Canadian-born satirist Bruce McCall (1935-2023) reliably delighted me with his New Yorker covers that explored fantastic scenarios: What if New York City were nice, easy, and happy? What if there'd been a golden age of New York where everyone loved highbrow culture? How big and aggressive can a tour bus get? McCall always illlustrated his ideas with precise detail and a great sense of scale and perspective.
I was sad to read of his death in this New York Times obituary, but also intrigued by a reference to his "4,000-horsepower diesel typewriter."
After some hunting, I was able to track it down. It appears in McCall's extensive parody of Popular Mechanics in the July 1973 issue of National Lampoon.
"The machine is so sturdy that it can be rammed by a five-ton truck moving at fifty mph without jarring the keyboard." Ha! That bit got me :)
ReplyDeleteA lovely tribute, thank you for sharing this snippet with us.