... melts into air. *
I've taken a particular interest in the history of writing utensils, from pencils and pens to typewriters, and of course to word processors. This month's date tie-in gives me the opportunity to celebrate a form of writing that bears a strange resemblance to the web page - sky writing.
Numerous web sources tell us that it is on this day, in 1922, that the first demonstration of skywriting in the United States takes place. Today, of course, seeing a plane flying over Times Square in New York City causes more distress than curiosity, but 80 years ago things were different. Capt. Cyril Turner, of the Royal Air Force, flew over New York at an altitude of 10,000 feet. (Turner had demonstrated the use of skywriting in advertising in May of that same year in England.) He wrote letters in white smoke a half-mile high. The smoke was formed by oil, controlled by levers, dropped on the plane's hot exhaust pipe. The message read: Hello, U.S.A. Call Vanderbilt 7200. Major Jack Savage was trying to sell this advertising idea to a skeptical George W. Hill, head of the American Tobacco Co. Savage had invited Hill to the Vanderbilt Hotel. Hill was convinced by the 47,000 telephone calls that arrived in less than 3 hours that this was an effective advertising method.
Though today skywriting as an advertising ploy seems relegated to history (perhaps people still propose marriage in this way, but few try to sell cigarettes) it still, even today, seems to be a fascinating profession, as the following article suggests.
Go to: The Return of the PC.