Strange, unbylined treatise on the fabulous possibilities of compressed air.

Here’s the set of experiments that gave compressed air backers hope that they would win out over electricity transmission.

This excellent little primer on compressed air from 1895 includes a list of 200 tasks that compressed air was solely or largely capable of accomplishing. Also, a nice chapter on the competition with electricity. Boy, have the victors written the history books in this case. Nearly no mention of compressed air in recent accounts of electricity.

Compressed Air Magazine made it from 1896 all the way to 2000. When they shuttered the mag, the owners scanned all 104 years of back issues and put them online. For free. This is generous and awesome.

I’m becoming interested in the battle between compressed air and electricity right before the turn of the century. Fascinating stuff — and a whole lot better counterfactual than steam punk.