Astonishing Victorian-Era Golf Book Predicted Bullet
Trains and Television
by: Steve Smith
Did you hear about the curious little book, first
published in 1892, that predicted bullet trains, digital
watches, television and women's liberation and other
wonders decades before they came to pass?
It's a book that burst
into the news in January, 2005 when a rare first edition
was sold at auction for more than $2,000.
The oddest thing about
the book is that it is not a work of science fiction, as
we would generally understand that term, nor some
obscure tome of religious prophecy. Instead it's a novel
about, of all things, golf.
Written by a
19th-century professional Scottish golfer named J.
McCullough, about whom little is known, "Golf in the
Year 2000; or, What We Are Coming To" also predicted the
advent of golf carts and international golf contests.
Published under
McCollough's pen name, J.A.C.K., the book chronicles the
adventures of a character named Alexander Gibson who
falls into a deep sleep in 1892. He awakens 108 years
later into a world, where, among other things, women
dress like men, run businesses and hold most of the top
positions in government.
Gibson also learns, to
his considerable delight, that women do all the work in
this society while men play golf full time. Upon being
informed of this, he cries out that it's "the dream of
my former existence come true! I am, indeed, a lucky man
to see it. ... The world is evidently getting things
ship-shape. ... Oh, how I would like to wake up some of
my old chums. I know a few who would appreciate the
arrangement."
But Gibson finds that
his beloved golf has been radically transformed as well.
He must adjust to the existence of driverless golf
carts, golf clubs that automatically register their
user's score and jackets that yell "Fore!" whenever the
golfer begins to swing. He finds the jackets to be
particularly annoying, but it's the rule at every club
in Britain: you can't play unless you wear one.
He also watches -- via a
television-like device that works through an elaborate
mirror arrangement -- a golf competition between Britain
and the United States, much like the Ryder Cup (an event
which did not begin until 1927).
And, he learns that wars
have ceased, at least among the European nations,
because international disputes are now settled by ...
golf matches.
One thing about golf
hasn't changed, Gibson reflects following a round of
golf in which he emerges the victor--and has to listen
to his defeated opponent grousing about bad luck. "The
same old excuses, I thought. Among all those inventions,
surely they might have got something new in that line."
The main character's
adventures in the year 2000 also include taking a ride
in an underground tubular railway, familiarly called the
"tub," and reading about a London-to-New York speed
record of two hours and 32 minutes, achieved by a
bullet-type train traveling underneath the Atlantic
Ocean.
Little things, too,
amaze him: He no longer has to shave every day; instead,
he brushes a miraculous compound of some sort over his
cheeks once a week and this is sufficient to keep down
his beard. Similarly, he employs a hairbrush that keeps
his hair at whatever length he prefers, so he never
needs to visit a barber (which is good, since barbers no
longer exist).
The appeal of "Golf in
the Year 2000" is perhaps stronger today than it was
when it was first published. Golfing fans enjoy it for
its humorous commentary on the sport as practiced in the
19th century and in the "future" (our present). General
readers have fallen in love with it, too. Not only is it
fun to go through it count author McCullough's hits and
misses on the predictive front, the book is suffused
with a Victorian charm treminiscent of a Sherlock Holmes
story.
Now, the world is
rediscovering this little gem of a book.
In January of 2005, news
services reported that an American collector named James
Espinola had paid $2,240 at auction for a first edition
of "Golf in the Year 2000". Although Espinola is in the
process of selling off his own immense collection of
golf memorabilia, he was quoted as explaining that he
can't resist buying the occasional "odd thing" at
auction--and this was one of those things.
The Edinburgh auction
house of Lyon and Trumbull had estimated that the book
would fetch less than a quarter of what it ended up
bringing. The firm's golf specialist was quoted as
saying that the final price took them "a bit by
surprise."
Although original
editions of the book are rare, it has occasionally been
reprinted in facsimile editions. No one thought to make
it available to the vast audiences of the World Wide
Web, though, until recently.
On February 26, 2005, a
little over a month following the news about the
auctioned first edition, "Golf in the Year 2000" made
its debut on the Web at
www.golf-in-the-year-2000.com. The full text of this
strange and engaging book is finally available for
anyone, anywhere to read, free of charge.
At the conclusion of the
book, the main character declares that he does not
intend to wake up and find himself back in 1892 again,
with his amazing adventure having all a dream. "No, no;
I'm in 2000, and in 2000 I mean to stay." Like him, the
quirky tale of his adventure seems to have found a
secure place in our time.
