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"

Reading Together

Reading Couple (1877) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)  www.wikiart.org

Reading Aloud

A very pleasant habit for home life is that of reading aloud some pleasant book in the evenings, and if the selection of the book is wise it certainly makes the home circle very attractive, and lightens the drudgery of the mother, who often sits after tea with her basket of stockings to be darned and who has a dreary time if each member of the family, who does not go out, takes his or her paper or book, as I have often seen, and subsides into their own interesting reading, leaving her to her own meditations. A book read aloud at home gets a charm, apart from itself sometimes; its very name will conjure up in our memories scenes in the far past— the pleasant family circle, then, perhaps, unbroken, the cheerful fireside, and frequently, too, the comments upon what is being read which add to the interest, and give a newer insight. The same association applies to a piece of work which is in operation while any book is being read.

--Ladies Fancy Work,  Edited by Jenny June, 1886

Mrs. Cassatt Reading to Her Grandchildren (1880) by Mary Cassatt (1824-1926)   www.wikiart.org

Times change, technology changes, but people don't change very much. In the 19th century, people often became isolated in their own reading or needlework, instead of interacting with each other. Today, we have more distractions--television, computers, tablets, smartphones, gaming systems. Couples, families, and groups of friends spend much of their time in the same room, but at a distance. Often people will find themselves sitting across the table from each other texting messages instead of talking. While quiet time alone is still important, and keeping up with social media has become essential in our world, it's important not to forget to share special times with the people in our lives, and to be present in the moment. Reading aloud together is a different way to experience a book, and is enjoyable for adults, as well as children. It can spark conversation, and give new perspectives and ideas. Reading aloud also creates vivid memories--not just of the story that is being read, but of a cozy, pleasant, unique place and time, and of the people who were present there, in that moment, with us.

Theodore Gerard (1824-1895)