Tom Edison Jr.‘s Electric Mule

This cover could hardly be improved upon for macabre glee and impartial offensiveness.

Read the story here.

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 02, 2015
Category: Animals | Mad Scientists, Evil Geniuses, Insane Villains | Stereotypes and Cliches | Science Fiction | Nineteenth Century

Comments

Looks vicious! But we did have a live donkey that stomped a mountain lion to death on here.

Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 01/02/15 at 09:59 AM

SF in 1892!

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 01/02/15 at 10:28 AM

@Expat -- Mid-to-late 19th Century was a rich time for SF. "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" came out in the 1860s, "The War of the Worlds" and "The Time Machine" in the 1890s.

Posted by Phideaux on 01/02/15 at 01:03 PM

There you go trying to confuse me with facts again.... What are you a republican?

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 01/02/15 at 01:16 PM

Personally I trace the origins of SF to Baron Münchhausen stories in the late 18th century.

This story looks like it is a branch of the "Tom Swift" adventure stories for schoolboys - popular in the early 20th century and filling over 100 volumes. The genre, stories based around a brilliant young inventor and his inventions, has been dubbed 'edisonade' stories.

Tom Swift 'invented' things like the Taser ("Tom Swift's Electric Rifle") and inspired such as Margaret Mitchell and Steve Wozniak.

Posted by tadchem on 01/02/15 at 02:24 PM

@Tadchem; Personally I prefer 'SCIENCE fiction' to sci-fi.

Just a Question to ponder over while you have your morning coffee:
. How rich would Arthur C Clarke be if he had patented Geo-Synchronous Telecomnication Satelites and got a royaly of $2.00 per month from every user on the internet ❓

Posted by BMN on 01/02/15 at 04:23 PM

Anyone else here like classic SF movies? Here's "Aelita: Queen of Mars" (1924):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkcBJhmWh14&feature=youtu.be

I love the robot-like soldiers!

Posted by Phideaux on 01/02/15 at 06:09 PM

@BMN -- He would have had to file for a patent within a year of public disclosure (1945). 1946 + 17(length of patent protection) = 1963. Syncom 2, the first geosynchronous satellite, was launched in 1963, so (after lengthy legal debate over geostationary vs. geosynchronous) it might have owed him royalties.

Posted by Phideaux on 01/02/15 at 06:27 PM

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