Pictorial predictions from the past
By John Durant
Copyright 1956
When I think of a period in history, I don’t recall specific
dates, battle sites, or names of treaties.
Instead, I like to wonder what the average citizen was living through at
that particular time. Was it easy for
them to choose a side on an issue? What
were they most afraid of? What were
their hopes for the future; for the future world their children and
grandchildren would live in? This book
sheds light on these perceptions.
Each page contains an illustration from around the turn of
the twentieth century, predicting what life would be like in what was then the
distant future. Some of these drawings
are eerily accurate. Others are far off
base.
In an 1897 LIFE magazine, one artist displays a prediction
for “an inauguration of the future”. While
I’m sure it seemed ridiculous at the time, this drawing shows a woman becoming
President. While it hasn’t happened yet,
this event no longer seems preposterous.
An illustration from a 1907 LIFE illustrates a suburb of the
future in which pedestrians have been forced off the streets by the many
vehicles rushing by. This has certainly
come to pass in many parts of the country.
One erroneous prediction is from a 1901 LIFE and was titled
“A Prediction For 1905. Of course there
will always be some use for the automobile.”
The artist depicts a car, resting on a lawn, planted full with
flowers. The cartoonist thought that the
airship, as shown in his drawing, would replace the automobile.
Similarly, some people are predicting that physical copies
of books will become a relic of the past.
I hope that this prediction is one that doesn’t come true. I know that many consider electronic portable
devices and e-books to be enjoyable and convenient, but to me, there is nothing
like the feel of picking a well-loved book off my shelf and settling with it in
a comfortable chair.
Like the “airship”,
e-books have their place, but like the automobile, it is difficult to imagine a
world without traditional books.
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