A Globe reporter in 1900 asked the city’s top minds what the year 2000 would look like. Some things they got right, others they got wrong. One prediction was that a pneumatic tube system would connect ...

Over the past couple of decades, ATMs and online accounts have just about killed the drive-thru window at the bank. That’s been bad for the companies that sell pneumatic tubes — you know, canisters ...

Pneumatic tubes were supposed to revolutionize the world but have fallen by the wayside. Except in hospitals. Pneumatic tubes were touted as something that would revolutionize the world. In science ...

New Yorkers have a history of experimenting with pneumatic tubes—both for mail delivery (seen above) and public transit—but only one version ever really stuck: An automated vacuum trash collection ...

Atlas Obscura on Slate is a blog about the world’s hidden wonders. Like us on Facebook, Tumblr, or follow us on Twitter @atlasobscura. Before the Hyperloop, before email, even before mail trucks, ...