BOYHOOD, ENGINEERING, AND THE MODEL AIRPLANE IN AMERICAN CULTURE by AARON L ...

396 Pages·2008·12.79 MB·English

MODELING BEHAVIOR: BOYHOOD, ENGINEERING, AND THE MODEL
AIRPLANE IN AMERICAN CULTURE

by
AARON L. ALCORN

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Dissertation Adviser: Dr. Carroll Pursell

Department of History
CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY

January 2009
CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
We hereby approve the thesis/dissertation of
___Aaron L. Alcorn_______________________________________
candidate for the _______PhD_________________________degree *.
(signed)__Carroll W. Pursell______________________________
(chair of the committee)
____Alan J. Rocke______________________
____Renée Sentilles___________________________
____Todd Oakley_____________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
(date) __12 August 2008_____________________
*We also certify that written approval has been obtained for any
proprietary material contained therein.
Copyright © 2009
All Rights Reserved
For Karl
TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii

INTRODUCTION: Making Models, Making Boyhood 1

CHAPTER ONE: Inventing the Inventive Boy 19

“Our first began….”: The Origins of the
Wondrous Boyhood of Orville and Wilbur
Wright 22

The Inventor as Hero and the Mystique of
the Boy Inventor 33

Tom Swift and the Boy Inventor in Series
Fiction 49

Playing the Boy Inventor: Model Airplanes,
The Wright Boys, and the Public Domain
of Inventive Boy Discourse 62

CHAPTER TWO: Putting the Boy Inventor in His Place 81

Boy Culture and the Ideology of
Independence 85

At Home and Tinkering 99

Workshops Outside the Home:
E. Lillian Todd and the Junior Aero
Club of America 107
Space and Place: Percy Pierce and
the Identity of the Boy Inventor 123

Containing the Boy Inventor 133

CHAPTER THREE: Packaging Modernity: Towards an Ecology
of the Model Airplane Hobby 140

“Purely Sporting Models”:
Aeromodeling as Craft and Sport 144

“Too Expensive for Schoolboys”? 163

Boy Bricoleurs and Clever Tinkerers 174

Construction Kits and the Rise of the
Boy Engineer 186

CHAPTER FOUR: Under Lindbergh’s Wing 204

A Hero for a New Age 207

Narrating the Boy Lindbergh: Popular Biography
and Lore of Boyhood 222

Commodifying “Lindy”: Lindbergh
and Commercialized Boy Culture 237

“America has found her wings…” 253

CHAPTER FIVE: “The Modern Boy is Air-Minded”: Boy
Consumers and the Airplane Model League
of America 273

Visions of an Air-minded Generation 276

Making Ways for Boy Consumers 288

The Airplane Model League of America
and the Model Building Boy 296

Children’s Experiences and Tournament
Preparations—The Case of Detroit 308
ii
The AMLA’s Declining Fortunes and the
Resilient Air-Minded Boy Consumer 322

CONCLUSION 333

BIBLIOGRAPHY 346
iii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1: Two views of boyhood 8
Figure 2: Alphonse Pénaud’s Hélicoptère (1870) and Planophore (1871) 26
Figure 3: Christian Schussele, Men of Progress (1862) 34
Figure 4: Cromwell Dixon, photograph (ca. 1907) 47
Figure 5: Tom Swift and His Motorcycle (1910), cover 53
Figure 6: “Cecil Peoli” Racer (1912) 67
Figure 7: Dandrieux Butterfly Toy (1879) 72
Figure 8: Orville Wright, Sketch of Boyhood Toy (1929) 75
Figure 9: “Heroes of the Air: Orville and Wilbur Wright” (ca. 1935) 78
Figure 10: Drawing of “inexpensive ‘American Boy’ Workshop (1909) 96
Figure 11: Sperry Home Floor Plan, Brooklyn, NY 103
Figure 12: Franklin Experimental Club, ca. 1890-1892, photograph 108
Figure 13: Illustrations of E. L. Todd, Washington Post (1908) 114
Figure 14: “A Young Inventor in His Workshop,” (1910) 125
Figure 15: “Percy Pierce Racer No. 68” (ca. 1912) 129
Figure 16: Lewis H. Hines, “Two Boys with Model Airplanes,” (n.d.) 141
Figure 17: “Percy Pierce Flyer” (1910) 149
Figure 18: “‘Ideal’ Curtiss Hydroplane” (1912) 155
iv
Figure 19: “Storing Energy For a Long Distance Flight” (1910) 157
Figure 20: “Nealey Racing Monoplane” (1912); “Selley Monoplane” (1912) 159
Figure 21: “Surini Model” (1913); “The California Racer” (1912) 160
Figure 22: A-frame pusher advertisements (1912) 162
Figure 23: Ripping Strips from a Pine Board (1912) 176
Figure 24: “Directions for Carving a Propeller” (1915) 184
Figure 25: Drawing and Photograph of Finished Model (1910) 193
Figure 26: Ideal Model Airplane advertisement (1921) 198
Figure 27: “‘Ideal’ De Havilland Battle Plane” (1926) 200
Figure 28: Over the Ocean to Paris (1927), frontispiece 232
Figure 29: “His Second Great Feat,” editorial cartoon (1927) 239
Figure 30: “Lone Eagle” Brand Fruit Packing Label (ca. 1928) 241
Figure 31: “The ‘MOCAR’ Monoplane,” (1928) 246
Figure 32: Merrill Hamburg, “Build a 24-inch ‘Spirit of St. Louis,” (1928) 252
Figure 33: Harrison Cady, untitled illustration for American Boy, (1928) 256
Figure 34: “Dear Lindy” 258
Figure 35: National Playground Miniature Aircraft Tournament, (1927) 265
Figure 36: Harrison Cady, untitled illustration for American Boy, (1930) 281
Figure 37: “Win An Airplane Model Kit,” American Boy, (1928) 287
Figure 38: “Up in the CLOUDS…,” Cracker Jack Air Corps advertisement, (1930) 289
Figure 39: AMLA “Honor Certificate,” (1928) 298
Figure 40: Aram Abgarian, photograph, (1928) 317
Figure 41: “The A.M.L.A. Model Builder,” (ca. 1930) 326
v
Figure 42: Certificate, Gimpel Brothers Junior Aviation League, (n.d.) 327
Figure 43: Cover, Toys and Novelties, (1935) 328
Figure 44: Model-building instruction at “Camp Duncan Grant,” (1923) 336

vi