Distant Worlds (1932)

 

An early children's science fiction book about spaceflight. 

Borrowing from a book-seller description:

Friedrick Mader, "the German Jules Verne" according to Sam Moskowitz, was a popular author of fantastic romances in post-World War One Germany. DISTANT WORLDS is his only novel translated into English. WUNDERERWELTEN (1911) is a boys' book that "takes its spaceship crew to Mars and finally, at several times the speed of light, to Alpha Centauri, where they explore an Eden-like planet. Its content is quite advanced for 1911.' It was translated into English in 1932.

Google Books summarized it like this: 

"Professor Dr. Heinrich Schulze of Germany, Captain Munchausen of Australia, and Lord Flitmore of England, together with their wives and a company of associates travel around Mars and Saturn in an anti-matter powered space ship. They follow a comet through the asteroid belt and out of the solar system to Alpha Centauri, landing on a planet of that system."

While the illustrations are not really "space art" I have also included a bit of the text so you can get a feel for the technology used.

Mader, Friedrich. Illustrated by Graef, Robert A.  Translated by Shachtman, Max. Distant Worlds: The Story of a Voyage to the Planets. New York: Charles Scribner. (343 p.) 1932. 

By Rocket To The Moon (1931)

 

To finish off my moon-laden July I have this one.

So this is an updated re-post of a book I blogged about in 2010. 

https://dreamsofspace.blogspot.com/2010/07/by-rocket-to-moon-19311949.html

I came across a less damaged copy of the book I took the opportunity to share this picture story. It is an early children's/young adult science fiction novel about a first trip to the moon. The author Otto Willi Gail was an early space flight thinker and writer.

The introduction to this children's book is very interesting about the author's conviction that this was a fictionalization of something that would happen some day.

The details of the story included a mysterious satellite from Atlantis orbiting the moon. An action packed story with stowaways, murders, and having to throw almost everything out of the ship to make it back to Earth. In the final scene they need to leave the ship to crash while they parachute down. The final line of the unbelievable story is below.

Mickey Mouse's Spaceship Pencil Box (1935)

 

A fun piece of ephemera today, a Mickey Mouse Pencil box from 1935.  People forget about the craze for Mickey Mouse in the 1930s, but they also forget how the revolutionary idea of rockets taking people into space was also a current "fad". This captures in a whimsical way for children how people could travel into space.  There were a series of similar Dixon Mickey Mouse pencil boxes on different topics but this one particularly caught my eye (of course).

From the Weston's label inside they may have been a promotional/premium item with these crackers.

By Rocket to the Moon: Cleveland (1933-1938)

So this is a slight change of pace. I ran across this pamphlet/comic book about The Cleveland Rocket Society, that was active in the 1930s. 

Published by the Western Reserve Historical Society to support one of their exhibits, it outlines the early efforts of these rocket "amateurs." (I have not found out when the exhibit was.)

"Founded in May 1867, the Western Reserve Historical Society is Cleveland’s oldest existing cultural institution. It was established as the historical branch of the Cleveland Library Association which dated from 1848. It now concentrates on the history of Northeast Ohio."[5]

The CLEVELAND ROCKET SOCIETY, formed ca. 1933, was an organization of area residents who studied the possibilities of liquid-propelled rocket flight and conducted experiments in that field. 

By the Summer of 1934 CRS membership amounted to 50. A Technical Staff had been 
formed that was divided into four independent departments: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical 
Engineering, Radio Engineering, and Theoretical Engineering. 

Jaunts into Space: Informal Excursions to the Show Places of the Sky (1935)

OK this book is much earlier than my 1945 self-imposed limit. This 1935 book is one of many astronomy books written for children.  Buck Rogers had appeared in the comic since 1929 and people were familiar with the idea of rockets going into space from that and other science fiction. What was more interesting was the non-fiction which suggested that this was also a real way to explore space.  A number of astronomy books mention this possibility.

Underwood, R.S. Jaunts into space; informal excursions to the show places of the sky (photographs by Yerkes and Mount Wilson observatories with sketches by Everett Fairchild.) Boston: Christopher Pub. House. (79 p.) 20 cm 1935.

I liked the cover and this block of text captures that feeling that something was going to happen soon.

It doesn't sound much like non-fiction does it? Many of these books used a "magic spaceship" to help learn about the planets. In addition these books introduced the idea that maybe there was life on other planets.  Both as an idea (presented to children) that we are not alone but also it created a destination in space.  Space travel is all about dropping in on the neighbors.

By Rocket to the Moon (1931/1949)

A new look for the blog and an old book. By Rocket to the Moon is one of my favorite early fictional books about going to the moon. Especially the "technically accurate" illustrations:

Gail, Otto Willi. By rocket to the moon ; the story of Hans Hardt's miraculous flight. New York : Dodd, Mead & Co., 1931

First published in 1928 in German and published in English in 1931, this novel for older children was written by one of the most popular German science fiction writers of the time.

Closely based on the work of his friends Hermann Oberth and Max Valier, it is an accurate mirror of many of the space travel concepts being discussed by pre-war European experts.

Here is the 1949 German reprint:

With new illustrations:

This illustration reminds me of the ramp from the 1951 film: When Worlds Collide. I am sure it influenced their design ideas.

Compare this image to the one above from the 1931 edition.

A beautiful (and classic) descent to the Moon.

You can buy a copy here: http://tinyurl.com/26etlcu

NY World's Fair "Rocket Port" (1939)

(Be sure to "click" on the picture to appreciate this)

I have been inspired by this posting of Doc Atomic about his collection of artifacts to put up my favorite (and only) item from the 1939 New York World's Fair.

http://astoundingartifacts.blogspot.com/2010/05/botstock-vii-vintage-space-toy_29.html

This postcard captures a future moment to me. The 1939 Rocket Port. Who knew back then that they were only 22 years from the first manned launch. It must have seemed like the fantasy to watch as Chrysler explained how we would travel in the future.


As you can read, the rocket port was part of the history of transportation exhibit. I really have nothing more to say about this except: THIS IS SO COOL.