If you wanted a nuclear family back then, you had to throw eight kids at the wall and hope two stick.
–Gareth
No junebugs, cats, dogs, elephants, cockroaches, rats, horses, crows, or people were harmed in the compiling of this blog entry.
Sincerely, The Management
Wizard: The Life And Times Of Nikola Tesla (Citadel Press Book) * Marc Seifer
My Inventions * Nikola Tesla
The Problem of Increasing Human Energy * Nikola Tesla
Tesla: Man Out of Time * Margaret Cheney
Thomas Edison didn’t just want to dominate his son, poor Junior, and Tesla, he wanted to dominate the movie-making industry. You know, ’cause he thought he could:
While Universal and Paramount are major Hollywood motion picture studios today, they started in 1912 as the ultimate “indies,” challenging the monopoly that had a chokehold on the film industry and taking on an American titan: Thomas Edison. (history.com)
Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World * Jill Jonnes
Both of Edison’s wives are profiled at the National Park Services, which is. . .odd:
Mary Stilwell Edison (1855-1884)
Mina Miller Edison (1865-1947)
Smithsonian: Powering a Generation: Emergence of Electrical Utilities in America
And poor Tesla. He didn’t just have Edison trying to ride him like a horse. He had another meglomaniac with Tesla firmly in his sights. Mar-fucking-coni. But that bastard is another fairy tale for another day. Oh, it will be told, my chickies. Your librarian and curator just needs to charge up her righteous indignation battery for that particular tale.
Until the time of that recharge. . .
Want more Tesla? Check out the Great Comet Panic.
Want more home laboratory with little parental supervision? Check out the Radioactive Boy Scout.
Want more classic and weird rivalries? Check out Rube Waddell v. Cy Young.
Want more strange animal shenanigans? Check out Two Dog Men.
Bands from this episode:
- Balloon Man
- Magic Horse
- Electric Cat
- Junebug Power
- Crowcatcher
Cultural references from this episode:
And, until we meet again, and I continue this saga, I present the singing Tesla coil at the Boston Museum of Science: