Steampunk: A Look at the Valves, Gears and Gadgets that Make Steampunk Culture

What is Steampunk? Imagine an ankle length leather duster sporting odd-looking valves, oldish brass, and wooden hardware. Try to imagine a steam-powered computer, having a wooden keyboard with brass keys and a monitor resembling a Victorian mirror with gears running it... The traditional Steampunk style - a style very similar to "Goth," "Vamp," or "Grunge," just a bit more punkish and Victorian mixed with cyber-space flair - is one that blends real-life history with imaginative Gothic-Victorian "could have been" history.

One View of Steampunk...

Some say that Steampunk was born of the popularization of the very first "real computer," the Babbage Difference Engine. The Babbage Difference Engine was a computer first proposed in 1822 by Charles Babbage, a British mathematician, and mechanical engineer, and was the first true computer - although it was never completed. A working version exists in the computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. Charles' son, Henry Babbage (1824-1918), constructed Engine No. 1, another version of the Babbage Difference Engine, which is on display at the Science Museum.

Another View of Steampunk...
Others say that Steampunk was born when 1980s science fiction writers were looking for a genre to classify their works, which were similar to those of the late 1800s Victorian "macabre" science fiction. The first "official" use of the word Steampunk came in the late 1980s as a variation on the word "Cyberpunk" when K. W. Peter termed "Steampunk" as a way to describe his other works, such as Homunculus (James Blaylock, 1986), "Marlock Night," and "Infernal Devices," (K. W. Peter, 1979 and 1987, respectively). He also used it to classify - finally - the work of H. G. Wells and other science fiction authors' works, such as The Time machine. Steampunk goes way back, but it was only recently that there was an "official term" for the genre.

Steampunk Fashion and Pop Culture

The "Steampunk" aesthetic extends to fashion, home décor, and music - not to mention that it is a way of life as well. The general Steampunk style can be described as "Neo-Victorian" in look and feel. However, to complete the image one need only to imagine brass gears, steam-valves and other throwback technologies stitched onto leather and cloth. A growing Steampunk philosophy centers around human-potential and optimism coupled with (big surprise) anti-establishment tendencies.

Steampunk was "popularized" by several movies, the most widely known of which is "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." This movie, based on a 1999 comic-book series, was adapted for film in 2003 and has been a big hit ever since. It seems to have re-fueled the Steampunk genre with its vision of H. G. Wells' machines in common use in the Victorian Era society. As a culture, Steampunk is very Goth, punk, Cyber Goth, and industrial, with fans of the same to go with it. The general idea behind Steampunk is to imagine a world in which technology developed along an alternate route with steam-powered computers, aviation, submarines, railroads and other modern technology. Steampunk culture unto itself is considered by some as "Gothic Victorian." While this is an anachronistic view of the world in which much of our modern technology is developed in a steam and gear-powered context, it has a growing base of fantasy mixed with reality. Treasure Planet, a Disney film released November 27, 2002, is an excellent example of this type of Steampunk fantasy.

The Steampunk culture is a very "what-if" expression that has an eccentric take to it with visions of an alternate history branching off from Victorian England. Medieval fares are the same thing, but with a single difference; with Steampunk, the starting point is much closer in history. They both involve a retreat from our current technology driven, commercialized civilization and reach back to a time when things seemed different. Perhaps more humanistic? Maybe the next time you see a young lady sitting in front of a brass-framed LCD monitor with a brass keyboard wearing a triple-breasted waistcoat with iron fittings, you will be able to introduce yourself and start a conversation knowing what you are talking about, Steampunk style.

Sources:

Jonathan Strickland, " How Steampunk Works," How Stuff Works
Jonathan Strickland," Steampunk Materials and Tools," How Stuff Works
Doron Swade, ""The Babbage Engine," Computer History
"League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," July 11 2003: IMDB
"Disney's Animation Magic: Treasure Planet," 2003 IMDB
"Mini Steam Goth House," The Steampunk Workship

"Homunculus (James Blaylock, 1986), Fantastic Fiction

"Morlock Night," (K. W. Peter, 1979), Fantastic Fiction

"Infernal Devices," (K. W. Peter, 1987), Bookfinder

"The Time machine," (H. G. Wells, 1895) Online Literature