I was setting up a reactor at work (no biggie, you know, it's just my reactor, for science) and had to move an air cylinder across the lab. When I got in close, this is what I saw:
Is that a Swastika? I can hear you asking it. You know you did.
The answer, of course, is yes, yes it is. See, tanks for compressed gasses can last a long, long time. This one is from at least April of 1927. I know this because the inspection dates are stamped on the tank like so:
It could be even older than 1927, that might just be the first inspection date. The dates keep going around the top of tank, with the latest one in 2006. This is a German compressed oxygen tank manufactured by Linde in 1927. The interesting part is that it isn't terribly unique - there are tons of these things in circulation. This one is slightly different than most in that the swastika hasn't been covered over or altered with another mark. Usually, the gaps in the edge are filled in and it looks like a little grid of four squares, like a little window.
It doesn't really have anything sinister about it either, other than simply having been manufactured by a German company, in Germany, during a time when the Nazis were acquiring their power. It'd be like having Made in Canada embossed on the side with a little maple leaf.
Isn't that neat?
Is that a Swastika? I can hear you asking it. You know you did.
The answer, of course, is yes, yes it is. See, tanks for compressed gasses can last a long, long time. This one is from at least April of 1927. I know this because the inspection dates are stamped on the tank like so:
It could be even older than 1927, that might just be the first inspection date. The dates keep going around the top of tank, with the latest one in 2006. This is a German compressed oxygen tank manufactured by Linde in 1927. The interesting part is that it isn't terribly unique - there are tons of these things in circulation. This one is slightly different than most in that the swastika hasn't been covered over or altered with another mark. Usually, the gaps in the edge are filled in and it looks like a little grid of four squares, like a little window.
It doesn't really have anything sinister about it either, other than simply having been manufactured by a German company, in Germany, during a time when the Nazis were acquiring their power. It'd be like having Made in Canada embossed on the side with a little maple leaf.
Isn't that neat?
The inspection intervals are pretty regular until that big gap in the 60's. I wonder why...oh yeah - mid-Cold War. Makes sense. :P
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