YOU ARE KIDDING ME! A HAIR PICKING MACHINE?
CAN YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT THIS MACINE WAS USED FOR? I CAN'T!
HERE IS A DRAWING OF THE “HAIR PICKING MACHINE”
This is a drawing by a subsidiary of the UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD, which indicates at least the intent to build a “Hair Picking Machine”. I do not know if such a machine was ever built, but I like to think it was. The real question is: What was it used for?
If you want to reveal your S.W.A..G. answer (Some Wild Ass Guess), use the Comments feature of this Post you will find below.
This is your chance to show REAL “rivit counting” skills!
Posted on October 29, 2011, in ART AND CRAFTSMANSHIP OF THE DRAFTSMAN, TRIVIA FROM THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD DRAWING COLLECTION and tagged ART AND CRAFTSMANSHIP OF THE DRAFTSMAN, TRIVIA FROM THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD DRAWING COLLECTION. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
UNION PACIFIC DRAWING TRIVIA 
In the early days of railroading, many animals were killed by trains.
An enterprising young man, by the name of Harry Davenport, invented this hair
picking machine to clean the tracks and bale the hair. He made a small
fortune by selling it to furniture manufacturers with which they used in
the making of (mohair) sofas and chairs.
G.King
Hello George,
Thanks for jogging my memory. I knew an elderly “gentleman”, who went by the name Jorgiomomless Q. Kingomodulis, that was the illegitimate son of Harry Davenport. Everyone called him “Jorgi”. Jorgi inherited the bulk of the Davenport fortune, which he promptly lost by investing in questionable real estate ventures. Jorgi found work as piano teacher and player in a less-than-fancy place of business near the railroad employee’s boardinghouse. However, Jorgi began to lose his marbles, so to speak, and began to pal-around with characters, already marble-less, who, seriously, played with model trains. These characters further debased Jorgi’s state-of-mind to such a level that he actually moved to Arizona and joined a commune of like minded people.
Regards, Mel
I suspect this machine was used to “pick” or unpack hair that had been baled at source (think horse hair). The railroad had an upholstery shop that worked on seats for passenger cars, cabooses and locomotives. I have seen drawings that state these seats were stuffed with horse hair.