As someone who collects hobbies like its going out of style, one thing that caught my attention about this random upholstery book I picked up was the publisher. Popular Mechanics Press.
My older brother, now an engineer, was a fan of the Popular Mechanics magazine while we were growing up, and he was always up in the cutting edge tech and their ratings lists for consumer tech.
But this, this book, All About Upholstering is definitely not that. Actually, according to its intro, it sounds a LOT like the precursor to our favorite how-to videos on YouTube.
"This book is written primarily for the home craftsman, the homemaker, the student and apprentice upholsterer to acquaint them with the tools, materials, and basic principles used in upholstery."
Right now, Simon and Schuster owns the imprint for Popular Mechanics Press, and its in this list of imprints with only one title: Handy Projects for Boys. The projects in it were originally collected for publication in 1913.
On open library we have this delicious chart on the publishing timeline for this imprint:
And some titles include:
They're small and accessible and at least mine is full of these vintage illustrative figures. I mean… it's so different than today but if I pull anything from these, it's that beginner/novice content is around and has been around a long time.
Hobbies. They're a good time.
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