09-Dec-1878: Telephonoscope: Concept of home theater/TV/videophone 130 years ago! (1 Viewer)

[Mark Rejhon]

Hello,

This 1878 illustration picture below is amazing. It looks just like my home theater in many ways (2 meter screen, projector box, videophone).

This date seems to be little known chapter in the history of home theater, but Punch magazine published on December 9th, 1878 -- an 'almanac', prediction for the year 1878, containing a 'cartoon' that remarkably resembles a modern projection home theater in many aspects. Telephone was just invented a few years before, and science fiction authors of the late 1870's was starting to imagine that light could eventually be transmitted over wires, as audio was recently successfully able to be transmitted in the newly invented telephones of the day. Fatefully, the first time one such cartoon reached the public was in Punch magazine on December 9th, 1878, called the Telephonoscope, showing a television/videophone screen displayed from a projector box that's approximately the same size as a modern projector!

Fantastical far-future science fiction predictions in in this cartoon:
- Long distance telephone/video (call between London + Sri Lanka)
- Talking real-time across timezones (night and day)
- Videophone
- Television images
- Projector, the 'electric camera-obscura'
- Widescreen, 2 meter wide

[url=https://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/0/02/htf_imgcache_37065.jpeg] [/url]

Punch Magazine, December 9th, 1878 Issue:
EDISON'S TELEPHONOSCOPE (TRANSMITS LIGHT AS WELL AS SOUND).
(Every evening, before going to bed, Pater- and Materfamilias set up an electric camera-obscura over their bedroom mantel-piece, and gladden their eyes with the sight of their Children at the Antipodes, and converse gaily with them through the wire.)
Paterfamilias (in Wilton Place). "Beatrice, come closer. I want to whisper." Beatrice (from Ceylon). "Yes, Papa dear."
Paterfamilias. "Who is that charming young Lady playing on Charlie's side?"
Beatrice. "She's just come over from England, Papa. I'll introduce you to her as soon as the Game's over!"

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Jules Verne's 1879 novel "The Begum's Fortune" included a networked A/V system in which local town meetings and elections could be held.

Jules Verne: Book: The Begum's Fortune / Les Cinq cents millions de la Bégum - ANash

 

[Mark Rejhon]

That is an excellent point, but that was an audio-only system in the original book and original illustrations.

I double checked the book at archive.org amongst other sources, and while it's a very fancy telephone/teleconference system far-reaching at the time, it did not have a videophone or television illustrated in it. I could be mistaken though, as it was a quick scan. A search in The Begum's Fortune, covers the audio system from pages 167 through 169. There appears to be no references to pictures transmitted faraway, even in era words such as 'image', 'picture', 'magic', 'magic-lantern', 'obscura', 'telegraph', 'telephone'. Now, many books over history well before 1879 has had fantastical 'magic' illusions of faraway images showing up mirage-style - I even doublechecked for this in the book, but I can't find it either -- if it's there, I also googled the Internet to see if this book was famed for its early reference to a possibly-inventable television/videophone/etc, however, the book is not accurately credited anywhere for anything related to video/television, even though it has an impressive concept of a very far-reaching advanced telephone system.

The important part is that this illustration is likely one of the earliest known one released to the public that was based more scientifically rather than magic, that was conceived as a television-like gadget that was 'inventable' instead of magical -- something mentioned as electric powered; and the projector is actually referred to as an "electric camera-obscura" -- since at the time, camera-obscura was reasonably well known at the time as an amusement/curiousity (standing inside a dark room with a pinhole/lens at one end, and seeing the outside image as upsidedown on the opposite wall of the room).

Nontheless, this is an 1879 novel, and this illustration was published before Christmas 1878. I believe that individuals such as George du Maurier and Albert Robida has more credit in the conceptualization of television in the 1870 through 1890's. Even published books (R.W. Burns -- "Television: An International History" -- in the chapter titled "Distant vision (1880-1920)") give these individuals credit for the early scientific conceptualization of television ideas in the late half of the 19th century. It was not until the 1920's that Baird (+et cetra, several inventors have independently tried to work on television) managed to successfully do all of this pratically, in the early 30-scan-line mechanical televisions of the time. Some good info at www.tvdawn.com, including a amazingly recovered phonograph video recording (limited sales of home phonograph video recorders were sold at the time, as 30-scan-line television signals had the narrow bandwidth of an audio signal, so this video could be recorded onto a phonograph disc!) -- possibly the earliest timeshifted home video recovered! (without using film at all, of course) Imagine having a VCR in the 1930's, even if it could only record 3 minutes of video -- That was long before the 1950's Ampex recorders.

Very interesting stuff nontheless...!

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Yet we're still waiting for the jetpacks and flying cars.