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Title of Story
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The Moonman
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Critical Introduction
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A story written as though it was for children yet displaying not only academic research knowledge but also reflecting that in the discoveries the little boy character is introduced to. Example: "What are these animals?" he inquired.
"Those are pet theories, kept by our Research Society," replied the moonman. "Every member has his own pet theory which he feeds and cares for. But now and then they grow so very fierce and strong (the theories, I mean), that we scientists are quite overpowered by them."
The way the story starts also reflects a number of 20th century reports of alien abduction, with the boy character of Sonnie surrounded by short green moonman that float him up and out through his window.
While I had initially dismissed this story as fantasy, considering there are no detailed science explanations, it is clear that there is a general scientific rationalism about everything, but delivered in child-speak. Moonbeams sound like tractor beams (E. E. Doc Smith 1931) 'floating' references weightlessness, mechanical people wound up both suggests robots (perhaps a reference to R. U. R. the play about robots in 1921) and how wound up society was at the time, 'a fearful number of light miles per second' when travelling on a ray is also child-speak for the speed of light. The mechanical people on one of Mars' moons only have one meal a day which consist of two pills. This is either a reference to the popular idea of food pills first suggested in Anna Dodd's The Republic of the Future (1887), or it is a reference to the more noticeable Mary Elizabeth Lease saying in 1893 that by 1993 we'll be eating synthetic food.
A short, fun yet also slightly disturbing story with disguised references to science, ufology, and digs at academia, disguised as a little boy's dream.
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Story Summary
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Young boy Sonnie is awoken by a little green moonman on the edge of his bed who, with his friends, takes Sonnie up on a moon beam for an adventure. Sonnie soon finds that moonbeams are like trains and the southern cross is the station, and he can't visit Earth's moon just yet but he's welcome to visit the mechanical occupants of one of Mars' moons. Many of the characters are surprised whenever a female appears, and when Sonnie is offered a trip to one of Mars' moons by a beautiful moonmaiden he doesn't hesitate, leaving all the moonmen behind. A satirical story with a dig at Australian academic culture as a subtext.
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Science Fiction Subgenres
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Planetary
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Space Fiction
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Space Opera
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Inventions
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Rays or beams like tractor beams that have their own schedule and can be jumped onto, to visit parts of the Solar System.
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Science
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Speed of Light
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Daily nutrition in pills
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Robotic systems
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Attraction beams using photons
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Science Extrapolations
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Travelling at the speed of light
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Wind up robots that work five hours a day
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Similar Science Fiction
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Rossum's Universal Robots (R. U. R.) Play being performed around the world at the time. Detailed review (1923): https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/234286109
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How this Story was Identified
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An ESA was trained on various fiction types and used in a classification program to group similar stories together. This story appeared when grouped with other stories, although close reading was necessary, with the entire group of stories discovered, to determine that the operation was only 10% accurate.
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Date Details Added to IA
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April 2024
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Related Paratext
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Ad for a nerve food and tonic in tablet form
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An advertisement for Beecham's Pills
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An advertisement for Bovril. (Note that the 'vril' in Bovril is a reference to the Vril in the vintage science fiction story "The Coming Race" (1871) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. But here it might just be a coincidence, long forgotten.)
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Attributed Author
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Elsie M. Over [Elsie Maud Over]
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Single or Serialised
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Serialised
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First Published Date of Last Installment
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1924-11-6
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Year For Sorting
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1924
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Date Range
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1924-10-30-1924-11-6
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Number of Installments
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2 chapters
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Complete or Supplemented
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Complete
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Length
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Flash Fiction
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Newspaper Publisher Citation
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Western Mail
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Newspaper Name Location Years
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Western Mail Perth WA 1885-1954
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Location Town City
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Perth
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Location State Territory
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Western Australia
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Provincial or Metro
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Metropolitan
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Content Advisory
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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.
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Edition Creator
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Over, Elsie M[aud]
