More cool books, this time from a small antiques mall in a suburb of Toledo:
I'm always happy to find these at a good price:

I picked them up for $5 each.
Tom Swift was a boy inventor, created circa 1910. His books were of his fantastic globetrotting adventures, in which he was aided by his fantastic (for the time) inventions.
But if a boy was not content to read about Tom Swift, and aspired to actually be Tom Swift, this book would be the for that boy:

I picked this book up for $20. It is a bit worn, and the spine is failing, but I consider it a good buy at the price I paid.
The book is packed with things to build, taken from articles in early Popular Mechanics and Boy's Popular Mechanics magazines. The projects include farm equipment, numerous electrical apparatus (transmitters, hand-made meters, motors, etc.), steam engines and turbines, boats, skis, magic tricks, and even a very primitive one-man glider. There are usually one or more projects per page. Instructions are basic and brief.
Here's a sample page:
