15 Household Technologies Recreated in Steampunk:
A world without Gottlieb Daimler
For those not in the know, Steampunk is a brand of sci-fi built around a bizarre idea – what if steam power actually won? What if internal combustion didn’t render it obsolete?
1. Steam Powered Food Preparation Device
This is the Steampunk version of a microwave/oven, courtesy of Dr. Thaddeus Robertson. The premise might actually work: cook your food or heat your water by precisely controlled steam. I can’t imagine how you’d deal with “dry” items like cakes or pies, though.
2. Steampunk Toaster
Breakfast in a Steampunk universe would probably begin with something like this. Kudos goes to Joe Scherzi for repurposing the common toaster into something much more interesting and elegant.
3. Coffee Machine
High-end coffee machines have always sported a heaping spoonful of Steampunk style, posibly due to being built around miniature steam boilers. Planet Damage showcases this gleaming trio of Steampunk Coffee Machines from Elektra that have got everything a java-juiced steampunker needs polished stainless steel, copper & brass cases, organic curves and ornate details like Eagle finials that resemble the reverses of Civil War era American coins.
4. Advanced Herbal Matter Diffuser
There is one area where reality meets Steampunk – coffee machine manufacturing. In particular, high end machines like those made by Elektra (pictured above) are decidedly Steampunk thanks to their steam boiler innards.
5. Steampunk Girl Genius Radio Theater Microphone
Jake von Slatt rummaged through local junkyards and made this – an ode to the Steampunk-heavy web comic known as Girl Genius. This particular microphone was used during SteamCon – an annual Steampunk convention – during a handful of theatrical Girl Genius skits.
6. Steampowerd Record Player
Spinning vinyl with a steam powered player sounds like a killer idea. That is, until you put needle to groove and realize just how ugly the hiss of steam makes any record sound. Makes for good eye candy, though.
7. The Steampunk Nixie Clock
There is no word on the price, but since only 10 of these Nixie clocks were made, you can bet it’s not cheap. It has an Armageddon-like vibe to it. Not sure I’d want one in my house, but might do some good in a church… or on death row.
8. 1913 Model Steampunk Fan
You’re looking at the reincarnation of a fan from the 1930’s, brought back to life for those “steamy” summer days. Most of the parts are original, with the exceptions being the fan neck (repurposed from a garden sprayer, the motor (pulled from a sewing machine) and the base (cut from a piece of oak).
9. iRetrophone Dock
Scott Freeland has redefined the word “epic” with his latest creation, the iRetrophone dock. The dock is hand crafted, completely steam powered, and meant to charge your iPhone while letting you make calls via the throwback headset. The dock will set you back about $450 on Etsy, but it’s worth more than that in COOL factor alone.
10. Multiuse Metapen
11. Franck Buchwald Lamps
These lights (part of the Machine Light series) are made completely by hand, and they remind me of something I’d see in old pictures of Tesla’s laboratory. Steel, brass, copper wiring and TLC… nothing more. The result, as you can see, is textbook Steampunk design.
12. Victorian Clock
Believe it or not, this clock is as accurate as any quartz clock you can pick up at the store. Amahl Shukup is the genius behind its design, using bits and pieces commandeered from repair shops and wreck sites. It even includes a functional telegraph key and section from a Ford Model T!
13. Steampunk Light Airship Relic
Unseen in the picture, the color and pattern of the bulb alternates as the circuit runs through a collection of LED lights. The creator salvaged the parts from an airship graveyard. And if you look closely enough you might see the soul of a dead pilot flicker across the bulb.
14. Steampunk Terrarium
Inside blown-glass is a microcosmic representation of the Earth, presented in true Steampunk fashion. The individual pieces (cherry wood, copper, glass) add up to a whole that’s both beautiful and surreal. Plus, there’s a small LED light that casts “shadowy patterns” across the walls when the lights are out, further adding to the mystical feeling of this piece.
15. Steampunk Toilet
This toilet/urinal scares me a bit… who knows if the creator took the saying “blowing steam up your arse” literally. And it comes complete with cup holder, for those moments when the fluid in bladder just isn’t enough.
Bonus 1. Great Grandpa Larry Dyson’s Steampunk Vacuum
Even though this is a Photoshop creation, I can actually picture it working. And no, before you run over to Wikipedia, this is not the vacuum Sir James Dyson created back in 1947. But it so could be.
Bonus 2: An Awesome Head to Toe Steampunked Home
Until you can match Bruce and Melanie Rosenbaum, you are not a real Steampunk aficionado. They don’t call what their company (ModVic Home Restoration) does Steampunk, of course; to them it is bringing Victorian craftsmanship into modern usability standards. The result, of course, is what you see above… doors, phones, stove, optometry glasses…. all dripping with Steampunk.
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