As this machine from Cornell University's collection shows, voting used to be more fun than filling out a scantron sheet in a high school gym next to a line of people re-reading Game of Thrones. Follow the disembodied hands with the turn-of-the-century cufflinks! Crank the shiny knob of Democracy until the Freedom bell rings! Even the questions on the ballot were simpler. Spend $82 million on the Erie Canal? Sure. License the sale of liquor? Hell no! Then again, things aren't all that different now than they were in 1900. Songs about teenage love ruled the top 40, Republicans still love eagles, and there's someone who won't stop yammering about the gold standard.
If you still need a place to vote, here's where you can find your polling place.
[via WNYC / explore-blog]
