# Popular Mechanics/Volume 50/Issue 5/Inventors of Circus Laughs

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Camouflaged Stilts and a Balloon Are Parts of This Grotesque Costume Worn by a Balancing Artist
"Trained" to Break Down with a Loud Explosion, the Bridal Taxicab Has Inspired Millions of Laughs
By PAUL PADDOCK
ONE of the most valuable automobiles in the world is an old car likely to fall apart any instant; it back-fires unexpectedly, often chases anyone who gets in front of it, and, without warning, rears on its hind wheels and may spill its occupants backward. The average driver would refuse it as a gift, but its owner and designer, Myron "Buck" Baker, chief of the automobile clowns in Ringling Bros., Barnum and Bailey's circus, wouldn't part with it for a small fortune. It has made him famous, has moved millions of persons to laughter and has brought thousands of dollars into the coffers of the show.
The chief reason is that this old car and the stunts it does, furnish the chief ingredients for laughter, a priceless phenomenon for which the circus, and other institutions devoted to entertaining the public, spend millions yearly. Say "circus" to anyone and the first word that pops into his mind is likely to be "clown." The two are synonymous in the minds of almost everyone, and that explains why the shows carry hundreds of these entertainers and why the performers themselves are constantly looking for new stunts, rehearsing and improving old ones and seeking new ideas. The clown department of a circus is similar in some respects to a separate show in itself. It
​has its producing clowns—the idea men—trainers and critics who pass on the merits of an act before it is offered to the public.
Myron "Buck" Baker at the Wheel of His Famous Flivver That Runs on Its Hind Wheels, Chases Him and Performs Other Tricks Developed from a Thorough Knowledge of Auto Mechanics
Long before he joined the circus, Baker was a trick bicycle rider. He discovered that unexpected mechanical feats brought thrills as well as laughs. When the automobile came along, he seized upon it, altered its normal working parts, disguised it and otherwise changed it until he had developed it into a star circus performer. one of the most effective on the entire lists, not excepting the trained animals and the acrobats. Henry Ford once told him that he "was the only man he knew who could get more out of a Ford car than was put into it."
Baker stages seven acts with his trick autos. They fall apart, explode, apparently obey commands without a human driver as well as with one, and do other amazing stunts, but everyone of them is based on mechanical processes that Baker has carefully worked out, tested and improved in his "laugh laboratory" at Sarasota, Fla., where the circus has its winter quarters. While animal trainers are rehearsing and caring for their pets, Baker looks after his squad of trick automobiles. He has invented more than a score of special attachments and several devices for general use, not associated with the circus. One of these is a lifting rack for garages, an idea he worked out from his experiments with automobile tricks.
"Why do people laugh at the cars?" Baker replied while tuning up for a recent performance. "I've wondered about that myself sometimes and I'm not sure I know.
"Laughter is a mystery, I guess. I sometimes work out an elaborate stunt that I think is funny, but it doesn't go across half as well, may be, as a simple little thing like an unexpected back fire. I figure this is because the more complex stunts are hard to follow, people are busy watching other things, and then a lot of them have had experience with balky cars. When they see me in trouble with mine, it tickles them. They laugh at me and not at the car. Of course, they know that I am making the car back-fire on purpose. but the stunt seems to recall unpleasant experiences of their own and they're glad they don't have to worry about the car that won't run."
A Favorite Fire Brigade of Circus Fans Everywhere: the Midget Engines and Their Crew: Baker, the Inventor, Is the First Standing Figure at the Left
According to psychologists, Baker's explanation is a logical one. It is human nature to laugh at the other fellow, they say. We chuckle because we're glad we are not in his position. Laughter of this sort is a kind of self-congratulation. We don't stop to make the analysis at the time; laughter just happens naturally, as does all the other emotional and nervous processes that are still mysterious to us. Surprise, suspense, incongruity and various other elements are mixed up in the complex cause of a chuckle, and Baker's trick automobiles are such successful laugh getters, because they furnish all these requirements with a good measure of mystery on the side.
One of the most amazing of his cars this season was a tiny racer, "Sarasota." carrying "Tip," a small monkey, in the driver's seat. It tore around the arena at high speed, mystifying everyone because monkeys have not yet been trained to manage gear-shift cars, but this one has all the attachments and speeds of a full-size racer. Some persons say that a human driver is concealed in the car. But it is little more than six feet long and has been driven within five feet of the front rows, yet no one has been able to see a hidden pilot, if he is there. Mechanics told Baker that he couldn't build such a car. He did it, and the secret of its operation is known only to a few.
Months of planning and experimenting were devoted to the construction of the chief auto trickster, the old paint car that breaks in two, chases a man and rears on its hind wheels. The balking is accomplished by a feat of balancing. Three 300-pound weights, disguised as paint pails, are hung on the rear of the body. To make the front wheels leave the ground, the occupants of the car have but to tip back slightly. An amazing thing about the car is that it will rear up even if a heavy man stands on the front axle, and Baker says that his weight apparently has no effect on the tipping. Getting the car on its rear wheels was not so difficult, but Baker found that he had a number of unexpected problems to solve after he had done so. For instance. the gasoline wouldn't run into the carburetor at such a steep angle. He had to install an aaxiliary tank under the hood back of the radiator and also control the oil so that it wouldn't run out of the engine. Then, the two rear tires had to be inflated at the same pressure or the machine would start going in circles and possibly run into a ring or the grandstand.
Another difficulty appeared. When the front wheels are in the air, Baker is unable ​to see them. It is highly important that they be straight ahead when he comes down or the car will plunge off to one side of the track. He therefore made a compass out of his steering wheel by bending and twisting it in such a manner that he could tell by the irregularities, when the wheels were properly turned for the descent. He has never had an accident in the ring. The car is locked so that it cannot be thrown into high speed.
One Reason Why the Circus Tent Has to Be High: But Is a Log Chain Necessary to Hold a Pup?
The loud back fires are made in various ways. One is to fire off blank cartridges in a big spring affair like a large rat or mousetrap. Holes are punched in the top of the radiator so that water can be forced through to simulate a violent boiling over, while the "shimmying" effect is attained by cams on the rear wheels. One of the most baffling stunts the car performs is to chase the driver, apparently obey his whistle or a wave of the hand while he stands several feet away, and back up without any evident shift of gears. Again, persons have said that this is done by a hidden pilot, but that is not the fact. Baker has worked out an ingenious method of remote gear control whereby he can operate the car at a distance of fifty feet or more, about as well as if he were in the seat. Concealed wires, a reel hidden in his sleeve, and one or two other items, are required to operate the distant-control system, which is being kept secret in order that circus-goers may not be robbed of the pleasure of seeing the mysterious performance.
Like a Goldberg Cartoon and It Works—Sometimes, the "Trick" Cigar Lighter and Its Inventor
Long after other memories of the circus have faded, children and adults, too, recall the tiny fire engines, almost perfect replicas of the full-size apparatus. These were also designed by Baker, who supervised the construction of special parts and adapted odd pieces to the cars to make them realistic imitations of the larger engines. When he had nearly finished one, he discovered that there was no room ​for a gasoline tank. This proved a puzzler for a moment, but since the engine was air-cooled and had no use for the ordinary type of radiator, this unit was converted into the gasoline tank. The famous wedding taxicab that empties its load at an unexpected moment, is a real cab, the body literally sawed in two and hinged so that it tips back. It is kept from falling off entirely by means of chains and is held upright by buckle supports which can be unfastened from the inside.
When Man Imitates the Monkey: Clown Actor in Realistic Costume That Never Fails to Puzzle the Circus Crowd
According to circus managers, laughs are increasingly difficult to produce as the public is indifferent to many things that inspired response a few years ago. Clowns and cartoonists unconsciously work hand in hand, borrowing and exchanging ideas, although Baker prefers to leave the "funny papers" alone in order that he may give the audience something that they have not seen before.
One of the effective acts in this season's circus was the demonstration of a trick cigar lighter which functioned with the elaborate detail of a Goldberg cartoon and proved a taking burlesque. When it failed, the audience was as pleased as when it worked, because, as in the case of the balky automobile, many of them had had baffling experiences with lighters and were enjoying the predicament of the clown operating the trick lighter.
ENGINE HEAT OPERATES NEW CHASSIS OILING SYSTEM
A centralized oiling system for the automobile chassis, operated by the heating of the engine, has been adopted by one American manufacturer, and foreign rights sold in Germany, France. Italy and England for use on cars of those countries. A sealed tank, holding a quart of oil, is attached to the exhaust manifold, with piping leading to all of the chassis parts that are to be oiled. The short tubes connecting to the bearings contain wicks. In operation, as soon as the engine is started, the oil tank begins to warm up the heated oil building up pressure which forces it through the pipe system to the bearings. When the engine is stopped, the oil reservoir cools and a vacuum is created which draws the oil back from the bearings, preventing waste through dripping. The quart reservoir holds enough oil to last for from 3,000 to 5,000 miles, the manufacturer claims. Ordinary crankcase oil is used.
ELECTRIC IRON WITHOUT CORD REDUCES FIRE HAZARD
Instead of having its cord directly attached, an electric iron now on the market is heated through a contact in a metal holder which is connected to a lighting socket. Two irons are employed with the outfit, one being used while the other is left in the cabinet to be heated. The arrangement eliminates the bothersome cord that often becomes entangled or frayed, prevents fire and supports the irons safely.
TREES FELLED WITH DYNAMITE TO CHECK FIRES
Trees Falling at Blast: Partial View of the Portable Electric Power Plant, Showing Switch being Thrown to Set Off Explosion, and Drilling Hole for Explosive with a Motor-Driven Auger
To remove dead trees in burned-over areas, a portable electric power plant, drills and dynamite are being used successfully by forest rangers. Charges of the explosive, placed in holes drilled by electricity in the dead trunks, fell the tree much more rapidly than could be done by other methods and several can be destroyed at once. The dead trunk in a section that has been swept by fire, is considered one of the most dangerous menaces to other trees when a new fire occurs.
NEW TYPE OF MAGNETO HAS NO REVOLVING ARMATURE
A new type of magneto, which has neither revolving armature, slip ring or distributor, is being marketed in England for marine engines. The magnetic field is produced by permanent bar magnets to which are attached pole pieces carrying the primary and secondary windings. An armature is at one end of the poles, and high-tension current is produced by pulling the armature away from the coils and breaking the primary circuit. The return of the armature closes the circuit and completes the cycle of operations. The intensity of the spark is entirely independent of the speed at which the engine is running. The mechanism for moving the armature is shaft-driven so the magneto can be fitted to existing engines without alteration.
¶ In proportion to the size of their bodies, insects have larger wings than birds.
DESTROYED FERTILIZER INCREASES TOLL OF FOREST FIRES
Besides the enormous quantities of timber and game they destroy, forest fires do great damage by burning natural supplies of fertilizer on the ground of wooded areas. For instance, in a pine forest, where the fall of needles insures a rich supply of nourishing materials for the plant growth of the future, this abundant fertilizer is converted into ashes by a fire, driving off the beneficial oxygen in the form of a gas that is lost to the soil and otherwise impoverishing the ground. Experts have estimated that to replace the helpful materials on one acre of pine forest, after it has been swept by a fire, it would require the addition of seventy pounds of sodium-nitrate fertilizer at a cost of about $3, and a blaze may do $10 to $15 per acre damage by this destruction alone.
TRAP ATTACHED TO CASTERS FOILS INSECT PESTS
To keep ants and other insects from entering cabinets, refrigerators and other pieces of furniture, a felt trap, saturated with kerosene or other anti-bug liquid, is attached to the casters. The felt holds a liberal supply of liquid, is easily put on and seldom needs renewal.
RUBBER PADS FOR RAILROADS GIVE SMOOTHER RIDE
Specially processed rubber pads are being installed along the right of way of railroads in the Federal Malay states to deaden the sound of the engines and cars and to absorb unpleasant vibrations. According to reports, they have worked successfully on a trial mile of track. The pads also help protect the ties.
HOUSE IN FORM OF BIG GLOBE WELL LIGHTED INSIDE
Central Court of the Spherical House Built for Exposition in Germany, Showing the Wide Space for Light and Air
One of the chief features of the huge, ball-shaped house constructed for the "Technical City" show in Dresden, is the central court or passageway from the top to the bottom. This admits light to the hallways that radiate from the center of the building and also affords ample means for effective ventilation.
LAMP THAT CLAMPS ON BOOK HELPS PROTECT EYES
Clamped on the edge of the book and having a wide shade that keeps all glare from the eyes, a reading lamp is of special convenience for persons who like to read late or for use in the sick room. Since the light is directed entirely upon the pages, it does not disturb others.
¶ When frogs wink their eyes, the lids are moving upward.