Popular Mechanics

• 1. A Magazine for Everyone

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  Popular Mechanics hit newsstands for the first time on the 11th of January 1902, a weekly publication out of Chicago with a mission Henry Haven Windsor spelled out plainly: explain "the way the world works" in plain language, with photos and illustrations to help readers follow along. Windsor was not just the editor. He owned the Popular Mechanics Company, making him the publisher as well. His tagline said everything about his philosophy: "Written so you can understand it." That phrase would ride the masthead for decades.

  The magazine covered automotive technology, aviation, home projects, electronics, space, tools, gadgets, military topics, and outdoor subjects. Windsor wanted a broad audience, not a specialist one. The first issue set another lasting visual habit: a large illustration of a technological subject on the cover, a look that would evolve into a full-page, full-color illustration. By the July 1911 issue, that look had settled into a small 6.5 x 9.5 inch trim size that the magazine held for more than six decades.

  By September 1902, just months after launch, Popular Mechanics had already converted from weekly to monthly. That shift was quiet but consequential: it moved the magazine away from news and toward the longer, more explanatory pieces that would define it. The question of who would shape those pieces, and where the magazine would go next, opens a story stretching more than a century.

• 2. From Weekly to Institution

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  In 1915, Popular Mechanics adopted full-color cover illustrations. The look was widely imitated by technology magazines that came after it. That influence came well before the Hearst Corporation entered the picture. The Windsor family owned and operated the Popular Mechanics Company, printing in Chicago, until 1958, when Hearst purchased the magazine.

  With the Hearst acquisition came editorial relocation: in 1962, the offices moved to New York City. The Windsor family had run the operation since 1902. Henry Haven Windsor Sr. edited the magazine from January 1902 through June 1924, when his son Henry Haven Windsor Jr. took over and held the role through December 1958. That span covers the magazine's entire independent life.

  In 2020, Popular Mechanics relocated again, this time to Easton, Pennsylvania, joining two other brands in the Hearst Enthusiast Group: Bicycling and Runner's World. The Easton facility includes the magazine's testing operation, called the Test Zone. In 2013, the US edition reduced its publication schedule from twelve to ten issues per year. The tagline changed in 2014 from "Written so you can understand it" to "How your world works." The podcast lineup followed, adding regular features called Most Useful Podcast Ever and How Your World Works.

• 3. A Global Reach

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  After World War II ended in 1945, Popular Mechanics launched its first international editions. A French edition came first, followed by Spanish in 1947, then Swedish and Danish in 1949. By 2002, the print magazine circulated in English, Chinese, and Spanish worldwide. That same year, South African and Russian editions were introduced.

  The magazine in 2001 became the first magazine to travel to space, aboard the Soyuz TM-32 spacecraft, which carried an issue to the International Space Station in April of that year. Two years later, in December 2002, a cover story featured a reconstruction of the face of Jesus using data from forensic anthropologists and computer programmers. These moments, spread across decades, show a publication consistently reaching for events larger than the workshop floor.

  In 1999, the magazine appeared as a puzzle on Wheel of Fortune. In March 2005, Popular Mechanics dedicated an entire issue to debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories. A book followed in 2006 titled "Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up to the Facts," with a foreword by then-senator John McCain. That book kept the magazine in the public conversation long after the issue left the newsstands.

• 4. Famous Bylines and Contributors

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  Guglielmo Marconi, Thomas Edison, and Jules Verne each contributed articles to Popular Mechanics at various points in the magazine's history. So did Barney Oldfield, Knute Rockne, Winston Churchill, Charles Kettering, Tom Wolfe, and Buzz Aldrin. US presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan also appeared in its pages.

  Jay Leno, the comedian and car expert, launched a regular column called Jay Leno's Garage in March 1999. Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook guest-edited the September/October 2022 issue. In June 2016, then-Vice President Joe Biden contributed a cover story called "Things My Father Taught Me" for the magazine's fatherhood issue.

  An October 2015 issue featured director Ridley Scott and included an interactive cover that unlocked special material related to Scott's film The Martian. The magazine is mentioned in the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, and its name appears in the song "Big Fan of the Pigpen" from the Guided by Voices album Bee Thousand. The range of contributors and cultural cameos points to a publication that operated well outside the expected boundaries of a technology title.

• 5. The Alcatraz Connection

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  The March 1962 issue of Popular Mechanics played an unexpected role in one of American history's most famous escape attempts. Three inmates at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin, used the magazine as a reference guide. They built life vests and a raft from rubber raincoats and contact cement, following instructions they found in its pages. The three men made their attempt in June 1962.

  Whether they survived remains officially unknown. But the magazine's role in the escape is documented. It is a strange footnote for a publication founded to explain the world in plain language: its instructions were clear enough that imprisoned men, working with almost nothing, could build functional survival equipment. The 6.5 x 9.5 inch format that fit neatly in the hands of home workshop readers apparently also fit into a prison cell.

• 6. Awards and Controversies

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  Popular Mechanics has received 10 National Magazine Award nominations over its history, including a 1986 win in the Leisure Interest category for the Popular Mechanics Woodworking Guide and a 2008 win in the Personal Service category for its "Know Your Footprint: Energy, Water and Waste" series. Ad Age named it Magazine of the Year in 2016.

  In June 2020, the magazine drew criticism from conservative commentators after publishing an article with detailed instructions on how to remove statues, following a period of high-profile statue takedowns across the country. In early December 2020, the magazine published a piece claiming a government photograph showed a motionless, cube-shaped UFO. By late December 2020, paranormal claims investigator Kenny Biddle, a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, reported that he and investigator Mick West had identified the object as a mylar Batman balloon.

  The 2021 American Nuclear Society gave its Darlene Schmidt Science News Award to contributor Caroline Delbert. The 2022 Aerospace Media Awards named Popular Mechanics a finalist in the Best Propulsion category for an article by Joe Pappalardo titled "The Space Shuttle Engines Will Rise Again." That title, connecting future space ambitions to hardware from the past, captures something durable about the magazine's recurring preoccupations.