#Historical Technology

[marzipanandminutiae]

"hey why are all the barrier garments like linen shirts or chemises or combinations going away?"

"oh we have more washable fabrics now! you don't need to worry about sweat reaching your outer clothing when you can just chuck it in the washing machine!"

"cool!"

[100 years later]

"so uh all of those new washable fabrics are leaching microplastics into our water, and the constant machine-washing wears garments out faster. they're also not really sturdy enough to be mended, so we keep having to throw them out and now the planet is covered in plastic fabric waste that will never break down. also it turns out that the new washable fabrics hold odor-causing bacteria VERY well. so could we get those barrier garments back please?"

"sorry babe linen now costs $100000/yard and since it's been so long without them, nobody knows how to adapt barrier garments to the current styles anyway"

"..."

"maybe try this new $50 undershirt made of Special Sweat-Wicking Plastic Fabric! :) :) :)"

[severianurth]

In the dusky corridors of the Citadel, where shadows stretched long and the light of the New Sun filtered through high, narrow windows, I found myself drawn to an unfamiliar corner of the Library. There, amidst shelves of crumbling manuscripts and the smell of ancient parchment, stood a collection of strange devices, relics from an age long past. They were artifacts of such peculiar design that even the Curators, those wizened keepers of knowledge, seemed hesitant to touch them.

I approached a particularly curious contraption, its form both alien and familiar. It was an intricate assembly of gears and switches, its surface marred by the patina of countless ages. As I examined it, a voice broke the sacred silence of the Library.

"Greetings, I am Mitch," it said, as though from the shadows themselves. I turned to see a man, his eyes bright with an almost childlike wonder, yet his demeanor spoke of one well-versed in the arcane secrets of these machines. "If you do not know me, I am one of the folk that helps Master Samuel maintain this collection. He is ever occupied with his own studies, and there is much to be done."

Mitch moved with a fluid grace, his hands caressing the aged metal of the devices as if they were dear friends. "One of my tasks," he continued, "is to breathe life back into these relics, to make them more than just dusty memorials to a forgotten past. These displays are not mere curios; they are works of art, functioning and alive, ready to teach us the secrets they hold."

He gestured to a cabinet filled with an array of instruments. "I have recently affixed new labels to these displays, but they are more than just descriptions. They are keys to understanding. This is not merely a display of artifacts; it is an interactive journey through history. You can press buttons and witness the miracles of a time long gone."

Mitch’s enthusiasm was infectious, a spark in the dim gloom of the Library. He led me to another display, one filled with more devices, each more enigmatic than the last. "This is another of our projects, ever improving, ever evolving. You may recall the 25-line private automatic exchange we restored, adding a dial that allows you to activate different lights and sounds, bringing the whole mechanism to life."

His words were incantations, summoning images of ancient operators and the silent hum of forgotten technology. He reached for a set of peculiar devices on a nearby shelf. "These, for instance, are Doll's eye indicators, or eyeball indicators. Their true name, I believe, has been lost to the ravages of time, but their function remains. They are electromechanical marvels, used in the old manual telephone exchanges."

He demonstrated the mechanism, his hands moving deftly as he explained. "When one of these flops down, it signals the operator that someone is calling. The operator would then connect the call, speaking to the person on the other end. It is a dance of electricity and motion, a symphony of clicks and clacks."

Mitch’s eyes shone with the light of the New Sun as he described his plans for the indicators. "What if we wire them so that when one activates, it triggers the next, creating a cascade of motion and sound? The mechanical delay between each activation would create a mesmerizing sequence, a tribute to the ingenuity of our ancestors."

He set to work, his fingers weaving the threads of the past into a tapestry of the present. As he finished the final connection, he stood back, a smile playing on his lips. "Moment of truth," he murmured, and with a flick of a switch, the display came to life.

The indicators moved in perfect harmony, each one activating the next in a graceful dance. The sound of their movement filled the Library, a whisper from the past that echoed through the halls. Mitch watched with a satisfied smile, his pride evident. "There is much to learn from these ancient machines," he said, his voice filled with reverence. "They are more than just relics; they are lessons in innovation and creativity."

As I stood in that dimly lit hall, surrounded by the artifacts of a bygone era, I felt a profound connection to the past. These relics, brought to life by Mitch’s skill and passion, were a testament to the enduring spirit of humanity. They were reminders that even in the face of the New Sun, the past could still illuminate the path forward.

In that moment, I understood that the Library was not just a repository of knowledge, but a living, breathing entity, ever evolving, ever teaching. And in the quiet hum of those ancient machines, I heard the whispers of the ages, a symphony of innovation and discovery that would echo through the corridors of time.

[semioticapocalypse]

Jack Weir. A girl holding The Washington Post newspaper about the first Moon landing (Apollo 11). July 21, 1969

I Am Collective Memories   •    Follow me, — says Visual Ratatosk

[kazuma-nyasogi]

drew this in december but i forgotttttt

[jaubaius]

undefined

AC/DC a meets historical portraits meets projection mapping🎼🎵

Source

[nickysfacts]

The feminine urge to program computers and write algorithms!

👩🏻‍💻💜👩🏾‍💻

[nellasbookplanet]

Fantasy works commonly (though obviously not always, this is a general observation, and I'm more of a scifi enjoyer than a traditional fantasy enjoyer anyway so my pool of reference is limited) place this divide between magic and technology. The two are placed as incompatible to the point that many fantasy worlds are almost stuck in this semi historical setting, not really allowed to grow or evolve past this mythological past, as if we can’t imagine magic and technology mixing. Why would technology evolve if we have magic? The stories I think of rarely outright say this, and I think writers create these types of settings more out of genre tradition than a genuine belief in never mixing magic and technology, but it saddens me that we so rarely see secondary fantasy worlds that are futursitic, or modern fantasy worlds that aren't either an obvious mirror of our present or literally our present but with a secret magical underbelly that has had little to no impact on the evolution of the world at large.

And it just occurred to me that in critical role, the divide is more often placed between magic and the divine, while magic and technology are presented as almost one and the same, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the Age of Arcanum. The magical fey changeling of Avalir was fantasy tv personality!! Magic doesn't hinder growth or trap the world in a medieval state of nature where people become incapable of imagining technological growth due to the convenience of magic: magic is technology. Magic interweaves into their societies, their ways of life. They study it, they grow it, it doesn't hold them back any more than discovering fire or electricity held us back because it’s the very foundation of their growth. How very fitting that Corellon, god of the arcane, takes the mortal form of an aeormaton, a robot, a being we would normally consider the anthitesis of magic, but which here is the embodiement of the sameness of the two.

[lolo3hwriting]

The White Lily Greenhouse - How Would It Work?

Pure Vanilla Cookie has always been a favorite character to me because of his hobby of gardening. As someone who gardens as well as studies horticulture, it’s fun to see all of the gardens and plants he has in the story. The most notable example for me is the White Lily Greenhouse because it plays such an important role in Pure Vanilla’s character and story. He built it as a place to relax and to enjoy the white lilies he loves so much. But it made me wonder, how in the world would he manage it? Realistically it would take a lot of effort, and considering it's a private greenhouse within his castle, Pure Vanilla would most likely take care of it all alone.

Before I get into anything, I wanted to talk about the specific type of lilies that Pure Vanilla grows. The character White Lily Cookie is based on lilies in general, but most significantly the Madonna Lily. However, I couldn’t find much information about growing Madonna Lilies (Lilium candidum) in greenhouses specifically, so most of the information I have is from growing Easter Lilies (Lilum longiflorum) or lilies (Genus Lilum) in general in greenhouses. The growing requirements are mostly the same, but might have a few slight differences.

Specific Requirements for Growing Lilies and Greenhouses

(Diagram of a bulb, image taken from here)

So first, I wanted to explain briefly about the morphology of lilies and how that impacts their management. Most lilies grow from bulbs, which are specialized structures made up of a short fleshy stem enclosed by thick, fleshy leaves. At the bottom of a bulb is the base plate where the stem, leaves, and roots grow from. One way to propagate lilies is through bulblets (also called bulbils), small bulbs that grow from the base plate, which can be removed and planted on their own. However, the most common way is through bulb scales where the first (and sometimes second) outer portion of the leaf scales are removed and planted. But whatever the case, both the bulblets and bulbs scales need to go though some period of cold temperatures to break their dormancy. This means you can plant them in the fall and let them stay over the winter, or you could put them in a refrigerator to chill. Considering the Vanilla Kingdom is in a mountainous region and high up in the sky, I’m sure they can be put outside before transferring them to the greenhouse.

Heating and lighting are two important factors in making lilies grow well. Lilies need full sun, which is about 6 hours per day. Generally a south facing greenhouse will have more light exposure, otherwise you may need artificial lighting. Lilies will start growing when temperatures are warm enough, so greenhouses usually aim for 60 F, but they can also grow well up to 75 F. I'll discuss how heating and lighting might work for the white lily greenhouse.

Although lilies are perennials and bloom year after year if you maintain them, most ornamental gardens will plant new bulbs every year because old bulbs won’t produce as much or as big flowers as younger bulbs do. This would mean Pure Vanilla would have to dig up old bulbs and plant new ones every year, unless he has some type of special magic that will make them bloom as big and numerous consistently.

Weeding and pest management are always something to keep in mind with greenhouses, but if you don't let them become a problem then it's pretty easy to deal with. Proper sanitation like removing weeds before they produce seeds, removing plant debris and dead plants, and having clean growing media will all help prevent problems. I think Pure Vanilla is vigilant enough to do all of that.

Historical Greenhouses

(A classic greenhouse from England, image taken from here)

In the past, greenhouses were heated just by the sun or with additional heating like furnaces, hot water, or steam. This meant that temperature control was not very precise and had to be fiddled with in order for the greenhouse to be properly heated. If this was the case, I think there would have been some type of boiler specifically for the greenhouse situated at a higher elevation so that the hot water/steam could be carried by gravity into the greenhouse. Water for irrigation had to be brought in unless you had a nearby water pump. Carrying water in would have taken a lot of effort, not to mention that you would have to do watering by hand, which would have been tedious for one person. However, I doubt that Pure Vanilla would mind with his patient nature and enthusiasm for gardening.

The cost of glass and steel to build the greenhouse itself would have been expensive. But taking into account that Pure Vanilla was a king, he probably didn’t have much trouble with the cost of construction or equipment. 

The Vanilla Kingdom is based on Germanic countries, and those countries have a long history of using greenhouses. During the 16th and 17th centuries places like England, France, Italy, and the Netherlands had greenhouses to grow exotic plants that they collected. So the locale and inspiration for the kingdom lines up.

The Modern Approach

(A modern Dutch style greenhouse, image from here)

Considering the Vanilla Kingdom had the waffle bots and advanced technology, it would be reasonable that Pure Vanilla could have access to more modern greenhouse technology similar to what we have today. Things like automatic misting systems, electrical and gas powered heating, and artificial greenhouse lighting. Not to mention all the sensors and timers that can help automate things. However, I’ve seen greenhouses built pretty recently that still use hot water pipes to heat the greenhouse and manually watering their plants. Seeing that Pure Vanilla is more old fashioned and traditional, he could have also run his greenhouse using old school methods. 

Of course, all of this can be hand waved with magic but I like to think that the creation of spells is also considered special techniques that have to be learned and trained. I'm sure that Pure Vanilla or even White Lily Cookie could have developed some type of specialized magic to grow plants easier, similar to how in real life new technology is constantly being developed in order to more efficiently grow plants.

Sources:

https://wyoextension.org/publications/html/B1185R/

[ruvviks]

"The outer reaches of space remain unexplored by humankind to this day, but its greed is relentless. We grasp and yearn and hunger for knowledge— answers to questions we cry out into the endless void expecting to understand, expecting the stars to respond. The stars will not, but one day something else will— and we will not like what it has to say." — Rome Solomon, Beyond the Exosphere (1965)

taglist (opt in/out): @shellibisshe, @florbelles, @ncytiri, @hibernationsuit, @stars-of-the-heart, @vvanessaives, @katsigian, @radioactiveshitstorm, @estevnys, @adelaidedrubman, @celticwoman, @rindemption, @carlosoliveiraa, @noirapocalypto, @dickytwister, @killerspinal, @euryalex, @ri-a-rose, @velocitic, @thedeadthree

[cromwelll]

I read and watch a lot of period dramas and historical fiction, so I’m used to looking up unfamiliar words and terms. However, Google’s AI shit doesn’t even recognize real words as real words. When I googled “when were panniers popular,” it asked me if I meant “pioneers.” And when I googled “define cossetted,” it asked me if I meant “define conceited.” It’s not even recognizing real words anymore. What use is that? It’s completely worthless.

[postcard-from-the-past]

School of Engineering and Technology in Angers, Anjou region of France

French vintage postcard

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

also like why r ppl confused about the technological jump in lok it’s literally the same as happened irl. avatar takes place in the rough equivalent to the mid 1800s, it’s not medieval or anything. lok takes place roughly equivalent to the early 1900s. that is, in fact, what happened irl in the seventy odd years between, say 1850 and 1920. like it’s literally just historically accurate.

[thegoatsongs]

Victorian Trains and Madness

The rapid rise of railway travel and the increased locomotive speeds were blamed for triggering dark desires in Victorian men, driving them to madness.

During the Victorian era, trains were suspected of an outbreak of “railway madmen” attacking fellow passengers. The new technology was thought to cause insanity (like later the radio was thought to encourage indolence). This belief persisted up until the beginning of the 20th century.

Scholars have long pointed to stories of death and disaster on the railways as proof of profound Victorian anxieties about technology.

As Professor Amy-Milne Smith wrote, “not only might you be attacked by a madman on a railway journey—you might become one.” As a result railways became associated with insanity.

[A]ccording to the more fearful Victorians, these technological achievements came at the considerable cost of mental health. As Edwin Fuller Torrey and Judy Miller wrote in The Invisible Plague: The Rise of Mental Illness from 1750 to the Present, trains were believed to “injure the brain.” In particular, the jarring motion of the train was alleged to unhinge the mind and either drive sane people mad or trigger violent outbursts from a latent “lunatic.” Medical journals at the time were very concerned about how railway madmen could be detected when their madness might lie latent. One “American Traveller” spoke of carrying a loaded revolver on trains in England because of the prospect of encounters with a “madman.” The media did its part to whip up a frenzy over railway madness. One 1864 story, starkly titled “A Madman in a Railway Carriage,” gleefully related how a burly sailor became incensed, flailing around in an erratic manner first trying to climb out of the window.... A superhuman strength gripped this aggressor and four people were required to restrain him and he had to be bound to a seat. 

The Victorian Belief That a Train Ride Could Cause Instant Insanity

Why Were Railways Unpopular In Victorian Times?

Shattered Minds: Madmen on the Railway

[icewindandboringhorror]

I have a big google doc thing where I keep track of media and stuff (putting everything in loosely ranked categories), which is mostly just for my own reference so I know what tv shows I've already seen before, etc. and I never really look back through it, typically just a quick "okay, watched two movie in the past 8 months, need to quickly slap them somewhere in the lists. okay. done. save document. exit". But today I was actually reading through some of the old notes and there are like... MULTIPLE places where my comment is basically "It would have been good if it were about elves" or "I wish there was a fantasy show made in this same style" or "It's well made, but I just keep thinking about how I would like it more if everyone was an elf or was in old 1700s costumes" or etc like...... lol.... Most biased media ranking system on earth blatantly made by someone with an extremely hyperspecific range of narrow interests. It'd be like if a food reviewer only had 5 foods they actually liked, so they'd just go to a pizza place and be like "eh, the pizza was okay, but I just think it would be better if it was cereal instead. :/ ...2 out of 10"

[rif12services]

The Treasure of Samarkand (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/1460900177-the-treasure-of-samarkand?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=kimoyandex In the scorching desert town of Zahran, a young tailor named Remi stumbled upon a mysterious map while rummaging through a dusty old trunk in his small shop. The map depicted a winding path through the dunes, leading to a mysterious X marked "Treasure of the Ancients." Remi's curiosity was piqued, and he couldn't wait to share his discovery with his shy but curious apprentice, Lila.

[kimludcom]

Lost Technologies of Ancient Civilizations: Uncovering Pre-Egyptian Innovations ‪@Kimlud‬