This Age of Power and Wonder: predictive cigarette cards, 1935-9

"This Age of Power and Wonder" was a 1930s series of cigarette cards issued by Max Cigarettes, depicting the wonders of the years to come (including, of course, a cure for cancer): "...a series by Max Cigarettes called This Age of Power and Wonder. This series from 1935-38 includes predictions of robot servants, spaceships, live television from exotic locations, and ubiquitous airports atop city high rises."

This Age of Power and Wonder (1930s)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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gman

100,000,000 candle power? Don’t look up.
dr

So when the bulb blows and you go down to Wilko’s to buy a replacement, will they deliver? I don’t think there’s room in my trunk for that.

Also, does it rotate? It totally should rotate.
Anonymous

Yes, that is Afrikaans. The cruel irony is that this is an actual oppression tool used by the old South African regime. During the 80′s the regime built poles, taller than the coms towers were all used to, in the “black townships” and adorned them with the brightest low pressure sodium bulbs Ive ever seen. The intent was to bathe the “townships” in an eerie oppressive yellow light all night long. The towers were built tall to make it almost impossible to shoot out the light with an AK style rifle. It only took a few of these poles to light up a whole city.
Wyrd

Wow, is that Afrikaans as the second language?

In 1930′s Afrikaans was obviously language of the future, in the 2000′s it’s the languange of Die Antwoord.
- djn
  
  Ah yes, that might explain the English + Dutch-lookalike combination. I was wondering why that would be a sensible pair of languages to combine on anything.
DrPretto

Very interesting some of those cards, but isn’t it ironic that a Cigarettes company is interested in a “War on Cancer”?
I wonder if that company still exists and what do they think about war on cancer in the present.
RangerGordon

Modernism was both optimistic and scary.
Anonymous

One thing I found cruel about modernism: it didn’t take into account my morbid fear of heights. All these futuristic designs involve ramps and highways and airports a million miles up.

I have extreme problems even driving over some winding bridges where I live. The guardrails are super low, and the heights (sometimes over water, sometimes over other highways) are absolutely dizzying.

Is it a form of sadism that the modernists want to put me up in high places?