Retro-Tech

Arcane transport systems, pneumatic tubes, steam engines, zeppelins, wooden submarines, antikythera mechanisms, phantasmagorias, and any other amazing and now outmoded peice of technology belongs here.

San Francisco, California, US

Raygun Gothic Rocket Ship

"A rococo retro-futurist future-rustic vernacular between yesterday’s tomorrow and the future that never was"

A 40-ft-tall rocket ship glimmers in the sunlight on the rare occasion that the San Francisco fog allows it, and against the backdrop of the waterfront and the majestic Bay Bridge, this... »

Outsider Art, Strange Statues, Retro-Tech | Edited by DrArroganto and Rachel

Super 8 Motel Wetaskiwin, Canada

Reynolds-Alberta Museum

An automotive, farming machinery, and aviation museum located in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada

The Reynolds-Alberta museum has one of the world's best historical collections of transportation and industrial machinery. Charmingly, the collection was started by Stan Reynolds a local car... »

Museums and Collections, Retro-Tech, Amazing Automata | Edited by elinar and Dylan

Mayor Weigh-In

17th-century tradition of public weighing is met with boos or cheers depending on the Mayor's weight

Although public officials are met with far less rotten fruit and tomatoes, the annual Mayor Weigh-In in High Wycombe, England still draws a crowd ready to boo an increase in the mayor's weight.... »

Retro-Tech, Cultures and Civilizations , Rites and Rituals | Edited by atimian and Seth Teicher

Mattson Bay, Minnesota, US

Soudan Underground Mine State Park

Minnesota's oldest and deepest mine is now an underground physics laboratory

Cutting 2,341 feet into the earth, Soudan Underground Mine is the deepest mine in Minnesota, and one of the only mines in the world that also plays host to a physics laboratory. Opened in 1882... »

Instruments of Science, Retro-Tech, Subterranean Sites | Edited by atimian and HJHausman

Kings County, New York, US

Floyd Bennett Field

Home of aviation trailblazers

Named after the first person to fly over the North Pole (and Brooklyn resident), Floyd Bennett, the field was New York City’s first local airport. Opened in 1931, it quickly became a hub for... »

Natural Wonders, Museums and Collections, Instruments of Science, Marvelous Maps and Measures, Retro-Tech | Edited by HJHausman

Remnants of the Paris Guillotine

Indents in the pavement are all that remain from a grisly death machine in Paris

Blissfully unaware of the history of Paris, one might simply trip over these five indents in the street without realizing they were once the foundation for a guillotine that carried out executions... »

Memento Mori, Retro-Tech | Edited by serflac and atimian

Peasholm Park's Naval Battles

80 years of the Battle of Peasholm on a small English lake

Opened originally on the grounds of a medieval manor house, Peasholm Park in North Yorkshire is everything but a conventional English park. Each year during the summer months in Scarborough,... »

Retro-Tech, Wondrous Performances | Edited by jademontserrat and atimian

Johnstown, Pennsylvania, US

Johnstown Inclined Plane

Steepest flood safety railway in the entire world

Synonymous with Johnstown and its great floods, is the Johnstown Inclined Plane. Constructed as a "lifesaver" after the Johnstown Flood of May 31, 1889, the Incline has more than lived up to its... »

Retro-Tech | Edited by yamsaynot and atimian

Staatlicher Kremlpalast, Russia

Museum of Soviet Arcade Games

Immortal combat in a Moscow museum

A lot of arcades have their own special tokens for their games. But few have Soviet-era Kopek coins complete with a hammer and sickle signifying their connection to communism. Preserved by a... »

Retro-Tech | Edited by Dampo and atimian

Drottningholms Slottsteater

18th century opera in its original splendor

Drottningholms Slottsteater, or the Royal Theater of Drottningholm, was built in 1766 and is one of the oldest preserved opera houses in the world. But it's not just a relic collecting dust, or an... »

Musical Wonders, Retro-Tech | Edited by atimian