediate post World War II housing shortage.

    I’ve called it a Quonset hut/house because it clearly does not resemble its earlier incarnation:  Army barracks.  In fact, the vets were said to be moving back to their old barracks “and loving it.”

    Clusters of these 20 x 48 foot huts was sometimes called Homoja Villages, a compound name for Admirals Horne, Moreell, and Jacobs.

    Admiral Ben Moreell (1892-1978) is known as the the Father of the Navy’s Seabees, and himself was known as “Master Bee.”

    Quonset Hut Town
    Quonset Hut Town

    Source:  Popular Science March 1946

  • Walker Bulldog T-41 Tank Cutaway, 1951

    Walker Bulldog T-41 Tank Cutaway, 1951

    Walker Bulldog T-41 Tank Cutaway, 1951
    Walker Bulldog T-41 Tank Cutaway, 1951

    The Walker Bulldog tank was named after General Walton Walker who served in World Wars I and II and the Korean War.  He was killed in a car accident in Korea in 1950.

    The Bulldog was a fast, lightweight tank that could reach speeds of 40 mph under its 51,000 pounds of weight.  It was made at Cadillac’s tank plant near Cleveland, OH.

    Source: Popular Mechanics October 1951

  • Palomar Observatory Cutaway 1947

    Palomar Observatory Cutaway Drawing 1947
    Palomar Observatory Cutaway Drawing 1947

    Famed Palomar Observatory, just outside of San Diego, CA, had not yet been finished at the time this cutaway drawing was published.

    The drawing shows the observatory’s massive 200-inch mirror that, at that moment, was being finished at optical labs at Cal Tech, Pasadena, CA.  The disk of glass was 17 feet in diameter, and waste glass produced during the grinding weighed 2 tons.

    Source:  Popular Mechanics March 1947

  • House Cutaway Showing Movement of Water Vapor, 1951

    House Cutaway Showing Movement of Condensation 1951
    House Cutaway Showing Movement of Condensation 1951

    This is a cutaway drawing from 1951 showing how water vapor moves throughout a house.

    Source:  Popular Mechanics, September 1951

  • Basement Bomb Shelter, 1961

    Basement Bomb Shelter, 1961
    Basement Bomb Shelter, 1961

    In 1961, LIFE extolled the benefits of building a basement bomb shelter out of pre-cast concrete blocks.

    This cutaway drawing shows how the homeowner would have situated the shelter in a corner of the basement where it had no windows.

    The article estimated materials cost not to exceed $200.  It was estimated that radiation within the shelter would be about 1% of radiation outside.

    As a final warning, the article mentioned that, should the nuclear warhead hit within 10-15 miles of you, the house might be blown down onto the shelter and catch fire.

    Source: LIFE Sep 15, 1961