Sunday, March 4, 2012

Livorno in the Future

Livorno in avvenire, Livorno in the future, 1906 vintage postcard“Livorno in avvenire” (Livorno in the future) as they imagined it in a 1906 postcard.
(Digitized from the collection of Antonio Cantelli)
See also: Four Moors
Search labels: postcard
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21 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 4, 2012 at 12:07 AM

    oh ! what thoughtful commentary, even back then.


    please have a good Sunday.

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  2. AnonymousMarch 4, 2012 at 1:25 AM

    This reminds me of some scenes from when I played "Myst"...I like the man on the bicycle like device who appears to be propelling one of the balloons! Haven't quite figured out if the beings in chains are human or sculptures!

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  3. MichelleMarch 4, 2012 at 2:35 AM

    Very interesting. Are those people in chains?

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  4. RandyMarch 4, 2012 at 5:59 AM

    Wow what a great find.

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  5. PerthDailyPhotoMarch 4, 2012 at 6:27 AM

    How fabulous VP! Someone in 1906 had a very lively imagination!

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  6. DinaMarch 4, 2012 at 6:53 AM

    But I'm glad your monorail in the sky did not materialize.

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  7. MerisiMarch 4, 2012 at 10:24 AM

    Back to the future, frighteningly looking like slavery!

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  8. VPMarch 4, 2012 at 10:25 AM

    The guys in chains are not from the future but from the past. They are part of a monument, called the Four Moors, to the Gran Duke Ferdinand I de' Medici. This monument is normally used as a symbol of our city.

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  9. Babzy.BMarch 4, 2012 at 11:05 AM

    i think i prefer the present ;)

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  10. cieldequimperMarch 4, 2012 at 11:32 AM

    This reminds me of a book my father had as a child and which I now have. In 2000, we were supposed to have individual propellers to fly and yes, we also had trains in the air everywhere!!!

    This is wonderful!

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  11. Lois EvensenMarch 4, 2012 at 1:04 PM

    How fascinating! My parents were born in 1904 and 1910 so were children of those times. It's amazing how many changes they saw in their lives including some in the image.

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  12. jooMarch 4, 2012 at 2:12 PM

    Fascinating! I love old postcards.

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  13. Rob SiemannMarch 4, 2012 at 3:44 PM

    I really like those Jules-Verne-type of conceptions of the future. Is our present better than this future? Who knows.

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  14. Traveling HawkMarch 4, 2012 at 4:09 PM

    I don't want to see this future. I like their future as it is now our present. As for the future, why bother?! We are living in a world where others take decisions for us, so nobody would ask us what we prefer.

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  15. Luis GomezMarch 4, 2012 at 4:12 PM

    Love it VP. What a great postcard.

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  16. Cezar and LéiaMarch 4, 2012 at 4:39 PM

    With slaves on the foreground, strange expectation for the future...
    God bless you!
    Cezar

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  17. UnknownMarch 4, 2012 at 5:50 PM

    According to some humanitarian organizations there are more slaves today than at other time in history so I would not be surprised if the chained people were a premonition instead of a sculpture, as you stated.

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  18. VPMarch 4, 2012 at 5:55 PM

    Cezar - These guys weren't slaves but captured pirates and not really of the Hollywood type. They infested our seas and coasts at the time, raiding our villages and capturing our people for ransom.

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  19. JackMarch 5, 2012 at 12:16 AM

    Well, VP, you are going to have to wait a little longer.

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  20. HalcyonMarch 5, 2012 at 3:05 PM

    Funny what people thought the future would be like! :)

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  21. Stefan JanssonMarch 9, 2012 at 12:43 PM

    Looks like something in a sci-fi movie.

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