Imagining the Future--Part 1

Sheet Music, 1914 ( source)

In the 21st century, most portrayals of the future seem to be bleak and frightening images of a post-apocalyptic world. A few of the more optimistic predictions focus on travel to Mars and space exploration. But in the 19th and early to mid 20th century, people celebrated the wonder of new inventions, and were hopeful because of the rapid advances being made. Many people envisioned an exciting future here on earth, a Utopian, fanciful world created by of the wonders of science and technology. Anything seemed possible, and the future was exciting.

Electricity and Electric Appliances by Edward Carqueville (1892) (Courtesy of Library of Congress)

Numerous works of art depicted these fantastic images and fueled the public imagination. Many of these images were made humorously, and weren't meant to be serious depictions of future life. But some were designed to show the way technology would change our daily lives, and make things easier and hopefully better.

A Night At the Opera In the Year 2000 by Albert Robida (1882) ( source)

From the Cover of Science and Invention (February 1921)

Illustration by Albert Levering From Puck Magazine (1905) (Courtesy of Library of Congress)

Some of these imagined inventions have come to pass, at least in some form. For example, the picture below from 1928 depicts a television of the future. At that time, television was still in the experimental stage; t.v. sets would  not become widely available until after WW2, and color television would not be introduced until the mid 1960s. The woman is watching a large, color, flat-screen television. There appears to be some type of projector producing the picture.  She and the man on t.v. appear to be interacting with each other, much as we can do via computer today.

Radio Listeners' Guide- Fall 1928 (source)

The December 9, 1878 edition of the British humor magazine Punch included a cartoon illustration by George Du Maurier which showed a device, called the "Telephonoscope," which had supposedly been invented by Edison. Although this device was completely imaginary, this "electric camera-obscura" is considered to be an early prediction of both the television and the videophone. The caption below the image reads, in part: "Edison's Telephonoscope (transmits light as well as sound). Every evening, before going to bed, Pater and Materfamilias set up an electric camera-obscura over their bedroom mantel-piece, and gladden their eyes with the sight of their children at the Antipodes, and converse gaily with them through the wire."

source

Many other inventions, such as flying cars, have not become a reality. But it's interesting to take a look at these past visions of the 20th and 21st centuries! The illustration below is from a 1904 British children's book called The Motor Car Dumpy Book, which is a humorous look at the then recent invention, the automobile. The text that accompanies this image reads: "This is a motor air-ship. Some day we shall all have them."

 

From The Motor Car Dumpy Book (1904)

Flying cars, underwater scenes, and fabulous inventions are depicted in an intriguing series of French illustrations called "En L'An 2000 (In the Year 2000)" issued between 1899 and 1910. They were created by various French artists, and the first of these were issued for the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. They appeared initially as paper cards attached to cigarette and cigar boxes, and later as postcards. There are at least 87 known cards, but they are very rare. I have posted images of some of the ones I found the most interesting below. Click on the following link to view images of all fifty of these cards that are displayed on Wikimedia Commons: Link 

Flying Vehicles

Underwater Scenes

Fabulous Inventions

The Home of the Future

Something Outdated in 2000--"A Curiosity"

New Beginnings

Photo by Pete Linforth link

Hello, and welcome back to The Paper Sunflower!

When I started this blog last year, I had hoped to post something every day. I wanted it to be a daily collection of inspiring images, bits of wisdom, and basically a way to share things that I found interesting and meaningful with friends around the world.

I had the best of intentions...and then life happened! 2016 has been a roller coaster year, politically and personally. My poor little blog took a back seat to reality, and I wasn't able to keep up with it as I had hoped. But I am resolving to do things right in 2017!! 

I am, as my blog header states, inspired by the past but living in the moment.I have a passion for old things: antique, vintage and retro are my favorite keywords! I am especially partial to the Victorian and Edwardian eras and the Roaring 20s, but am inspired by the art, fashion, images, wisdom, food and music of other eras as well. And I love to find people who incorporate inspirations from the past into their current creative projects. 

 

I hope to share more of my favorite things with you in the coming year! I plan to continue to explore the wealth of vintage material I have in my own collection, as well as the amazing texts and images that are available online. I also plan to revise and update some of my favorite blog posts from last year. And I will  share links to websites and blogs that I think you may find interesting, if you like the kinds if things I do. And please share your favorite sites with me!

2016 has been quite a year, but its coming to an end. So let's look ahead to new beginnings! I hope you and your loved ones have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year 2017!

Photo by Nate Embrey link

Up

source

IF YOU will but engrave upon the tablet of your heart this little word — up — and let it lead you, you will never know how to fail.
 

Everything grows up — beautiful fragrant flowers, trees, cities, babies, nations, the world!
 

What you are in this big life is revealed in the way you interpret your up. It's so easy to fall down. Anyone can do that, over and over again. But it's how you get up that counts.
It takes real courage to get up, and stay up.
 

Long ago, that wonderful old patriarch, Edward Everett Hale, said: "Look up — not down." It is the watchword of every passing night, indicative of a sun-strewn dawn, this up of yours!
 

The vision of this onward world is — up. No man ever fell so low but he desired to get up. It is the one great aspiration that the great God plants in our souls.
 

But it isn't enough to get up yourself. You must always remember that —
 

"He climbs highest who helps another up!"

From Up, By George Matthew Adams (1920)

Imagining the Future Part 1

Sheet Music, 1914 ( source)

In the 21st century, most visions of the future seem to be bleak and frightening images of a post-apocalyptic world. A few of the more optimistic predictions focus on travel to Mars and space exploration. But in the 19th and early to mid 20th century, people envisioned an exciting future here on earth, a Utopian, fanciful world created by of the wonders of science and technology. Many works of art depicted these fantastic images and fueled the public imagination. Many of these images were made humorously, and weren't meant to be serious depictions of future life. But some were designed to show the way technology would change our daily lives, and make things easier and better.

A Night At the Opera In the Year 2000 by Albert Robida (1882) ( source)

Some of these imagined inventions have come to pass, at least in some form. For example, the picture below from 1928 depicts a television of the future. At that time, television was still in the experimental stage; t.v. sets would  not become widely available until after WW2, and color television would not be introduced until the mid 1960s. The woman is watching a large, color, flat-screen television. There appears to be some type of projector producing the picture.  She and the man on t.v. appear to be interacting with each other, much as we can do via computer today.

Radio Listeners' Guide- Fall 1928 (source)

The December 9, 1878 edition of the British humor magazine Punch included a cartoon illustration by George Du Maurier which showed a device, called the "Telephonoscope," which had supposedly been invented by Edison. Although this device was completely imaginary, this "electric camera-obscura" is considered to be an early prediction of both the television and the videophone. The caption below the image reads, in part: "Edison's Telephonoscope (transmits light as well as sound). Every evening, before going to bed, Pater and Materfamilias set up an electric camera-obscura over their bedroom mantel-piece, and gladden their eyes with the sight of their children at the Antipodes, and converse gaily with them through the wire."

source

Many other inventions, such as flying cars, have not become a reality. But it's interesting to take a look at these past visions of the 20th and 21st centuries! The illustration below is from a 1904 British children's book called The Motor Car Dumpy Book, which is a humorous look at the then recent invention, the automobile. The text that accompanies this image reads: "This is a motor air-ship. Some day we shall all have them."

 

From The Motor Car Dumpy Book (1904)

Flying cars, underwater scenes, and fabulous inventions are depicted in an intriguing series of French illustrations called "En L'An 2000 (In the Year 2000)" issued between 1899 and 1910. They were created by various French artists, and the first of these were issued for the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. They appeared initially as paper cards attached to cigarette and cigar boxes, and later as postcards. There are at least 87 known cards, but they are very rare. I have posted images of some of the ones I found the most interesting below. Click on the following link to view images of all fifty of these cards that are displayed on Wikimedia Commons: Link 

Flying Vehicles

Underwater Scenes

Fabulous Inventions

The Home of the Future

Something Outdated in 2000--"A Curiosity"