The Future Of The 1920s

"Futurism" is what people believed the future would be like at a given time. Similarly, "retrofuturism" is futurism of the past. Most people think of Victorian futurism (steampunk) and 1950s/1960s futurism (atompunk). 1920s futurism sits right in the middle, mostly forgotten. Technically, it's grouped in with "dieselpunk," which extends into the WWII period, but I think the aesthetic of the 1920s is a bit different. For example, in the 1920s version of the future, zeppelins and airships are all over the place, though by WWII, zeppelins were a thing of the past. In this video, I'll explain a little bit about the 1920s conception of the future, then show a lot of examples from a 1920s science and technology magazine called "Science And Invention."

[Napsteraspx]

The coolest part about retrofuturism is how it potentially inspired some young kids someplace to later grow up and actually engineer technology we have today.

[tattooeddragon]

It’s been 100 years. Where the hell is my flying car!?

[trespire]

Some of these predictions have turned out to be supprisingly accurate.

[ChrundleTGreat]

I LOVE the old “home of the future” movies from the 1950’s! Any reel from the past that speculates on what the future was going to be is really interesting. It tells us a lot of what society’s priorities were.

[lookinforthes]

It's funny, if people from the 20s could see the society now. It's even stranger than they could dream.

[madpatriot]

My Grandpa is 100 this year! He was born in 1921, so I thought I'd check out the video. Good job.

[Bacony_Cakes]

1920s Futurism in a nutshell:
- Zeppelins
- Radio Everything
- Underground Cities
- Sky Cities
- Predict The Hyperloop
- More Zeppelins
- Prepare For The Next War
- Go To Space Impractically
- Planes Everywhere
- Stupid Things That Will Never Work
- Robots
- You Know What This Concept Needs? Zeppelins.
- Solar Power
- Place Women In Small Chambers
- Art Deco Coruscant Doesn't Exist, It Can't Hurt You.
- Glass Everywhere
- Contact Mars
- Go To The Bottom Of The Sea
- Crap. Too Many Zeppelins. Time To Blow Them Up With Light.

[driiifter]

I was obsessed with these types of books when I was younger, it's probably the reason I'm so influenced by sci-fi and technology. My grand father also worked for Lockheed and I spent more time around him than my father who was in the military.

[DataWaveTaGo]

Because "Science & Invention" was a magazine you picked up at a news stand, the cover art can be classified as Pick-Bait.

[djay]

Some of the ideas that are presented that became true: Imax, solar panels, interferometers, walking vehicles, humanoid robots, self contained space suits, space travel, parasite fighters on airships, multi deck roadways, monorails, mag-lev trains, television, manned orbit of the moon, aerial firefighting, amphibious armor, lasers, fiber optics.

You can also see the beginning of the Art Deco style of the late 20's-early 30's. Some of those rough city sketches look like storyboards from the Christopher Nolan Batman series.

[jeanmeslier]

This is a very good and interesting video. I like the presentation.

I was born in 1939, so Science Fiction, not Sci Fi, and I have grown up together, and neither of us are relevant any more.
Having seen these magazines and their kindred in the 1940s and 1950s, it seems like I have gone back in time.

At 6:21 the robot has "R U R" displayed on his chest. That is from a 1920 science fiction play by the Czech writer Carel Kapek.
"Rossumovi Univerzalni Roboti". In English it is given as "Rossum's Universal Robots". The Slavik word "roboti" means to work or do work.
This is the introduction of the word "robot" into English. Prior to that mechanicall people were called "automata" or 'automaton'.
Although Rossum's robots were I almost gave away the pl

The 1920s fantasies were becoming realities in the 1930s. People were overwhelmed by a radio play in 1938, , which I don't think could have happened without the futureism of the 1920s.
Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" was aired in 1938.
During the last few minutes of the broadcast, the page boys, reporters and other staff fought off the police and barricaded doors leading to the studio. The police were trying to stop the play.
To say that the play was a sensation is an understatement.

[kingforaday]

I find the old science magazines and pulps very inspirational. The artwork of spaceships, aliens, robots, planets, etc helped inspire me to go into science.
I had no interest in fields like business and law.

[waqqashanafi]

They should make a sci-fi movie today about an alternative reality based entirely on these predictions.

[yaboikungpowfuckfinger]

I wish we lived in a more Art Deco inspired world. I can’t get enough of it...

[DerpyPossum]

Fun Fact: John Jacob Astor IV actually wrote a sci-fi book in 1894, entitled “A Journey In Other Worlds”, that took place in the year 2000 and featured all kinds of stuff like space-colonization.
And yes, this is the same JJ Astor that perished aboard the RMS Titanic.

[larsrons]

Beautiful compilation, thanks for sharing. Very interesting. And lovely background music.
Those that struck me the most: 3:33 - Solar power (electricity). 3:48 - Recycling of garbage & sewage. 4:26 - Highspeed wheelless trains. 8:23 - "In the Year 2026", not far off? 9:04 - Haven't I seen this skyscraper in modern times? 9:12 - "Light beam piano", laser? (Jean-Michel Jarre). 9:28 Helicopter landing pad on skyscraper roof. 9:36 English Channel rail tunnel.

[orangejuice]

1920: We will have a flying car
2020: How to open a curtain

[Fish_Feet]

For some reason music like this makes me nostalgic in a way for a time where I was never even close to living in

[ImperialistJoe]

Futurism then: amazing technology
Futurism now: eating bugs, living in pods, owning nothing

[justadbeer]

When you think about the leaps and bounds that science and engineering has made over the last century or so, it is absolutely mind boggling. To think that my own grandfather was alive when the Wright brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk, and also when the Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, makes me smile at all we've accomplished. I know this may sound strange, but it also makes me kind of sad that nothing in my lifetime of such magnitude has been accomplished by comparison.