Wearing your pocket watch – Part 2.

As promised, this time out, we will look at options for ladies who wish to carry a pocket watch in a more traditional manner. In Victorian times, you had basically two options, the lady’s long slide chain, or a watch pin. Let’s look at the lady’s long slide first. The lady’s long slide was originally developed in Germany, for women field workers. The suspended watch would fit in a apron pocket such that when they bent over the watch would not fall to ground and be damaged, thus saving an expensive repair. One end of the chain has a watch swivel, and there is a decorative slide in the middle. The slide alliowed for adjustment of the chain to different lengths. These chains could also be used for a necklace by attaching a pendant to the swivel.

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This Sunday (25th of May) there is going to be a bit of a ‘perfect storm’ of Steampunk in LA – Abney Park (one of the best known Steampunk bands in existance) will be playing at The Edison bar (possibly the most beautiful Steampunk locale in the world) and are rumoured be accompanied by two of the brightest and best loved Steampunk creating celebrities around.  (I’m not sure I’m allowed to mention who the gents are, but I know they’ll probably tell me off for calling them celebrities!  Sorry, Sirs.)  There’ll also be high-flying aerialists and the highly regarded DJ Imagika.

Abney Park, Live at The Edison, then – it sounds fantastic.  I’m told there are still tickets to be had, and that it’ll be strictly age 21+ (that’s Earth years), and that this will hopefully be just one of many future Steampunk events held at The Edison in future.  I know in previous posts we’ve wondered if the clientele at The Edison could be as wonderful to look at as the event, but I can very quickly cast that doubt aside knowing the lineup as I now do!  To those who go – I am quite envious, please report back and do take photies!

Greetings. My Evil Manservant, Jeebes, has unearthed from the depths of his rather encyclopædic stereoptyicon collection a most startling historical revelation, found here for your ephemeratic perusals at Spirit History.

In summary, it would seem that perhaps the otherwordly manifestations of the séance-enthralled Spiritualists were betimes, shall we venture to say, just a tad bit…well….erm…fraudulent.

Astonishing, don’t you agree?

Why ‘pon my oath, just last night I thought I was speaking with Madame Blatavatsky, using my especially-designed Post-Mortem Contrapulatronic Victrola! How could I be so lacking in reason as to engage in such a patently fraudulent scheme? O the horror! Thank goodness for the ministrations of Jeebes, evil though he may be, for revealing my folly.

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Blood, Backstabs, Bluff are the 3B’s of that wonderful French game. Part-board, part-role playing, part card, London 1888 is really a great social game in which each player is suspected to be Jack the Ripper and has to find out who is the real Whitechapel murderer before the last prostitute is sliced. Hours of game ahead of you. Riots, fog, rain and bobbies (and of course your game mates) will try to stop your quest for identity by any mean necessary. This game is not Steampunk strictly speaking, but a quick look at the design will appeal to any XIXth century lover. The board is brilliant and the cards are simply beautiful. Even the rule book is great! You can also have a look at the website which has an awesome design and its forum. An english version should be released soon.

Bioshock – by many regarded as one of the best first person shooter games ever made, is a game available for PC and Xbox 360 which was discussed at length at the Steampunk Forum upon release. Since the story is set in an alternative 1960 in an underwater city built in 1946 it’s strictly speaking not at all Steampunk – more art deco, but with a lot of steampunk flavour added by the dystopic atmosphere, odd gadgetry, mad science and of course the design of the Big Daddy diving suits.

Universal has recently embarked on a project to turn the game into a motion picture, enlisting Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Carribean, The Ring) at the helm. Mr Verbinsk has announced he wants John Logan (The Aviator, Sweeney Todd, The Time Machine) to write the screenplay and the filming is to begin as soon as the screenplay is finished.

For those unfamiliar with the plot of Bioshock it’s basically about exploring the underwater city of Rapture in search of it’s founder. Rapture is a society ruled by the objectivist principles of Ayn Rand, a once thriving laissez-faire capitalist paradise now emptied following a civil war. The storyline has also borrowed elements from Ayn Rand’s fictional work.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1igtpxpDjM[/youtube]

The best way to know of a new invention is to ask the one who made it, So I did and this is what Aaron/Shadarko ) said of his wonderful Phonocrank.

The History of the Phonocrank:

Thanks for asking about the Phonocrank. I had been dressing steam punk for years before I knew there were anyone else like me. I had also been interested in old things, be it old radios, old tools, old photographs, you name it, if it was old, I pretty much loved it. I am very reluctant to move on to newer things. It was only recently I got an mp3 player, a cell phone, or a lap top. One of the reasons I love the idea of steam punk is, it’s not a denial of today’s technology. Rather its the idea of incorporating either an artistic flair missing in today design, or using alternative technology that can exist into day’s world. The project leading up to the Phonocrank was the Iphonograph. At roughly the same time that Herr Dokter was creating his gramophone styled speakers. I was working on the same idea for my mp3 player. It’s all well and good to use the modern tech, but a pair of speakers just look boring and bland. I wanted something that would go with the rest of my house. The first Iphonograph was a small music box shaped like a phonograph. Add speakers and done. The horn allowed the music to have a great old time sound, using the horn for what it was meant for. I created several more iphonographs of various sizes for myself and friends. The whole time something was nagging me.

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Last November I had the great pleasure of attending White Mischief’s barely believable event, From The Earth To the Moon in London.  It was a night of amazingly dressed attendees, stunningly entertaining acts and a gloriously fun filled atmosphere!

And now, I have secured my tickets for the second Steampunk themed event on the 7th of June – Around The World In 80 Days, from White Mischief!  With a lineup of acts and entertainers even more impressive than the last (snake dancers, Victorian comedian troupes, vintage spinning DJs and world record holding sword swalloweresses, to list but four) and with a new theme for the evening – Jules Verne style exploration – I admit to being rather excited about the whole thing.

So, if you intend to attend, if you’ll be dressing to impress, if you’ll be taking a tipple in a topper – then I very much look forward to meeting you there!

Airships were once the kings of the skies. High above the Earth, passengers could enjoy a level of comfort that is almost unimaginable to anyone who has ever flown in today’s cramped airliners. They can also be very handy for transporting huge amounts of cargo across vast distances. This has attracted the eye of the United States’ Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and they have come up with a concept called the Walrus.

The Walrus is designed to be a 1000 foot long heavier-than-air vehicle that can carry 500-1000 tons of cargo or 1,800 infantry and their supplies. Worldwide Aeros is one of the contractors for this project and they are also planning a civilian version. A demonstration involving smaller prototypes will happen sometime this year.

Unfortunately the future of the Walrus project looks uncertain due to yearly budget concerns. Which is a shame. I hope Worldwide Aeros continues with their concept of a civilian airship. I never enjoyed riding in the cramped, uncomfortable airliners. I dream of taking a journey and enjoying the comforts of a large (and properly steampunk-styled) airship, such as enjoying the sunsets from a promenade thousands of feet in the air and dining in grand ballrooms. Truly a grand dream for any steampunk!

Thanks to William Whitney for suggesting this article on Damn Interesting about the Walrus, though it’s now from quite some time ago.

Though Mr Alex C.F. dislikes his work being labeled “steampunk,” his creations are definitely of interest to the steampunk enthusiast, especially when they were supposedly devised during the nineteenth century.

His latest invention is this “Chrono Displacement Device”, i.e.: time machine, which apparently sat unused in the halls of the Temporal Council for nearly half a century until in 1880, the Royal Academy Science Fair demanded something rather auspicious for their grand opening. Probably having been amused with the Lost World tales of the late Professor Challenger recently, the fine gentlemen of the Royal Academy decided that some large prehistoric creature ought to be brought forth from the past and revealed to a horrified and excitable crowd. In spite of protests from the Temporal Council as well as various animals’ rights groups, a young male Allosaur was revealed to the public on the morning of July 5th. Terrified and high on miscalculated doses of sedatives, the dinosaur broke free of its shackles and prompty killed half a dozen spectators before being tranquilized and sent back to the late Jurassic. Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, who naturally attended the opening, was quoted remarking, “What a marvelous opening to the proceedings.”

That is, according to the imagination of Mr C.F., whose contraption, in spite of its modest size, is evidently able to teleport large objects through time! Read more about his wonderful invention over at his Blog.

Just when you thought your wallet was safe, along comes a company that is building steam tractors again. Its been more than 70 years since these were being manufactured, but once again, there is a builder in the UK producing new steam tractors, to the original specifications, but with modern materials. These new tractors fully comply with the current UK and EU steam regulations. The engine pictured is a new build 1904 Foster “Wellington” 7hp tractor, by the firm of Dawson’s of Bicker, in Lincolnshire. Dawson’s purchased the rights to the name “WM. Foster of Lincoln” and their tractors will be numbered from the last used original Foster engine number. Build time for this particular engine was just over two years, and the cost? Well, lets just say its one of those “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it” things.

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