04/15/2021
What did we call steampunk before it was called “steampunk”?
By now, the word “steampunk” has been around long enough that most folks in the attraction design profession can readily identify the term as a sub-genre of science fiction in which 20th- and 21st-century technologies are reimagined through a 19th-century Victorian lens. (Think spacecraft, submarines, flying machines, weapons, and various amazing vehicles of tomorrow appointed with brass, leather, and velvet amidst a tangle of steam pipes, valves, and gears.) They can go on to easily identify various classic examples of steampunk, such as Jules Verne’s fabulous submarine Nautilus in his 1872 novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and the titular Time Machine of the celebrated 1895 H.G. Wells novel.
Nowadays, the term is so ubiquitous—as is the use of the aesthetic in so many attractions of the past few decades—it’s easy to forget that the neologism “steampunk” didn’t come into widespread use until the early 1990s. Before then, those of us in the attraction design business had to make up our own shorthand terms to describe the aesthetic—as I was recently reminded while going through some of my old guest experience narratives. Some of the more entertaining terms I had used at the time included:
• “Retro-futuristic” (I wasn’t alone in using this term, and today the term is often used in online dictionaries to help define the word “steampunk”)
• “Techno-Victorian” (I always thought this one had a nice ring to it)
• “Nemoesque” (A nod to the original nautical steampunk himself)
• “Verneian” (Referencing Captain Nemo’s visionary creator)
Have you ever had to come up with a new and descriptive name for a style or genre or aesthetic that didn’t have one at the time? While you’re searching your memory banks, please enjoy this charming little music video.
Inspired by the category "Things That Are Not Steampunk" on Regretsy (http://www.regretsy.com), and (of course) those peerless purveyors of Euterpean epopee,...
