What on earth? Convair 880 promo

[JDK]

Apart from this being a promo photo, it's a mystery as to the point the young lady is supposed to be emphasising - best ashtrays?


Convair , 880 by San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives, on Flickr

From the excellent San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

[K5DH]

In the full-sized photo, it looks like the YL and the model airplane are sitting on thousands of cigarette butts! Are my eyes deceiving me? (my vision ain't the greatest).

[Cherrybomber13]

Those are rivets...

[bdk]

I was starting to get nauseous thinking she was kneeling in a mound of cigarette butts as JDK suggested until I noticed that some seem to have hex shaped heads. Hopefully she has some knee pads under that skirt!

[The Inspector]

Those are rivets...

Or HILOKS

[bdk]

Can't we all just get along and agree they are "fasteners"?

[Cherrybomber13]

Can't we all just get along and agree they are "fasteners"?

Fasten this!....


With a Rivet...

[JDK]

Ah, rivets*! Makes sense now. Well, slightly. Something like "the all-new Convair 880 - 10,000 rivets profitably employed'?

Or was it promoting a rivetless design?

Regards,

(*Insert preferred term in your own version.)

[The Inspector]

Of course, you all understand that there are three distinct types of driven fasteners,
There are RIVETS pretty much universally agreed upon. Then there are RIVITS used in the Mid West and areas of Wisconsin. Then there are RIVUTS used mostly in the South and South West.
In order to be an A&P licensed mechanic in the U.S. you need to be able to read, write, and comprehend at a Graduate level, and I can't tell you how many times I've gone up into a fuselage or wing to inspect replaced rivets that were written up as being 'gaped' I'd look all over but be unable to find a single rivet with an open mouth let alone any that were 'craked'.
The 747 (-100 thru 1400) used right at 3 million fasteners to keep everything in place.