-
Title of Story
-
Maureen's Mating
-
Attributed Author
-
Gordon, Charles
-
Year For Sorting
-
1934
-
Future Year Set
-
2050
-
Story Summary
-
Two women discuss their adventures with the conversation peppered with multiple instances of the casual use of futuristic inventions and expression of different social norms which leads to Maureen explaining that her intended husband is found to have breached private flight laws by driving under the influence of pills, over the flight speed limit, and failing to activate the infra-red alert system. He is to be tried on live broadcast and they tune in to watch on the television cabinet which doubles as a video phone.
-
Critical Introduction
-
Set in 2050 a short satirical piece with references to futuristic inventions, future social norms like a four hour day four day a week full time job, antiquarian fashion, air police, pills on menus, and broadcast justice.
In the case of predicting the future, while vitamin tablets are commonplace, its not possible for a tiny item to sustain a large human body unless it was possible for the tablet to dramatically expand in the stomach, so food pills have not yet eventuated. However, the technology for receiving live broadcasts into the home did eventuate, along with many of the other inventions referred to in this story.
This story's underlying science thread is that humanity found the adrenal gland and other glands in the body can be controlled with various pills enabling life extension, drunkedness, heightened alertness, sex changes and other influences which has since been shown but not yet to the extent of living to 130.
-
Science
-
Concentrated nutrition
-
Communications technology
-
Genetic modification
-
electromagnetism (infra-red)
-
Life extension
-
Biology (Adrenal gland)
-
Inventions
-
Pills for all mental and physical needs
-
Genetic Modification Toys
-
Electric match
-
Video communication (Television Cabinet)
-
Hot air shower
-
vita-glass roof - suggests knowledge of vitamin d not going through normal glass
-
Personal high speed planes that land vertically
-
Every house roof has a landing spot for planes
-
Vaccuum tube deliveries connecting Sydney to Brisbane
-
Clothes that become clean over flames
-
telephotographone (colour fax machine!)
-
Science Communication Example
-
He said it reminded him of those ugly, dirty times of the period about 1934 when people used to shut out the ultra-violet rays with clothing and live in curiouslyshaped boxes they called houses.
-
"If John gets out of this," said Maureen, speaking of the subject uppermost in her mind, "then we are to be mated and I'll be having my first thymus gland treatment. I must confess I'm rather nervous!" "Nonsense, my dear!" exclaimed Heather, putting her arms around her friend's shoulder. "When you are one hundred and thirty, like me, you might have cause to be nervous. We must just go on and on until the treatment fails to work, and we vanish into the newer and better world."
-
"In consideration," continued the Justic a shade louder, "in consideration of* your said inexperience the sentence of the learned doctors is as follows: "One month intensive psychoanalysis, one month chemical injections, and surgical treatment of the adrenal gland.'"
-
Science Extrapolations
-
The idea that modifying the adrenal gland or any glands in the body might increase life expectancy but also that all the pills available seem to act on various glands in the body. There is also the child that easily swapped the sexes of the chickens and roosters suggesting that again everything is controlled by glands which can be easily modified.
-
The Other
-
The Other is the futuristic yet alien world that is made believable by the two wives discussing their experiences as though everything was normal.
-
Science Fiction Subgenres
-
Utopia
-
Similar Science Fiction
-
Many stories involving drugs and exaggerated relationships by either Philip K. Dick (1960s-1970s) or Piers Anthony (1970s-1980s)
-
Related Paratext
-
Under this story full of inventions is an ad for the latest models of Kodak Jiffys and Brownies cameras as an ideal Christmas gift.
-
Historical Context
-
This was at the time that tablet-sized food for troops was being trialed in Germany, mini zeppelins and private planes, along with live broadcasts, were becoming more commonplace, and law and order seemed to be more stable, allowing time to turn to lesser social disruptions for possible laws for those as well.
-
Additional Information
-
Charles Gordon Tells a Story of 2050 A.D.
-
How this Story was Identified
-
Uncovered by Graham Stone
-
Date Details Added to IA
-
2024
-
Nationality
-
Australian
-
Single or Serialised
-
Single
-
First Published Date of Last Installment
-
1934-12-20
-
Date Range
-
1934-12-20-1934-12-20
-
Number of Installments
-
One
-
Complete or Supplemented
-
Complete
-
Estimated Word Count
-
1600
-
Length
-
Short Story
-
Book Release Details
-
NA
-
Links in To Be Continued
-
NA
-
Newspaper Publisher Citation
-
The Queenslander Illustrated Weekly
-
Newspaper Name Location Years
-
The Queenslander Illustrated Weekly (Brisb, Qld)
-
Location Town City
-
Brisbane
-
Location State Territory
-
Queensland
-
Provincial or Metro
-
Metro
-
General Subjects
-
Romance
-
Fiction
-
science fiction
-
Justice
-
Culture
-
Language
-
English
-
Apply for Access to Any Media Held by IA
-
To access the associated media with this item, please register / login as a guest researcher via the menu.
-
Content Advisory
-
These items are historical texts digitised from their original publication, and reflects the social attitudes, cultural values, and language of the time in which they were created. Some content may include depictions or references that are racist, sexist, ableist, colonialist, or otherwise offensive by contemporary standards. This material is presented uncensored for scholarly, archival, and educational purposes. It serves as a record of past cultural attitudes and is preserved here to support critical engagement, historical reflection, and the advancement of inclusive scholarship. Reader discretion is advised.
-
OCR from TBC and Trove
-
MAUREEN'S MATINGCharles Gordon Tells a Story of 2050 A.D. IRISBANE, A.D. 2050! That date and locality lingered long in the mind of Maureen Horsfall because it was the day and place of her mat-ing with John Summers.Maureen had been around the world a hundred times since that day—flitting hither and thither with the eternal unrest of the age. But at will she could summon the memory of that day She was within Heather Mc?ride's home, bursting to tell of the crime that her John had committed, but too polite to interrupt her friend's inconsequent chatter and concentrated toilette, until at last her patience gave way and she interjected: "Heather! Stop powdering your legs and listen to me. I want to tell you about John!" "One last item," replied Heathei without ceasing her toilette, "about my little son lan. He is only sevenfi —just an infant and very fond practical jokes. He operated on . twenty hens and the rooster, turning the ladies into gentlemen and the gentleman into a lady. This morning I found my poultry palace In a perfect uproar and the henrooster nearly plucked in the excitement." "What a naughty baby!" exclaimed Maureen. "Now let me tell you about John!" Heather Mc?ride rose from her stool. "Carry on, my dear," sh? said. "My tale also begins with the infantile humour of John's brother," said Maureen, taking out her tiny pipe of carved amber and carefully lighting up with the electric match that she always carried in her hair, "to be brief, he hid John's Television Cabinet in his bathroom, and when I connected h? was—l'm still smiling— drying himself under the hot air shower. "How amusing!" exclaimed her friend rising to sit under her Marcelle machine and gazing critically at her arms illumined by the sun shining through the vita-glass roof. "He was very angry," continued Maureen. "He said that while it was perfectly decorous to bathe and promembt at the seaside in the nude, it wVa breach of good manners to see him in his bathroom without his toga." "Quite right," murmured Heather filling her pipe. "And then, to clinch matters, I wore the latest fashion at to-night'sbanquet In Rockhampton. I ndmit it was rather daring." "What was it?" a3ked her friend sinking on to the settee!" "They called it * skirt. To John it was the last straw. I forgot that h« is an Antiquarian. He said it reminded him of those ugly, dirty times of the period about 1934 when people used to shut out the ultra-violet rays with clothing and live in curiouslyshaped boxes they called houses." "I really must tell my mate to pump up this settee," said Heather, "although he is terribly busy, poor dear, working a four-hour day, four days a week. But, carry on, Maureen, your tale is quite exciting." "Well, after that we used his highpowered 'plane, because the journey from Brisbane to Rockhampton is a tedious two hours. He did not speak at all until we reached Warwick. I thought he was trying to control those wild 1934 ancestors way back in his mind, but when we dropped on to the roof of Sam Isaac's, and he bought a red pill I thought differently. "He swallowed it directly after we left Warwick, and from then on he gave the engine full power. I guess the makers standard of 500 per was a safety margin, for the speedometer touched 600. and we were perilously near the inter-State altitude. You can imagine it was not long before we reached Rockhampton." "Exceeding the speed limit!" cried Heather, "how terribly exciting!" She drew on her out-door garment. "I don't care much about Rocky," she continued, with her usual inconocquence. "It is behind the times. Only has four electricity windmills, and they are stuck on top of the tallest building in the heart of the city, and there is still an electric train there. So dreadfully slow and rural!" "And then," persisted Maureen, "that pill did stranger things to John. He turned to me once, and said with a hideous laugh, "My girl, if we were in 1934 they would say I was drunk.' "It was then I was horrified to discover that he had forgotten tfc> switch on the infra-red ray, and we had now passed the inter-State, and were near the international altitude, flying blind at 600 miles per hour. One machine scraped our starboard wing as it hurtled past with 500 souls on board." "What happened?" said Heather, with her mouth wide open. "Nothing. The powers that are must watch over drunks, for we arrived on the roof of the Grand Hotel, Rockhampton, with nothing but« suspicious look on the flying policemen's faces.""The "The banquet was down on the fifty-first floor. John's legs behavedvery queerly in the lift. It was a very posh affair. They had five pills on the . Vitamins A, B, C, D, and X. The last named contained an unknown element that added greatly to the gaiety of the proceed" ings. John's behaviour was terrible. He did not wait for the speeches between the courses. He just swallowed all of them and rushed out." Maureen's hand was a trifle unsteady as she relit the permanent tobacco in her pipe. "I. of course, had to follow him," dtie continued in a rattier shrill voice. "It made me very disappointed, as I so wanted to hear the professor's speech on "the advisability of controlling the ductless glands of the workers. "It was one of the aldermen who caught John In the lift, and handed him the summons to appear before the committee to-night to hear the charge of criminal derangement of the emotions." "How dreadful!" exclaimed Heather Mc?ride. "When do we see the trial?" "We switch on to Rockhampton at 12. It begins directly after the banquet. We shall just hear the verdict forwarded from Canberra. Until then I'm in a ferment." "Control yourself, my dear," said Heather soothingly. "Shall I put you to sleep with the opiate needle?" "No! Please no!" replied Maureen Horsfall. "-Let's talk about something else, anything!""He could have bribed somebody to take his place if it wasn't a criminal offence," sighed Heather. She stood up with her hands on her hips. "How do you like my new knickknocks?" she asked, trying to dispel the glcom on her friend's face. "They came in the vacuum tube this morning from Sydney, and are guaranteed wash-proof. You just put them in a flame and they are clean." "Very nice!" responded Maureen. "They tell me that brassieres are coming in again for sports wear," continued Heather. "I can't think what the world is coming to. Why, the men will be wearing trousers If this 1934 craze keeps on!" "If John gets out of this," said Maureen, speaking of the subject uppermost in her mind, "then we are to be mated and I'll be having my first thymus gland treatment. I must confess I'm rather nervous!" "Nonsense, my dear!" exclaimed Heather, putting her arms around her friend's shoulder. "When you are one hundred and thirty, like me, you might have cause to be nervous. We must just go on and on until the treatment fails to work, and we vanish into the newer and better world." "What's the time?" asked Maureen. Together they looked into the television cabinet. The Town Hall clock showed nearly 12. "Get Rockhampton!" snapped Maureen in a fever of anxiety. In the silver mirror they beheld the interior of a large cathedral-like hall with a towering roof of multi-coloured glass. Tier upon tier rose from a central dais, each crowded with spectators. The hall buzzed like a hive of bees. Suddenly a figure entered wearing a purple robe and jewelled sandals, followed by a procession of beardless men. Lastly came John holding his toga in his hand as the sign of his temporary loss of citizenship. The man in the purple robe was the Justice. As he mounted the dais, John stood before him. For a minute they faced one another. Then some one pushed a ray proof paper in the Justice's hand. Instantly there was a stillness in the vast hall, broken only by invisible recording instruments. He spoke with Ml incomparable dignity of dictum: "Patient standing at the Bar of Reason, your instant trial to-night i* because of your unquestionable guilt, I have here the commitments of those qualified to examine you. Their find, ings are as follows:— "In view of your extreme youth of fifty years combined with the forceful illogic of our most powerful emotion, love, which caused you to commit the heinous crime of failing to operate the Infra-Red Rays on your 'plane, and " A gasp of horror swept the assembly at his announcement, and the Justice frowned at the disturbance. "And," he continued severely, "exceeding both speed and altitude limits set in the national ordinance, thereby nearly causing disaster to the International Air Lines." Here came sobs and a low muttering from the topmost tier. "In consideration," continued the Justic a shade louder, "in consideration of* your said inexperience the sentence of the learned doctors is as follows: "One month intensive psychoanalysis, one month chemical injections, and surgical treatment of the adrenal gland.'" Maureen Horsfall clapped her hands into the sending mirror of her television cabinet. "They have let him off lightly," she cried in relief. "Here's a letter for you from John," said Heather taking a missive from the tray held by the Robot. "It's come per telephotographone." Maureen opened it eagerly. "Dear girl," it began. "I told the doctors that we were to be mated tomorrow, so they lightened my sentence to allow me to fulfil our engagement. Am coming at once. P.S.: Tell the registrar I desire two sons and two daughters in alternate rotation." Maureen whirled her friend around until she sank down so heavily on the settee that it deflated with an expiring hiss."Quick! "Quick! Where's the form. I'll electrograph the reply," she said. Heather peeped over her shoulder as she wrote. "Dearest John, Yes. But a girl and a boy are enough."
