To The Moon By Rocket Ship (1940)

 

A bit of obscure ephemera today. In 1940 the Fels Planetarium in Philadelphia had a program they called "To the Moon by Rocket Ship." It was a program for adults and children describing the science of what it would be like to go to the Moon. It also explored the formation of craters (thought volcanic at the time.) They also sold this souvenir booklet of the program.

So from a hot summer night some 85 years ago we take you on an exploration of the Moon.

Franklyn Institute. To The Moon by Rocket Ship. Philadelphia, PE: Fels Planetarium.  (10 p.) Aug and Sept 1940. 

To the Moon by Rocket Ship (1940)

I have very few pre-1950s items in my collection.  Since my focus is primarily children's non-fiction about space flight there are now many earlier examples. One might be this 1940 pamphlet from the Fels Planetarium in Philadelphia. At the time a few planetariums were having special shows that took visitors on an imaginary voyage into space.

This pamphlet collected the facts and gave the visitor something to take home.  While primitive in appearance I image many children who were in love with Buck Rogers being facinated that it might someday all be true.

The text give you the feeling that the presentation was sort of like an early version of the modern science fiction epic where you are immersed in an science fiction adventure to the Moon.