Steampunk

After a brief tour round the internet in quest of this steam punk thing, these are my findings.

Do you remember the movie "The Time Machine"? That was kind of steam punk.

So was "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea."

And, adding this late after my husband mentioned it, "The Wild, Wild West," a TV show we used to watch avidly in the early Sixties, fits right in here with the ingenious Dr. Lovelace (Loveless ?) and his amazing (but evil) inventions.

Steam punk seems to refer to a kind of science fiction/fantasy that posits a Victorian/Edwardian world that has not advanced beyond steam power (thus the 'steam' of steam punk) but that, nonetheless, includes advanced technological wonders of great and beautiful intricacy -- like the ornate Time Machine itself or the eerily beautiful submarine Nautilus. The social mores of this alternative history world are also different -- evidently in much of steam punk literature, women have escaped the subservient role they occupied in reality.

The term steam punk goes beyond the written word to include art derived from the concept -- click on these first two images to see more. (I do love this brass and leather laptop -- though I wonder where the boiler is that powers it.)

There is amazing art consisting of strange assemblages of vaguely scientific looking instruments. Lenses are popular.

And there's steampunk fashion -- the formal clothing of the Victorian/Edwardian era with some definite twists.

I find all of this oddly intriguing. If I were inclined to dress up (I'm not), I could be tempted by a "Darkstar gothic pirate steam punk long brocade coat."

And goggles -- evidently there must be goggles.

As I delve deeper into this world (I have a steam punk novel on the TBR list,) I'll report back.

If I'm wearing goggles and a long brocade coat, just smile quietly to yourself.