James Wrote:
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> I can't help but think a person from the 1870's,
> brought into the modern world, would think us all
> insane. We have so much technology and improved
> means of production nowdays, yet much of what we
> utilize day to day typically seems spartan in
> style and often badly-made. The fashion sense of
> the 1870's seemed to prefer the beautiful and
> grandiose over the plain and simple, and I often
> think that was the right idea.
Alternately, the more direct aesthetic expression of a then new technology had not yet been discovered. People designed these things to follow the familiar. Striping, arches, arabesques, panels, pilasters, and other decorative elements were borrowed from architecture and furniture to make these strange machines visually reference more "polite" forms.
Early automobiles were modeled on carriages, iron-framed skyscrapers were clad in stone, the first diesel locomotives were all painted black, and 1950s TVs were built into wood credenzas.
It was not until the close of the Gilded Age that locomotive designers dispensed with stylistic decorations and completely embraced the modern idea that form follow function.
I've since developed a lot of affection for 19thC steam, but I once turned my nose at the gaudy pretensions of all Victoriana. No one every tried to put pediments on an airplane.
Dan Markoff's work is tremendous, and I am very happy to see the current renaissance of 19thC railroading.