More "Roads Must Roll"

[Chris Zakes]

I ran across an article from Smithsonian Magazine about moving
sidewalks today:
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/paleofuture/2012/01/moving-sidewalks-before-the-jetsons/

Although it doesn't mention "the Roads Must Roll", it does have
pictures of the moving sidewalk from the 1893 Columbian Exposition in
Chicago (which I've mentioned here previously) as well as pictures and
film of a two-level, two-speed moving sidewalk at the Paris Exposition
of 1900.

There's also mention of a 1925 article by Hugo Gernsback predicting
multi-speed moving sidewalks combined with high-speed elevated trains
in 1975.

-Chris Zakes
Texas
--

"Hold on, hold on, there must be a law against killing lawyers."
"Are you *sure*?"
"There's still some around, aren't there?"

-Terry Pratchett, "The Truth"

[Michael Black]

On Tue, 24 Jan 2012, Chris Zakes wrote:

> I ran across an article from Smithsonian Magazine about moving
> sidewalks today:
> http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/paleofuture/2012/01/moving-sidewalks-before-the-jetsons/
>
> Although it doesn't mention "the Roads Must Roll", it does have
> pictures of the moving sidewalk from the 1893 Columbian Exposition in
> Chicago (which I've mentioned here previously) as well as pictures and
> film of a two-level, two-speed moving sidewalk at the Paris Exposition
> of 1900.
>
> There's also mention of a 1925 article by Hugo Gernsback predicting
> multi-speed moving sidewalks combined with high-speed elevated trains
> in 1975.
>

I can't remember details, because it's thirty years ago, but I remember a
sliding ramp either in the Boston subway system, or Macy's in New York
City. It wasn't a new thing, something about it made me realize it had
been around for decades.

Michael

[Chris Zakes]

According to the article, there was a moving sidewalk at the Houston
Coliseum, too. I don't *recall* such a thing when I was growing up in
Houston, but we didn't go to the Coliseum all that often, either.