Watching Television With My Robot Butler (1932)

The December 4, 1932 San Antonio Light (San Antonio, TX) ran this illustration accompanying a piece titled, "Looking Ahead Another 50 Years." 

TELEVISION -- The husband at home in bed is able to sweep the mechanical eye through the shopping district and see what his wife is doing. He also has all sorts of appliances for supplying almost anything he needs, including a robot valet, who is seen approaching with his master's suit of clothes.

Early visions of television often imagined live broadcasting without any narrative arc, like from this 1930's collectible card that we looked at a few months back.

Previously on Paleofuture:

• This Age of Power and Wonder (1930s)
• Mechanical Wonder Maiden (1930)
• Gernsback Imagines Life 50 Years Hence (1925) 
• Real Picturephone? (1939)
• We'll All Be Happy Then (1911)

Comments

[MiHi]

Is it me, or was this illustration drawn by none other than a pre-Dr. Seuss Theodore Geisel? It has some elements of what would become his famous art style.

[Brian]

This appears to be a Rube Goldberg-ish parody, especially since the husband's outfit looks like a Mickey Mouse costume. The bit about watching the wife at the market is a bit creepy... but equally odd is what that guy on the screen is doing.