All Along the Belltower

An Art Deco church in the Brussels commune (borough) of Forest

Photo by John and Melanie... @ Flickr

Abandoned

Preventorium Dolhaine 

Liege-Welkenraedt, Belgium

Photos: mookie 427 @ Flickr

Read about Preventorium

Belgian Banana

The Autorail Type 608 was a diesel railcar of the Belgian State Railway (SNCB/NMBS). Six units were built in 1930s by Forges et Fonderies d'Haine-Saint-Pierre, powered by a license-built 370 kW Ganz engine coupled to a mechanical transmission. The railcar took 10 second-class and 54 or 50 third-class passengers. Its maximum speed was 126 km/h, commercial speed - 85 km/h.
The streamline design bears a remarkable resemblance to GWR 'Flying Banana' and ČSD 'Slovenská strela'.

Images: Wikimedia Commons, Delcampe, Diesel4407

Belgian Deco

René Lyr. A cover for the International Exhibition brochure

(Building in the background - Palais des Expositions, architect: Joseph Van Neck)

Source: Wolfsonian

Hi-Tech Pipe

Hilson Fantasia 203 Pipe, 1940s

Made of Polyester resin and Vulcanite (mouthpiece), this pipe comes from Belgium and was probably made in the 1940s or 50s by Hilson.

Photo by galessa's plastics @ Flickr

Minerva Cars

Leo Marfurt, 1931

In 1908, Minerva got a worldwide Knight Engine license. The Knight motor developed by Charles Yale Knight in the United States used double sleeve valves and ran almost silently. All future Minervas would use these engines. Sporting successes continued with the new engines including the Austrian Alpine Trials and Swedish Winter Trials. Customers included the kings of Belgium, Sweden and Norway and Henry Ford. After World War I, during which Sylvain de Jong and his engineers had headed to Amsterdam where they kept on developing parts, they returned to restart the production of luxury cars in 1920 with 20CV 3.6 litre 4 cylinder and 30CV 5.3 litre six cylinder models. The constructor's star rose in the United States as well where American filmstars, politicians and industrials liked the cars. The car had the same qualities as the Rolls-Royce, but was a little cheaper. In 1923 smaller models were introduced with the 2 litre four cylinder 15CV and 3.4 litre six cylinder 20CV with standard four wheel brakes. For 1927 there was a replacement for the 30CV with the 6 litre AK and also a new 2 litre six with the 12-14. Large cars continued to be something of a speciality and in 1930, the then almost compulsory for the time, straight eight was introduced in two sizes, the 6.6 litre AL and the 4 litre AP.

(MinervaCars.com)

Housing Exhibition

Artist: Noel Tolmar

1934

Brussels International Fair

Artist: Leo Marfurt

Palace of Television

An inscription on the pediment of the pavilion closer to the opening of the first railroad - in 1835, the first public demonstrations of television in 1935.
The film (in Alberteum), radio-broadcast (the Pavilion of the INR), television, synthesis of these two marvels of modern times, were therefore equally represented in the Exhibition.
The experiments took place in Brussels, before Paris, using apparatus of "Société des Compteurs de Montrouge" (Corporation Counters), patent "Barthélémy", similar appliances those adopted by the P.T.T. minister (Postmaster) equipment for state positions.
Inside the pavilion, the viewfinder was faced with a small screen on which appeared the artist - a singer or musician - who was in the nearby studio: the image was reduced and tinted green. The artist had to smear the face of a special make-up and unflattering, but the image was true and perfectly recognizable. The sound, on the other hand, was not changed the transmission, a shortwave station was installed to do this, inside the Pavilion, by technicians of Radio Schaerbeek.
The principle was: the scene takes place in a glass cage, under fire from eight powerful "spotlights". In a camera, behind a goal similar to that of the camera shooting, an aluminum disk with holes punched in a spiral, spinning at 1,500 revolutions. He strained the light ray and each hit a photodetector, the latter in turn, sent rays at the transmitter, which sent them in waves.
A receiver welcomed them and passed them (for 60 lines, 25 frames, 90,000 "pulses" per second) to a special screen, consisting of a glass coated balloon, at its upper end with a fluorescent substance . The contact with the substance of electrons allowed to reconstruct the image by successive bright spots. The transmitted and presented to the public was about 20 centimeters square ten yards separated the screen artists "televisioned".
If the method in its early days yet called improvements, it nevertheless displays the solution to a problem passionately discussed. And the success of the Palace of the TV was very lively. It just did not attract the attention of crowds. Among other visits, he received those of King Leopold III of Ministers Devèze Van Isacker, Destree; MM. Adolphe Max, Van de Meulebroeck, Count Adrian van der Burch, Caspers, Charles Fonck, M. Laroche, Ambassador of France and members of many scientific associations and others.

Livre d'Or - Expo 1935

Source: worldsfaircommunity.org

The City

by Frans Masereel

(Source)

Belgian Red

H. Michel poster design for the Belgian International Exposition in Liège, focusing on big industry, sciences and applications, and classic Wallonian art.

Two Wheels, Two Letters

FN Motorcycle poster
1925

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Attributed by many sources as "Czech", this poster has a Belgian address on the left and no signs of an importer / distributor in Czechoslovak Republic. The motorcycle itself is Belgian.

Bidirectional

This 28-seat trolleybus with two driver's positions was build in 1932 for the RELSE (Belgium). It was converted into conventional unidirectional vehicle in 1940 and remained in service untill 1963. Later it was restored into original form - its front and rear are identical.

Public transport museum of Liège

Source

Dieselpunk Brussels

Maison de la Radio

(renamed to "Flagey" in 2002 and now hosting a cultural center)
Designed by Belgian architect Joseph Diongre.
Built between 1935 and 1938

Image by Arenamontanus @ Flickr

Browning in the Sky

Belgian aviator with a 0.30 caliber FN38 aircraft machine gun developed by John Browning
1930's

More about the gun

Belgian Speed

By L. Keizer, 1935

via Vintage Poster

Bruxelles - Mont des Arts

by saigneurdeguerre @ Flickr

J'attendrai Swing

Django Reinhardt & Friends
1939

For Friday night: Je suis swing!

 Very expressive cover of Johnny Hess' 1940 hit, performed by a Belgian band in 1993.

The Zazous, Wiki tells us, were a subculture in France during World War II. They were young people expressing their individuality by wearing big or garish clothing (similar to the zoot suit fashion in America a few years before) and dancing wildly to swing jazz and bebop. Men wore large lumber jackets, while women wore short skirts, striped stockings and heavy shoes, and often carried umbrellas. The Vichy regime tried hard to suppress the movement - but their music is still alive.

Belgian Champion

12.004,
a streamlined 4-4-2 passenger locomotive of the Belgian National Railroads (SNCB)
100 mph in 1939!

Photo by Marc Petit @ Flickr