Video

Distilled #13: An Environmental Cowboy from the 1970s
Water

Remember the fire-fighting mascot Smokey Bear? Meet Johnny Horizon, his little-remembered, pollution-fighting counterpart.
Distilled #12: Edison’s Record Player
Tools & Technology

Dreams of turning a wax cylinder into a “talking book.”
Distilled #11: A 16th-Century Pop-Up Book
Early Science & Alchemy

How an ancient mathematical pop-up book became “sophisticated.”
Distilled #10: Fancy Portraits for Factory Workers
People

Depicting the everyman of the scientific enterprise.
Distilled #9: Lovely Ladies Sell Instruments
Culture

Why are these stylish women posing with scientific instruments? Instrument makers in the 1960s used “lovely ladies” to sell their wares, an advertising ploy that’s still around today.
Distilled #8: Penicillin Jug
Health

This fermentation vessel comes from a short period in penicillin’s history. We had figured out that penicillin could kill bacteria, but we didn’t know how much medicine people needed or how to mass-produce it. The vessel’s car-muffler shape proved ideal for growing the mold from which penicillin is extracted.

 
Distilled #7: Bicycle Horn or Breast Pump?
Health

Many of us think pumping is a new part of motherhood, but some fascinating 19th- and 20th-century objects from our collections show the practice has been around (in some form) for a long time.
Distilled #6: A 17th-Century (Interactive!) Astronomy Textbook
Tools & Technology

This episode highlights a 17th-century edition of Johannes de Sacrobosco’s astronomy textbook, De sphaera mundi (On the Sphere of the World), complete with interactive diagrams.

 
Distilled #5: Porcelain Painting
Culture

This episode highlights an early-20th-century porcelain painting kit. Porcelain painting became popular after the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, when women saw porcelain objects from all around the world, including those made by other women. Today porcelain painting is trendy again.
Distilled #4: Virtual Reality in the 19th Century
Tools & Technology

This episode highlights an object from the 19th century that was a precursor to the View-Master and virtual reality: the stereoscope.