Popular Mechanics

History

Popular Mechanics was founded as a weekly in Chicago by Henry Haven Windsor, with the first issue dated January 11, 1902. His concept was that it would explain "the way the world works" in plain language, with photos and illustrations to aid comprehension. For decades, its tagline was: "Written so you can understand it."

In September 1902, the magazine, formerly a weekly, became a monthly. The Popular Mechanics Company was owned by the Windsor family and printed in Chicago until the Hearst Corporation purchased the magazine in 1958. In 1962, the editorial offices moved to New York City.

In 2020, Popular Mechanics relocated to Easton, Pennsylvania, along with the two additional brands in the Hearst Enthusiast Group (Bicycling and Runner's World). That location has also included Popular Mechanics' testing facility, called the Test Zone.

From the first issue, the magazine featured a large illustration of a technological subject, a look that evolved into the magazine's characteristic full-page, full-color illustration and a small 6.5 x trim size beginning with the July 1911 issue. It maintained the small format until 1975 when it switched to a larger standard trim size.

In 1915, Popular Mechanics adopted full-color cover illustrations, and the look was widely imitated by later technology magazines.

After World War II ended, in 1945, a number of international editions were introduced, starting with a French edition, followed by Spanish in 1947, and then Swedish and Danish in 1949. As of 2002, the print magazine was being published in English, Chinese, and Spanish and distributed worldwide. South African and Russian editions were introduced that same year.

The March 1962 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine aided in the June 1962 Alcatraz escape attempt, in which three men (Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin) used the magazine as a reference to build life vests and a raft out of rubber raincoats and contact cement.

Notable people who have contributed articles have included Guglielmo Marconi, Thomas Edison, Jules Verne, Barney Oldfield, Knute Rockne, Winston Churchill, Charles Kettering, Tom Wolfe, and Buzz Aldrin, as well as US presidents such as Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. Comedian and car expert Jay Leno had a regular column, Jay Leno's Garage, that started in March 1999.

Editors

*In general, dates are the inclusive issues for which an editor was responsible. For decades, the lead time to go from submission to print was three months, so some of the dates might not correspond exactly with employment dates. As the Popular Mechanics web site has become more dominant and the importance of print issues has declined, editorial changes have more immediate impact.

Awards

National Magazine Awards

• 1986 National Magazine Award in the Leisure Interest category for the Popular Mechanics Woodworking Guide, November 1986.
• 2008 National Magazine Award in the Personal Service category for its "Know Your Footprint: Energy, Water and Waste" series, as well as nominations for General Excellence and Personal Service (a second nomination).
• 2011 National Magazine Award nomination for "General Excellence" in the "Finance, Technology and Lifestyle magazines" category.
• 2016 National Magazine Award Finalist in "Personal Service" category for "How to Buy a Car" and "Magazine Section" category for "How Your World Works."
• 2017 National Magazine Award nomination in the "Magazine Section" category for "Know-How" and in "Feature Writing" for "Climb Aboard, Ye Who Seek the Truth."
• All together, the magazine has received 10 National Magazine Award nominations, including 2012 nominations in the Magazine of the Year category and the General Excellence category and a 2015 finalist in both categories.

Other awards

• 2011 Stater Bros Route 66 Cruisin’ Hall of Fame inductee in "Entertainment/Media" category.
• 2016 Ad Age "Magazine of the Year."
• 2017 Webby Awards Honoree for "How to Fix Flying" in the category of "Best Individual Editorial Experience (websites and mobile sites.)"
• 2019 Defence Media Awards Finalist in "Best Training, Simulation and Readiness" category for "The Air Force Is Changing How Special Ops Fighters Are Trained"
• 2021 American Nuclear Society "Darlene Schmidt Science News Award" to contributor Caroline Delbert for her "passion and interest in all things nuclear and radiation."
• 2022 Aerospace Media Awards finalist in the category "Best Propulsion" for "The Space Shuttle Engines Will Rise Again" by Joe Pappalardo.

In popular culture

In 1999, the magazine was a puzzle on Wheel of Fortune. In April 2001, Popular Mechanics was the first magazine to go to space, traveling to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz TM-32 spacecraft. In December 2002, an issue featured the cover story and image of "The Real Face of Jesus" using data from forensic anthropologists and computer programmers.

In March 2005, Popular Mechanics released an issue dedicated to debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories, which has been used frequently for discrediting 9/11 "trutherism." In 2006, the magazine published a book based on that article entitled "Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up to the Facts," with a foreword by then-senator John McCain.

An October 2015 issue of Popular Mechanics, featuring director Ridley Scott, included an interactive cover that unlocked special content about Scott's film The Martian. In June 2016, the magazine ran a cover story with then-Vice President of the United States Joe Biden called "Things My Father Taught Me" for its fatherhood issue. Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook guest-edited the September/October 2022 of Popular Mechanics.

The magazine is mentioned in the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street.

Criticisms

In June 2020, following several high-profile takedowns of statues of controversial historical figures, Popular Mechanics faced criticism from primarily conservative commentators and news outlets for an article that provided detailed instructions on how to take down statues.

In early December 2020, Popular Mechanics published an article titled "Leaked Government Photo Shows 'Motionless, Cube-Shaped' UFO". In late December, later that month, paranormal claims investigator and fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), Kenny Biddle, investigated the claim in Skeptical Inquirer, reporting that he and investigator and CSI fellow Mick West identified the supposed UFO as a mylar Batman balloon.

References

Bibliography

• A nearly complete archive of Popular Mechanics issues from 1905 through 2005 is available through Google Books.
• Popular Mechanics' cover art is the subject of Tom Burns' 2015 Texas Tech PhD dissertation, titled Useful fictions: How Popular Mechanics builds technological literacy through magazine cover illustration.

References

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12. Wescoe, Stacy. (2018-09-20). "Hearst to move Bicycling, Runner's World operations to Easton".
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38. O'Shea, Chris. (2015-09-08). "Popular Mechanics Updates Logo".
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42. Concha, Joe. (2020-06-17). "Popular Mechanics publishes how-to guide to take down statues 'without anyone getting hurt'".
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