Betty Cook, a lab assistant at the Stanford Research Institute, is shown taking a “blink test” as part of a project to track down smog in Stanford, Calif. on April 27, 1949. The test gauges eye irritation through photoelectric cells that record each blink of the eyes. The plastic helmet is filled with measured amounts of smog. Cook wears glassless goggles that act as blink recorders. She reads a book to give uniform reaction conditions.The smog project is being conducted by the Air and Water Pollution Laboratory of the Western Oil and Gas Assn. (Ernest K. Bennett / Associated Press)
Coin-operated television, drive-in church service, 6,000-pound computer, snail team -- Only in California.
Dr. Rodney Pain, a dentist from Scotland, plays the bagpipes for his patients while waiting for their fillings to set in his office in San Francisco on Feb. 21, 1966. He even plays while waiting for the anesthetic to take effect. So far, there have been no complaints from the patients, some of whom take bagpipe classes from Pain on Friday afternoons.(Robert Klein / Associated Press)
Maureen Connolly of San Diego poses behind a king-sized tennis racquet before starting defense of her title in the National Tennis Championships at Forest Hills, N.Y., on Aug, 31, 1960. Connolly moved into the second round with an easy 6-1,6-0, victory over Jean Fallot. (Marty Lederhandler / Associated Press)
A dummy damaged in a U.S. Air Force sled test lies ripped and torn as a fresh dummy appears to care for him near Los Angeles on April 23, 1958. (Harold Filan / Associated Press)
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Souped-up jalopies and custom hot rods draw thousands at the third-annual hot rod show at the National Guard Armory in Los Angeles on Jan. 29, 1950. (Harold Filan / Associated Press)
Actress Linda Mason rides a motorized scooter called the McCoy Sportsman in Hollywood on March 14, 1949. When given a slight push, the Sportsman travels at a brisk 8 mph with a 120-pound passenger aboard. (David F. Smith / Associated Press)
A diver looks over a newcomer, a recently captured giant sea bass, at Marineland of the Pacific in Portuguese Bend on Nov.14, 1966. The bass, caught off Santa Barbara Island, is 6-feet 10-inches long and weighs more than 500 pounds. It is believed to be the largest bass ever caught in American waters. Marineland experts think the fish is about 40 years old. (Dick Strobel / Associated Press)