Thursday 13 July 2017

The Art of Diving (Pat. Pending) Part One.

This post features something a little different; a selection of submissions made to the United States Patent Office.

I can't think of a better place to start than with the inventors of the aqualung! The dates here are for submission to the U.S. office. Cousteau and Gagnan would have already applied for patents in other territories when these were made.

The first two illustrations show the three cylinder rig worn by Cousteau and his team in The Silent World. (Click for larger images).



Cylinders A and B contained the main supply of air with cylinder C acting as a reserve. When the diver turned on the supply from C he knew it was time to begin his ascent. The application mentions that this system does away with the need for a pressure gauge!




The next set of drawings are for a fin that resembles many seen today where the blade section is designed to flex independently and improve thrust.


Finally we have Cousteau's iconic "Diving Saucer" aka the SP-350 Denise.



In my next entry I'll be looking at applications for slightly more unusual designs.




Tuesday 4 July 2017

The Art of Yabba-Dabba-Diving!

Dell's Comic Album had a rotating cast of characters including Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker and Tom & Jerry. Issue 16 featured The Flinstones who, at the time of publication, had recently begun their second season on ABC Televison. (Click for larger images).








Monday 3 July 2017

The Humorous Art of Diving - Single Panel Cartoons

Here's a selection of single panel gags from various comics, magazines and newspapers. Some were from ideas sent in by readers.


At its peak, Glamor Girls by Don Flowers (1908-1968) appeared in 300 newspapers.




I can't find out anything about Sally's Sallies but King Features are a major syndicate so it must have been quite successful.




Sergio Aragonés (b.1937) is possibly best known for his work in Mad but has also worked extensively for the likes of Marvel, DC and Dark Horse to name but a few.