Gathering Steam
Issue Date: da/il/ysentinel
LIFESTYLE
The Daily Sentinel • Sunday, September 21, 2014
SECTION D
HEATHER McPHERSON/Special to the Sentinel
Joe and Heather McPherson had a steampunk-themed wedding in 2012 with attire designed specifically to fit the subgenre. Many of their guests dressed for the theme as well, and top hats, goggles, monocles and gears ruled their event.
GATHERING STEAM
Steampunk’s inventive Victorian flair gains fans near and far
I
By ERIN McINTYRE/Special to the Sentinel
magine yourself surrounded by whimsy, in a world of steam-powered contraptions and Victorian-era charm. A gentleman strolls past, wearing a vest and brass goggles perched atop a bowler hat. He pauses to check his pocket watch and meets his companion, a smartly dressed woman cinched up in a corset with a bustle swishing behind her, carrying a parasol. She redirects them to an alley where their zeppelin awaits, ready to spirit them off to another place, maybe even another time. What year is this? 2014. Where are we? Welcome to the world of steampunk, a place that never existed, except in our own minds. It’s a world of top hats, gears, explorers and adventure, where modern inventions exist as if the primary form of energy never progressed past steam. This fantastical creation seems to have started just a few decades ago and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Just last year, IBM’s Social Sentiment Index revealed that steampunk is a top trend in social media. The company’s study of more than a halfmillion public posts on social media and other sites revealed that steampunk is “evolving into a cultural ‘meme’ via a series of leaps across cultural
Bill Dittman’s steampunk persona is Capt. Bill, who has traveled through time and flies an airship. CHRISTOPHER TOMLINSON /The Daily Sentinel
domains,” according to IBM. So what is steampunk? That’s a difficult question to answer. It’s a mix of fantasy, HEATHER McPHERSON/Special to the Sentinel science fiction, Heather McPherson displays a detail of her dress for her 2012 steampunk-themed wedding. fashion, role-playing and ingenuity. It’s about creathusband, Joe, loved steampunk so much, they maring a pretend world for grownups, a world so rich ried it in 2012. Their wedding attire was designed that some don’t emerge from it back into real life. specifically to fit the period. Many of their guests It’s a community of folks who love to imagine and also dressed in steampunk clothing, and top hats, create. The standard for what classifies as steamgoggles, monocles and gears ruled their event. punk seems to be a continuum continually stretched Deciding to have a steampunk wedding was a by its own participants. no-brainer for the McPhersons. Heather, a fifth“At its core, it is Victorian science fiction,” grade teacher at Dos Rios Elementary School, said Sherry Ficklin, a and Joe, who works for Cal-Frac, had Grand Junction writer already attended a few steampunk who co-authored “The conventions and discovered they Lost Imperials” series, a loved getting dressed up in teen novel set in a steamtheir costumes. punk world. “Let’s face it, they had The roots of steampunk lie way cooler clothes back in the works of Jules Verne then,” Joe said. and H.G. Wells, fantastic tales of journeys and adventures ROLE-PLAYING TO and encounters with unbelievable creatures across time REAL LIFE and space. Travel is defiIt all started about nitely a theme. three years ago, when The subgenre is fairly all-encompassing, taking Joe found a really awethe best of everything from the past and melding it some keyboard while with Victorian flair. surfing the Internet. It was an ancient-looking wooden keyboard with LITERATURE TO POP CULTURE intricate inlay. Somehow The name for steampunk appears to have origithis designer, datamancer. nated in 1987 from author K.W. Jeter, who wrote com, made modern tech“Infernal Devices,” which is widely regarded as one nology look old. And it was of the first steampunk novels. The subgenre evolved from a literary idea into a real-life playground for See STEAM, page 6D ➤ steampunkers, who do everything from dressing up in period garb to constructing their own Steampunk has a flavor all its own. These are some of the items, names and ideas associated amazing steam-powered with the subgenre: machines, participating in ■ H.G. Wells ■ Buckles ■ Monocles duels or inventing entire ■ Jules Verne ■ Top hats, bowler hats ■ Pocket watches, vests steampunk alter egos with ■ “The Invention of Hugo ■ Airships, zeppelins ■ Fantastic, mysterious names and elaborate autobiographies. Cabret” by Brian Selznick creatures (like an octopus) ■ Trains (steam-powered) “It started out as a liter■ “Journey” by Aaron Becker ■ Pilot goggles ■ Copper and brass ary thing, but now it’s pop ■ Muted colors ■ Pistols ■ Lace culture,” said Heather ■ Bustles and corsets ■ Victrola record players ■ Time travel McPherson of Grand ■ Leather ■ Clockwork, gears ■ Automatons (robots) Junction. Heather and her
IN TERMS OF STEAMPUNK
■
Boots
■
Simple machines
■
Nikola Tesla
LIFESTYLE
The Daily Sentinel • Sunday, September 21, 2014
SECTION D
HEATHER McPHERSON/Special to the Sentinel
Joe and Heather McPherson had a steampunk-themed wedding in 2012 with attire designed specifically to fit the subgenre. Many of their guests dressed for the theme as well, and top hats, goggles, monocles and gears ruled their event.
GATHERING STEAM
Steampunk’s inventive Victorian flair gains fans near and far
I
By ERIN McINTYRE/Special to the Sentinel
magine yourself surrounded by whimsy, in a world of steam-powered contraptions and Victorian-era charm. A gentleman strolls past, wearing a vest and brass goggles perched atop a bowler hat. He pauses to check his pocket watch and meets his companion, a smartly dressed woman cinched up in a corset with a bustle swishing behind her, carrying a parasol. She redirects them to an alley where their zeppelin awaits, ready to spirit them off to another place, maybe even another time. What year is this? 2014. Where are we? Welcome to the world of steampunk, a place that never existed, except in our own minds. It’s a world of top hats, gears, explorers and adventure, where modern inventions exist as if the primary form of energy never progressed past steam. This fantastical creation seems to have started just a few decades ago and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Just last year, IBM’s Social Sentiment Index revealed that steampunk is a top trend in social media. The company’s study of more than a halfmillion public posts on social media and other sites revealed that steampunk is “evolving into a cultural ‘meme’ via a series of leaps across cultural
Bill Dittman’s steampunk persona is Capt. Bill, who has traveled through time and flies an airship. CHRISTOPHER TOMLINSON /The Daily Sentinel
domains,” according to IBM. So what is steampunk? That’s a difficult question to answer. It’s a mix of fantasy, HEATHER McPHERSON/Special to the Sentinel science fiction, Heather McPherson displays a detail of her dress for her 2012 steampunk-themed wedding. fashion, role-playing and ingenuity. It’s about creathusband, Joe, loved steampunk so much, they maring a pretend world for grownups, a world so rich ried it in 2012. Their wedding attire was designed that some don’t emerge from it back into real life. specifically to fit the period. Many of their guests It’s a community of folks who love to imagine and also dressed in steampunk clothing, and top hats, create. The standard for what classifies as steamgoggles, monocles and gears ruled their event. punk seems to be a continuum continually stretched Deciding to have a steampunk wedding was a by its own participants. no-brainer for the McPhersons. Heather, a fifth“At its core, it is Victorian science fiction,” grade teacher at Dos Rios Elementary School, said Sherry Ficklin, a and Joe, who works for Cal-Frac, had Grand Junction writer already attended a few steampunk who co-authored “The conventions and discovered they Lost Imperials” series, a loved getting dressed up in teen novel set in a steamtheir costumes. punk world. “Let’s face it, they had The roots of steampunk lie way cooler clothes back in the works of Jules Verne then,” Joe said. and H.G. Wells, fantastic tales of journeys and adventures ROLE-PLAYING TO and encounters with unbelievable creatures across time REAL LIFE and space. Travel is defiIt all started about nitely a theme. three years ago, when The subgenre is fairly all-encompassing, taking Joe found a really awethe best of everything from the past and melding it some keyboard while with Victorian flair. surfing the Internet. It was an ancient-looking wooden keyboard with LITERATURE TO POP CULTURE intricate inlay. Somehow The name for steampunk appears to have origithis designer, datamancer. nated in 1987 from author K.W. Jeter, who wrote com, made modern tech“Infernal Devices,” which is widely regarded as one nology look old. And it was of the first steampunk novels. The subgenre evolved from a literary idea into a real-life playground for See STEAM, page 6D ➤ steampunkers, who do everything from dressing up in period garb to constructing their own Steampunk has a flavor all its own. These are some of the items, names and ideas associated amazing steam-powered with the subgenre: machines, participating in ■ H.G. Wells ■ Buckles ■ Monocles duels or inventing entire ■ Jules Verne ■ Top hats, bowler hats ■ Pocket watches, vests steampunk alter egos with ■ “The Invention of Hugo ■ Airships, zeppelins ■ Fantastic, mysterious names and elaborate autobiographies. Cabret” by Brian Selznick creatures (like an octopus) ■ Trains (steam-powered) “It started out as a liter■ “Journey” by Aaron Becker ■ Pilot goggles ■ Copper and brass ary thing, but now it’s pop ■ Muted colors ■ Pistols ■ Lace culture,” said Heather ■ Bustles and corsets ■ Victrola record players ■ Time travel McPherson of Grand ■ Leather ■ Clockwork, gears ■ Automatons (robots) Junction. Heather and her
IN TERMS OF STEAMPUNK
■
Boots
■
Simple machines
■
Nikola Tesla
