100 Objects #4: Lowe's Gas Bag

Thaddeus Lowe’s 1861 attempt to pilot a hydrogen balloon from Cincinnati to Washington D.C. marked the beginning of a lifelong obsession with pushing the boundaries of human flight. Although his initial mail-delivery scheme failed, Lowe successfully pivoted to military reconnaissance, establishing the U.S. Balloon Corps and providing critical intelligence during the Civil War. His later ventures into commercial gas heating and public ice production generated immense wealth, which he eventually squandered on an ambitious mountaintop resort. Beyond his specific inventions, Lowe’s legacy persists as a foundational influence on American aviation and the space race. His experiences of isolation in the upper atmosphere mirror the profound solitude later felt by astronauts like Mike Collins, illustrating a persistent American drive to explore the outer edges of the known world. Author and journalist Jack Hitt traces this lineage of eccentricity and ambition.