# Names and/or authors of two old Sci Fi short stories **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588 "2013-12-31T20:39:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/1 "2013-12-31T20:39:40Z")
Years ago, I remember reading some (of what I thought were) truly outstanding science fiction short stories. They were part of a volume along the lines of “Best Science Fiction”, or “Science Fiction Classics”. I’d guess that the collection was published in the 1950’s, so could have included anything written before, say, 1960 or so. That said, I have a strong sense that the stories were originally published in the 1940’s. To this day, almost fifty years later, I still remember two of the them in particular. I’d love to be able to read them again (if for no other reason to see if I would still think so highly of them). Alas, I can remember neither their titles nor their authors. Can you help? The first one may have been called something like “Permanent Hook-up” (or maybe not!). It was set in a future where time travellers arriving from the past had become quite a nuisance. So many were popping up that the effort required to integrate them into their new present, with the attendant counselling and re-education was extremely time-consuming and costly. Simply put, it had become too much of a hassle. What was done instead, therefore, was to take those innocent, trusting, and naive time travellers, and hook them and their brains up to a device that basically created a virtual reality for them - a reality with which they had been previously determined to have a strong emotional attachment. So, for example, one guy’s virtual reality device placed him in the Old West, riding tall in the saddle, as a cowboy - a fantasy he had enjoyed since he was kid. I remember it as a terrific little story which, among other things, as indicated above, anticipated the concept of virtual reality. If it rings a bell - author or title - please do reply. The second short story was about archaeologists on a mission to some alien planet where they unearthed a mysterious artifact. Eventually they deduce that what they’ve found was a device and medium by which images could be captured, saved, and viewed at will (i.e. like a movie camera and film). After much hard work, they figured out how to operate the device and were bursting with enthusiasm and anticipation as they awaited what they hoped would be the first images of the beings that once lived on the planet. After decades of searching and exploration, they would finally be able lo learn what the planet’s inhabitants looked like. It would be one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time. Shortly after turning on the device, and before any images appeared, strange symbols began to appear on the ‘screen’. The looked like this: _ **Walt Disney presents . . . Steamboat Willie** _. It would be so great to be able to read these stories again, fifty years after the first, and last, time I did so. So, again, if it rings a bell - author or title - please do reply. Thanks in anticipation! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/2 "2013-12-31T20:44:23Z")
I know I have read the 2nd story. The first seems familiar but the 2nd I know I’ve read. I think I even know what book its in, but I’ll have to find the box that they are both still packed in (I moved in the late summer). ETA: And of course **Andy** will prolly be in with the answers about 7 minutes before I find the right box. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/3 "2013-12-31T20:52:37Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Years ago, I remember reading some (of what I thought were) truly outstanding science fiction short stories. They were part of a volume along the lines of “Best Science Fiction”, or “Science Fiction Classics”. I’d guess that the collection was published in the 1950’s, so could have included anything written before, say, 1960 or so. That said, I have a strong sense that the stories were originally published in the 1940’s. > > To this day, almost fifty years later, I still remember two of the them in particular. I’d love to be able to read them again (if for no other reason to see if I would still think so highly of them). Alas, I can remember neither their titles nor their authors. Can you help? > > The first one may have been called something like “Permanent Hook-up” (or maybe not!). It was set in a future where time travellers arriving from the past had become quite a nuisance. So many were popping up that the effort required to integrate them into their new present, with the attendant counselling and re-education was extremely time-consuming and costly. Simply put, it had become too much of a hassle. > > What was done instead, therefore, was to take those innocent, trusting, and naive time travellers, and hook them and their brains up to a device that basically created a virtual reality for them - a reality with which they had been previously determined to have a strong emotional attachment. So, for example, one guy’s virtual reality device placed him in the Old West, riding tall in the saddle, as a cowboy - a fantasy he had enjoyed since he was kid. > > I remember it as a terrific little story which, among other things, as indicated above, anticipated the concept of virtual reality. If it rings a bell - author or title - please do reply. > > The second short story was about archaeologists on a mission to some alien planet where they unearthed a mysterious artifact. Eventually they deduce that what they’ve found was a device and medium by which images could be captured, saved, and viewed at will (i.e. like a movie camera and film). After much hard work, they figured out how to operate the device and were bursting with enthusiasm and anticipation as they awaited what they hoped would be the first images of the beings that once lived on the planet. After decades of searching and exploration, they would finally be able lo learn what the planet’s inhabitants looked like. It would be one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time. > > Shortly after turning on the device, and before any images appeared, strange symbols began to appear on the ‘screen’. The looked like this: _ **Walt Disney presents . . . Steamboat Willie** _. > > It would be so great to be able to read these stories again, fifty years after the first, and last, time I did so. So, again, if it rings a bell - author or title - please do reply. > > Thanks in anticipation! I remember both of them - give me a minute and I’ll have the titles (the second one is by Clarke) Edited to add - “History Lesson” by Clarke is the second one [History Lesson - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_Lesson) Edited to add - and the first one is “Texas Week” by Albert Hernhuter ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/4 "2013-12-31T21:00:32Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > I remember both of them - give me a minute and I’ll have the titles (the second one is by Clarke) > > Edited to add - “History Lesson” by Clarke is the second one [History Lesson - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_Lesson) > > Edited to add - and the first one is “Texas Week” by Albert Hernhuter “Texas Week” can be found in “Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales” edited by Asimov ( “History Lesson” has been collected in many many places Oops. I appear to be mistaken about “Texas Week” - that’s this story (available legally here [The Project Gutenberg eBook of Texas Week, by Albert Hernhuter](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28647/28647-h/28647-h.htm)) which isn’t quite the one you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/5 "2013-12-31T21:05:47Z")
GAAAAH!!! How could I not have recognized that as the Clarke story?!??! **Andy** , have we yet made arrangements to have your head put in a jar after your death? I hope it’s not coming soon, but just in case, there’s no way we want to lose all the info that’s rattling around in there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/6 "2013-12-31T21:24:17Z")
Still haven’t found the first story - it does sound familiar. Here’s the list of places that the Clarke story has been collected [Title: History Lesson](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?41314) - maybe a book title will ring a bell (click on the book title to get a complete listing of the stories in the book). ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/7 "2013-12-31T21:33:07Z")
Found it “Spectator Sport” by John D. McDonald described here [The Trap of Solid Gold: "Spectator Sport"](http://thetrapofsolidgold.blogspot.com/2011/09/spectator-sport.html) Both it and the Clarke are in Conklin’s “Omnibus of Science Fiction” [Publication: Omnibus of Science Fiction](http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?130811) “Spectator Sport” is in the same collection as “Texas Week” too, which might be what threw me off. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/8 "2013-12-31T21:35:15Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > **Andy** , have we yet made arrangements to **have your head put in a jar** after your death? I hope it’s not coming soon, but just in case, there’s no way we want to lose all the info that’s rattling around in there.😃 I hope no one unfamiliar with _Futurama_ reads this; they might get the wrong impression of what it is you have in mind for Andy. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/9 "2013-12-31T21:36:08Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > GAAAAH!!! How could I not have recognized that as the Clarke story?!??! > > **Andy** , have we yet made arrangements to have your head put in a jar after your death? I hope it’s not coming soon, but just in case, there’s no way we want to lose all the info that’s rattling around in there. > > 😃 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/10 "2013-12-31T21:42:01Z")
You guys are amazing! Thanks a million. (I am on my iPhone now, so will say more, and thank you again, later). ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2013, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/11 "2013-12-31T23:55:02Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Years ago, I remember reading some (of what I thought were) truly outstanding science fiction short stories. They were part of a volume along the lines of “Best Science Fiction”, or “Science Fiction Classics”. I’d guess that the collection was published in the 1950’s, so could have included anything written before, say, 1960 or so. That said, I have a strong sense that the stories were originally published in the 1940’s. > > To this day, almost fifty years later, I still remember two of the them in particular. I’d love to be able to read them again (if for no other reason to see if I would still think so highly of them). Alas, I can remember neither their titles nor their authors. Can you help? > > The first one may have been called something like “Permanent Hook-up” (or maybe not!). It was set in a future where time travellers arriving from the past had become quite a nuisance. So many were popping up that the effort required to integrate them into their new present, with the attendant counselling and re-education was extremely time-consuming and costly. Simply put, it had become too much of a hassle. > > What was done instead, therefore, was to take those innocent, trusting, and naive time travellers, and hook them and their brains up to a device that basically created a virtual reality for them - a reality with which they had been previously determined to have a strong emotional attachment. So, for example, one guy’s virtual reality device placed him in the Old West, riding tall in the saddle, as a cowboy - a fantasy he had enjoyed since he was kid. > > I remember it as a terrific little story which, among other things, as indicated above, anticipated the concept of virtual reality. If it rings a bell - author or title - please do reply. > > The second short story was about archaeologists on a mission to some alien planet where they unearthed a mysterious artifact. Eventually they deduce that what they’ve found was a device and medium by which images could be captured, saved, and viewed at will (i.e. like a 2movie camera and film). After much hard work, they figured out how to operate the device and were bursting with enthusiasm and anticipation as they awaited what they hoped would be the first images of the beings that once lived on the planet. After decades of searching and exploration, they would finally be able lo learn what the planet’s inhabitants looked like. It would be one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time. > > Shortly after turning on the device, and before any images appeared, strange symbols began to appear on the ‘screen’. The looked like this: _ **Walt Disney presents . . . Steamboat Willie** _. > > It would be so great to be able to read these stories again, fifty years after the first, and last, time I did so. So, again, if it rings a bell - author or title - please do reply. > > Thanks in anticipation! There’s a slight difference in my recollection of the Clarke story. The images show a race of bipedal beings with artificial skins rushing frantically from place to place on mysterious errands and frequently colliding with little consequence. At the end an enigmatic face fills the screen, and the meaning of its expression will be long debated. Then the words "A Walt Disney Production " appear . ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/12 "2014-01-01T00:02:02Z")
> [@Damfino](#): > > There’s a slight difference in my recollection of the Clarke story. The images show a race of bipedal beings with artificial skins rushing frantically from place to place on mysterious errands and frequently colliding with little consequence. At the end an enigmatic face fills the screen, and the meaning of its expression will be long debated. Then the words "A Walt Disney Production " appear . Could well be. I read the story once, in the mid 1960’s, and wouldn’t be surprised if I mixed up the details. I’ll use this opportunity to thank everyone and **Andy L** in particular. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/13 "2014-01-01T00:48:26Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I hope no one unfamiliar with _Futurama_ reads this; Do such people exist??? FFS, tell me where and I’ll rush right over with my DVDs! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/14 "2014-01-01T08:49:06Z")
It’s Donald Duck that the cartoon in the second story is about, not Steamboat Willie. I have an interesting anecdote about the story “Texas Week,” even though it turns out that it wasn’t the one that the OP was looking for. At some point in the late 1970’s, Al Hernhuter was a member. He was thought of as just another member, and no one made a big deal about the fact that he had published a few stories. One of the pseudonyms that he published under was Bert Ahearne, but the rest of the club knew little about the stories he had published, which were already twenty-some years old. Another member of the club, who I’ll call K, one time asked the people in the club if they knew what the title and author of a story that he’d read years ago was. K then described the plot of that story. Al said, “Oh, I recognize that story. It’s 'Texas Week” by Bert Ahearne. And there’s a good reason that I know it. I am Bert Ahearne." ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/15 "2014-01-01T17:11:11Z")
> [@](#): > > I have an interesting anecdote about the story “Texas Week,” even though it turns out that it wasn’t the one that the OP was looking for. At some point in the late 1970’s, Al Hernhuter was a member. A member of what? Some science fiction fan club, I assume? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/16 "2014-01-01T17:47:40Z")
My apologies. The sentence was supposed to read “At some point in the late 1970’s, Al Hernhuter was a member of a science fiction club that I belong to (although this was just before I joined).” ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/17 "2014-01-01T19:17:19Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > It’s Donald Duck that the cartoon in the second story is about, not Steamboat Willie. > [@Damfino](#): > > There’s a slight difference in my recollection of the Clarke story. The images show a race of bipedal beings with artificial skins rushing frantically from place to place on mysterious errands and frequently colliding with little consequence. At the end an enigmatic face fills the screen, and the meaning of its expression will be long debated. Then the words "A Walt Disney Production " appear . It is humbling to see how faulty my memory is. But what’s even more disconcerting is that I had no clue how faulty it was. I had what I thought was a pretty clear recollection of the nuts and bolts of the story - the sequence of events and its basic content. In other words, I was unable to distinguish a ‘genuine’ memory from one I must have created (and had no suspicions that I even _might_ have done so). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/18 "2014-01-01T19:20:29Z")
A previous thread on Clarke’s “History Lesson”: [What Disney cartoon was Arthur C. Clarke referring to in this short story? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=403695) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/19 "2014-01-01T20:28:31Z")
> [@](#): > > In other words, I was unable to distinguish a ‘genuine’ memory from one I must have created (and had no suspicions that I even might have done so). That’s how all memories work. Basically, all of our memories are ones that we have created. Usually, what we create corresponds pretty closely with what actually happened, but not always. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588/20 "2014-01-01T21:58:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That’s how all memories work. Basically, all of our memories are ones that we have created. Usually, what we create corresponds pretty closely with what actually happened, but not always. And when this fact becomes generally acknowledged–and accepted–many, if not most, human institutions will have to change radically. But–to be realistic–that day may _never_ come. We are the descendants of humans who survived because they had a practically infinite capacity to save their own pride by believing they were in control of their minds. (A corollary of which is, of course, the belief that our memories are objective and immutable records of what has happened.) …sorry for the digression. It’s just a preoccupation of mine, lately. (Though slightly more on-topic: I’m sure there’s a science fiction story in there, somewhere…) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-and-or-authors-of-two-old-sci-fi-short-stories/677588.md?page=2)