"Noiseless city is predicted within ten years."  From 1931.  The naiveté would be quaint were Popular Mechanics not so excruciatingly, sickeningly smug about the religion it makes of Big Science.

This sounds like a precursor to the popular polar bear campaign, but it's coke with a lower-case c.  From Popular Mechanics, 1921.

Just imagine all of your ambitions coming true via the Hawaiian guitar!  From Popular Mechanics, 1930.

"Twin thermometers reveal why one is uncomfortable."  From Popular Mechanics, 1921.

They didn't mention how these dishes will shrink in the wash (but, as a side effect, they're good for portion control).  "Dishes that will not break made of cotton."  From Popular Mechanics, 1930.

"Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox alone on a hillside."  From Popular Mechanics, 1913.

"Concert in a lion's den."  From Popular Mechanics, 1911.

"Face covered with spider-web veil."  From Popular Mechanics, 1910.

This "home with or without a dining room" is a precursor to repurposing unused rooms in your house.  As Bob Vila said in "Why 7 Families Ditched the Dining Room," "Formal dining rooms are starting to go the way of the formal living room—out of service.  While many homes have dining rooms, the square footage devoted to them often isn't justified by the little use most families get out of them."  Our illustration is from Popular Mechanics, 1931.

From Popular Mechanics, 1911.

Just shoot me -- "'Mercy' bullet brings sleep instead of death."  From Popular Mechanics, 1930.

If you ever wondered about the workings of Dali's melting timepieces, here's a droopy gear from Popular Mechanics, 1908.

The magazine that scoffed at the time-honored conception of Earth-Air-Fire-Water-Spirit being the Five Elements actually suggested that the "mysterious realms" of Rock, Water, and Gas harbor strange creatures.  From Popular Mechanics, 1929.

"The sirens of the sky."  From Popular Mechanics, 1911.

This sort of embarrassing hubris spans the centuries.  There are no "new" types of prehistoric Indians in Texas, only types new to the so-called discoverer who is merely extraordinarly behind the times.  From Popular Mechanics, 1931.

"Windows for umbrellas."  From Popular Mechanics, 1911.

Here's one of the few headlines in Popular Mechanics that we've actually believed.  "Artists in butterfly wings do their work backward."  From 1929.

"Brazilian war mummy."  From Popular Mechanics, 1911.

"Hoop-skirt parachute for airmen."  From Popular Mechanics, 1911.

Yes, the first article here actually says that wild birds are "anxious" to join their captive brethren in zoos.  The second article is about deer and elk who escape but then voluntarily return to a fenced area.  These are great examples of why we rag on vintage Popular Mechanics.  The undisgused fascism is terrifying.  The first article is from 1929, and the second is from 1931.  As an offensive bonus, note the article about how a hunted wolf commits suicide by shooting itself, from 1932.