Space Diorama- Jack & Jill Magazine (June 1959)

Happy Halloween!!! Here is your treat for today (Be sure to click on the image): your own "Space Diorama."

Not quite a punch-out but rather a cut-out set of space pictures. One of the magazines for kids that was popular when I was little was Jack & Jill. It was always moderately interesting and it is always fun to get stuff in the mail. This was a centerfold that you could cut out. Usually they would have a game but it was a "Space Diorama" this time.

As you can see it was not presented as science fiction but rather something that just hasn't happened yet.

The influence of Chesley Bonestell's (and other) space art is undeniable in this illustration. This is what it would look like to stand on the Moon.

I also like the Rolf Klep style space suits. The three illustrators of the Collier's magazine space series were Rolf Klep, Fred Freeman, and Chesley Bonestell. Both Freeman and Bonestell were known for their magazine illustration but Klep was much less known. Nevertheless his spacesuit illustration set a standard for how suits should look.

As compared to the work of this unknown Diorama artist:

The spaceship's basic form was established in the early 1950s so this Diorama perpetuates the "classic" form.

Thanks for looking at this odd bit of ephemera. It still amazes me that almost exactly 10 years after this illustration was published of the "long time in the future" there were men on the Moon.

Tomorrowland : Pictures to Color (1955)

Still fascinated with the line between fiction and non-fiction. So here is a case of imaginary animals playing in a real place. How does putting animals in a spacesuit convince children that space is a "fun" place?

Why with Mickey Mouse of course. It looks like the art was done for this coloring book before the final construction of the Rocket to the Moon ride.

Here is how the rocket was shown in other illustrations:



So this is space art but of a very basic variety. But Tomorrowland meant spaceflight to a lot of people so Mickey Mouse is Disney:

The next few show Chip and Dale actually going to the ride pavilion and taking the ride




When you entered the ride you saw an auditorium with seats where you watch the central screen

We land on the Moon (1963) /Men on the Moon (1964)

This one was first published in the United States and then reprinted in England a year later. The sub-titles give it away. We Land on the Moon :Based on NASA'a Project Apollo (1963) and Men on the Moon: Based on America's Project Apollo (1964).

Raymond, John. Illustrations furnished by the NASA. We Land on the Moon: Based on NASA's Project Apollo. Long Island, NY: Child Guild Publications Inc. (94 p.) 29 cm.

Raymond, John. Men on the Moon : Based on America's Project Apollo. London : Collins. (96 p.) 29 cm.

the text is a mixture of NASA's planned effort to explore the Moon and a fictional narrative of what the first mission might be like. It is illustrated with some very strange aerospace contractor's illustrations along with the standard early Apollo illustrations. Presented as a text intended for school use (with a space term glossary) it really has to be seen.

You go from this early contactor's model to.....

...this illustration from a pulp science fiction story. And the pictures are all mixed together.

Are they orbiting Mars?

Of course you need your Moon Buggy!
This next one looks like a contractor's illustration except I think they are orbiting Mars.
And this one takes us back to the Moon. Wait a minute, wasn't this book supposed to be about the Apollo mission to the Moon?

OK, here is a contractor's painting of our favorite Moon vehicle, the un-manned "shopping cart." This book is not hard to find and is rewarding for the number of space art illustrations.

Spaceport U.S.A. (1953)

Spaceport U.S.A. (1953) is a recent arrival in my space library. As I have said I really like punch-out books about space. This one seemed to be a little harder for find but also a little more expensive. Luckily I have low standards :)

See the some of the original art that I purchased from this book here:
Jan 28, 2013

http://dreamsofspace.blogspot.com/2013/01/spaceport-usa-1953-art.html

I was able to find a partially used copy, which explains why the first image looks strangely incomplete. Here is a scan of someone else's copy with the full cover.

It does have the (more or less) complete back cover.

It is these images of our brave new future that brought me to these books. Even if inspired by the Television space heroes I think that showing children what could be coming soon is thrilling.

I am a fan of the 1950s building designs, so even if this image is incomplete I still like the suggeestion of our spacebase in the Rocky Mountains.

And of course, where would we be without our base on the Moon. Except of course that IS Saturn in the sky next to Earth. Maybe we will move the planets around in the future to create more inspiring sky scenes. Or maybe Saturn is so cool to look at that artists can't resist sticking it in any picture.

The last illustration to share seems to be of the "moon children." It seem like there is another helpful race of folks around to help with our space future. More likely it will be the relaxing of child labor laws that will allow children out into space. My new cry for future children is not: "You will go to the Moon!" but rather "You must go to the Moon!" (To build our bases please).

Here is the original advertisement for the book:

The Science Book of Space Travel (1954)

I love the cover on this one.

(1954) Goodwin, Harold Leland. Illustrated by Coggins, Jack. The Science Book of Space Travel . New York: Franklin Watts Inc. (213 p.) 20 cm.

Filled with drawings by Jack Coggins this book includes all areas of space travel, including a history of rockets, travel to the Moon and the planets, and UFOs. A good overview of the popular space science of the time. See also the 1956 US softcover and 1957 UK hardcover reprints.

Very detailed and almost romantic this book has some very nice illustrations.

Audels Encyclopedia of Space Science (1963)

A thick two volume encyclopedia that is just that, lots of terms and subject. But this book also has some very nice illustrations. If you hunger like me for new space art you find yourself looking through any book of a "certain age" that might have some space pictures in it.

(1963) Highland, Harold Joseph. Audels encyclopedia of space science; the marvelous world of space and electronics. New York: T. Audel. (1004 p.) 25 cm.

Mostly I wanted to share a few more pictures.
Everyone remembers Jet-Packs and wants their own but what happened to my Flying Platform!

Here is a very early model of the proposed Lunar Lander

Some NOVA Rockets

And a nice flight into interstellar space