Modern Electrics, the first Gernsback popular technical magazine

Hugo Gernsback was publishing MODERN ELECTRICS (1908-1914) even before ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER. Not only did this fill America's proto-geeks with dreams of wireless and electrical power machinery, it published Gernsback's hard-SF novel Ralph 124C 41 + and arguably foreshadowed the entire genre of technically oriented science fiction.

The covers of the earliest issues were based on collections of simple line drawings of items commonly used in the electrical generation, distribution, and consumption systems of the day, but they also included drawings of radio ("wireless") and audio systems. Beginning in mid-1911, the covers showed an illustration of a specific device or topic (often fanciful or futuristic in nature), such as the Hypno-Bioscope (June 1911) or the Radiumizer (July 1911). With the August, 1911 issue, the magazine took a turn into science fiction with a cover illustrating the New York of the year 2000, intended to accompany the first installment of Hugo Gernsback's famous SF novel Ralph 124C 41 +. By the end of 1911 he was running covers which clearly foreshadowed the science-fictional / technological-future covers he would run on ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER, and later, on SCIENCE AND INVENTION and AMAZING STORIES.

MODERN ELECTRICS was sold by Gernsback in 1913 and merged with ELECTRICIAN AND MECHANIC, with the first combined issue in January 1914. After another succession of mergers and title changes, this magazine was incorporated into the new version of POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY in October, 1915. [Thanks to Michael Holley for elucidating the title and ownership changes.]