What people in 1900 thought ...

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I just ran across an article in the Washington Post called "What people in 1900 thought the year 2000 would look like" ... it was a series of paintings by French artists that were included in cigarette and cigar boxes and then sold as postcards.  

I found them pretty amusing and thought I should share!

in The Tree House by Julie Ricketts G2G6 Pilot (479k points)

One autumn evening a few years before becoming a teenager, my father brought home several large boxes of magazines someone was going to put to the curb. Mother was not keen to father's intent on putting them in the built-in bookcases of our new apartment's elegant living room. Dad prevailed, and within minutes closed the twin glass doors to the cases that flanked each side of the room's double-wide doorway to the dining room. Father told me I was not allowed to take the magazines out of the cases because they were important to him. We then had supper and dad spent a couple of hours helping me with my homework. I required a lot of assistance with my lesson assignments. Classmates told me they finished in less than an hour. Dad was often still by by side as I completed my work at eight or nine o'clock. This particular night, after he tucked my tired body into bed, I dreamed of what mysterious contents were within the “forbidden” magazines I had briefly seen as they were unpacked.

When dad arrived home from work the next day he discovered me sitting on the living room floor, my nose nearly touching the glass door of a bookcase. He quietly came over, gently picked me up to set me away from the case, and opened the door to remove a couple of issues. Then, sitting on the floor beside me, revealed why they were special to him, and would someday be special to me also.

The magazines all had flat spines printed with their names and dates of issue. Withing a week, dad came home and discovered the son he patiently loved and nurtured, the son that he had been told by teachers and doctors may never be capable of supporting himself and may need to be institutionalize, the son that just a few years earlier had finally comprehended the structure and meaning of sentences by reading comic books, had re-shelved all the magazines in alphabetical order and month of issue. I will never forget the smile on father's face and the warmth of his hug.

Occasionally, dad would purchase current issues with an article he thought I might be particularly interested in. The one I remember most vividly had a feature article about a man constructing what many thought was a foolish waste of money: a theme park having a castle; a train that went in circles, and; a canal he called a river through a jungle. The man, Walt Disney. The place, Disneyland.

The magazines frequently had visionary illustrations on their covers and feature articles speculating what the twenty-first century would be like. One in particular still does. The magazines in our home were: Popular Mechanics and Popular Science.


Thank you Julie. Your posting today was the catalyst I needed to memorialize dad. He died when I was fourteen.

George -- That is very touching! Your Dad sounds like an amazing man. Every child needs an adult like that in their life. I'm so glad you had him for as long as you did. :)
Amazing! All the ideas in those images have or are happening now. :)

1968 While in Boy Scouts at an early age, I used save in our huge cellar (it had a large work bench w/ all of my dads tools, there were many. Dad was a carpenter, car mechanic and an owner-operator OTR-Truck Driver.), ONP (Old News Papers) & magazines to be sold for our Scout troupe outings. I was big for my age, I had two businesses: Snow Shoveling (I bought my own shovels) in winter & worm picking/selling (as we lived close to the Seneca River & Erie Canal) All the neighbors in my neighborhood would save for me; so after I shoveled snow from their driveways/sidewalks... I'd take huge bundles home. During the long cold months in Up-State N.Y. I would sit & read every magazine & newspaper. Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, U.S. News & World Report, National Geographic (were especially nice finds).

 At 10 years old I earned a New York State Boating & Snowmobile license, by age 17 I had a automobile drivers license & later a Class-A M CDL w/ Hazmat, Tanker, Doubles/Triples, Motorcycle endorsements.

 My grandfather (Vickery-357) was a career newspaper-man / Typsetter, Editor, Publisher, Manager of The New York Times, Brooklyn Daily Image, Hearld Times, New York Hearld Tribune, The Baldwinsville Hearld.

  I soon found that I was mechanically & scientifically gifted and in 6th grade my science aptitude was at a College entrance level. Always loved rocks, minerals, gems, geology, coins, minting, space exploration. Dad helped me get my Class A-CDL Licence. 20+ years ago I taught myself DOS (Disk Operating System) & Gold Prospecting, Refining, Metalugry, Horology. I later became a dispatcher for Laidlaw Waste Systems/Allied Waste on an AS-400 mainframe... 146 Trucks 179,000 sq. miles, Route Auditor, MRF Supervisor and trained their National Trainer.

 In my profile see the newspaper clipping from where I beat all the other Pinewood Derby cars including the over weight disqualified cars. I swear someone stold a part of my life story as an idea for a movie. lol :)

81' After Boot-Camp & Submarine school, I went on to drive (Helmsman) a (80Million Dollar) U.S Navy Nuclear Submarrine at the age of 18 aboard the USS Seawolf (SSN-575). I made a free-space page at wikitree to honor her. http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:USS_Seawolf_(SSN-575) . I am now retired/disabled. My son John is currently a Computer Tech enlisted in the U.S. Air Force ( I love & am proud of him, his wife, my first grand-child). Thank you Julie for sharing & Thanks to the others for reading my True "Big Fish" story, JPVIV

Thank you for sharing such an amusing article.  I would imagine it would be hard to picture the year 2000.  That weren't far off when they thought things would be done by machines, but their thinking was too mechanical.  I laughed so hard I almost fell off my chair!!!

Guess they would be shocked to see the self checkouts at Walmart!

What about the year 3000?

I bet by then we will all be flying small planes instead of cars and everyone will live in high rise apartments instead of individual houses.  Like Star Trek we'll go to a machine on the wall and tell it what we want to eat or drink.  No shopping, no washing dishes or clothes.  It will be a very disposable society.

Taylor

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