Something old about a trip to the Moon. Celebrating trying another trip to the Moon here is a non-fiction story from 1948. Stuck in an obscure comic book it tells the story of spaceflight to come.
True Comics. No. 80, December 1948. (“Rocket Trip to the Moon” p. 10-15.) Chicago: Parent’s Magazine Press. 28 p. 1948.
A bit of obscure ephemera today. In 1940 the Fels Planetarium in Philadelphia had a program they called "To the Moon by Rocket Ship." It was a program for adults and children describing the science of what it would be like to go to the Moon. It also explored the formation of craters (thought volcanic at the time.) They also sold this souvenir booklet of the program.
So from a hot summer night some 85 years ago we take you on an exploration of the Moon.
Franklyn Institute. To The Moon by Rocket Ship. Philadelphia, PE: Fels Planetarium. (10 p.) Aug and Sept 1940.
Something a little more fun today. Bugs Bunny's Rocket to the Moon is complete and silly fiction. Post WW II rockets were a lot more real to the public. They also were more real to children. So here is an inaccurate trip to the Moon.
There is an interesting line exploring when does "science fiction" change to "science fact?" In 1949 there were children's books about how to build model rockets. There were science fiction magazines on the newsstands. And in just 2 years there will be television show for kids about "space heroes." So silly as Bugs Bunny is, it is fun to see how kids imagination about what might not be fiction changes.
Bugs Bunny’s Rocket to The Moon. (Premium from Quaker Puffed Wheat and Puffed Rice cereals.) Hollywood, CA: Warner Brothers Cartoons. (30 p.) 1949.
