Retrofuture.com

An avatar of the information age, Fred T. Jane is a obscure figure today.  But as an illustrator, writer, self-publisher and a gamer (yes, a gamer) Jane was well ahead of his time.

From his birth in 1865 to his death in 1916 Jane was witnessed a crucial period of change which saw the discovery of X-rays, the rise of automobiles, aviation and telecommunications.

It was Jane’s fascination with naval warships in his hometown of Portsmouth England that inspired him to begin sketching. The detailed drawings he made eventually lead to the publication of  All the World’s Fighting Ships in 1898 (more on that publication below).

In addition to his straight-forward depictions of ships and airplanes, Jane dabbled in prophetic illustrations including a series created for Pall Mall magazine in 1894-5 called “Guesses at Futurity.”

As seen in the images accompanying this post, Jane’s imaginative renderings of the year 2000 in Pall Mall included futuristic depictions of cyber-cafes,  energy-efficient lighting, and bio-engineered foods. The latter concept was captured in an illustration called “A Dinner Party A.D. 2000, Menu of Chemical Foods” (pictured right).

Guests are offered pellets of nutrition by waiters dressed in Egyptian costumes. It’s an odd but arresting tableau.  The strange helmet-like listening cones which hover above guests’ heads are perhaps piping the modern sounds of Debussy’s recently-debuted “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun.” Or maybe they’re blow dryers. We can only guess along with Jane.

Other drawings in the series include one in which the latest news is revealed by a man unspooling a long scroll (notice the widescreen TV which looks like a flat panel) and another with dirigibles employed for street lighting.

These fanciful renditions are quite unlike the illustrations which would make Jane wealthy and famous. Those technical drawings identified warships and armaments of different armies of the world.  All The World’s Fighting Ships became the authoritative guide of ship recognition. Six years after the Wright Brothers first flight, Jane also began publishing All the World’s Aircrafts. These publications endure to this day.

What distinguishes Jane’s achievements in our day and age was his love of gaming and modeling. To accompany the war games he designed Jane made lovingly-crafted miniature scale models of ships. His contributions to the field helped establish modeling as a hobby.

The “Guesses to Futurity” illustrations hint at Jane’s intuitive grasp of what modern machines provided to the public beyond their utilitarian purpose: they were grist for the imagination. In this way Jane really was a pioneer of how we consume and digest technological change.

Jane’s Information Group, the company he founded, is still a leading source on armaments, defense, geopolitics, transport and police industries. Jane also had a hand in founding the MI5, the British spy agency and the Boy Scouts and devised a code of signals adapted by the British Navy. Not bad for a guy who barely made it past 50.

We will feature more of Jane’s “Guesses at Futurity” drawings in a future post. Until then if you want more history on this fascinating figure click here.