Description: Photograph shows a piece of industrial machinery that appears to be a lathe with an attached dynamometer. The machine appears to have a flat turntable with a small tire-like object on top which probably rotates the table. In front of the turntable is a pressure gauge, and on top of the turntable is an arm which is holding weights. A lathe is a machine tool which rotates the workpiece on its axis to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation with tools that are applied to the workpiece to create an object which has symmetry about an axis of rotation. Lathes are used in woodturning, metalworking, metal spinning, and glassworking. A dynamometer, or "dyno" for short, is a device for measuring force, moment of force (torque), or power. For example, the power produced by an engine, motor or other rotating prime mover can be calculated by simultaneously measuring torque and rotational speed (RPM). A dynamometer can also be used to determine the torque and power required to operate a driven machine such as a pump. In the background of of the photograph is the shadowy face of a man. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B07F07_027_1
Subjects: Machinery--History--Pictorial works; Turning (Lathe work)--History; Dynamometer
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Original description reads: "Athletic field under construction at Northridge High School 193[?] North of Dayton, Ohio." This is a photograph of two unidentified men doing construction on Northridge High School's athletic field in Northridge, Ohio. This construction was a part of the Works Progress Administration project, a government office that hired unemployed Americans to work on various government projects from April 8, 1935 to June 30, 1943. In the first six months that the WPA existed, more than 173, 000 Ohioans, including both men and women, found employment through this program. More than 1, 500 unemployed teachers in Ohio found work through the WPA teaching illiterate adults how to read. In twelve separate counties, primarily in southeastern Ohio, more than twenty-five percent of families had at least one member working for the WPA during the late 1930s. By the end of 1938, these various workers had built or improved 12, 300 miles of roads and streets and constructed 636 public buildings, several hundred bridges, hundreds of athletic fields, and five fish hatcheries. WPA employees made improvements to thousands of more buildings, roads, and parks within Ohio. WPA artists also painted a number of murals in Ohio post offices. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B09F06_026_001
Subjects: High schools--Ohio--Northridge; Earthmoving machinery; Sports and recreation facilities; Education; Sports; Athletic fields; Schools--Ohio; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Northridge (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "New Idea, Inc. manufacturers of farm implements. Coldwater, Mercer County. Credit - Mumm Romer Robbins & Pearson, Inc." In 1899 Joseph Oppenheim with the help of Henry Synck invented the first mechanical manure spreader. Oppenheim conceived the idea of a practical manure spreader during a game of paddle ball. He subsequently developed a model from a cigar box and demonstrated the feasibility of distributing manure in a "wide spread pattern." Manure was loaded into the spreader. A mechanism moved the manure to the rear where it was distributed by paddles. Oppenheim's future son-in-law, Synck, worked with him to perfect the invention. After months of "trial and error it became obvious he (Oppenheim) had solved the problem of manure spreading...... that he had created a "New Idea." .....and that a name and an invention had been born!" Oppenheim died in 1901 and was buried in Maria Stein. Following his death, his wife, Mary Ellerbrock Oppenheim, invested in New Idea and made decisions to move the company forward. The "New Idea Spreader Works" was established and built in Maria Stein. The "New Idea" caught on quickly because it relieved farmers of the back-breaking chore of manually distributing manure from a wagon. Mary Oppenheim died in 1907. New Idea continued to grow and in 1908 the company moved to Coldwater, Ohio, where a railhead existed to ship the completed spreaders. Henry Synck remained involved with New Idea. In his older age, Henry Synck sold New Idea to Avco, a conglomerate that was subsequently acquired by Textron. In a complicated series of transactions, Textron subsequently divested New Idea to Allied Corporation, another conglomerate (White-New Idea) who subsequent divested it to AGCO Corporation. New Idea has continued to produce a broad spectrum of farm-related machinery. Unfortunately, the Coldwater, Ohio plant established by the Oppenheim family and Henry Synck was closed in 1999 as the manufacturer sought to reduce costs and consolidate manufacturing in fewer locations. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B08F02_002_001
Subjects: New Idea, Inc.; Farm machinery; Industries--Ohio--Springfield; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Coldwater (Ohio); Mercer County (Ohio)