# Time-traveler in 1928 Charlie Chaplin film **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 25, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330 "2010-10-25T20:39:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/101 "2010-11-04T04:35:38Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > The future may indeed see cell phones which can work without a network of towers. However the future will also see concealable hands-free cell phones. Because we have those now, in the present. We perfected\* video phone technology years ago. If the Jetsons were right we’d be using it left right and centre by now. But for some reason we choose not to. Who’s to say that in the future, when tower-less cell phones and time travel are both possible, that people still prefer hand-held phones? Or maybe the hands-free versions can’t be infrastructure-less (too small) I stand by my assertion. \*OK, maybe not _perfected_, but it’s perfectly useable. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/102 "2010-11-04T12:21:36Z")
The thing which surprises me is this: If she was actually talking on a mobile phone in the 1920s, _other people there at the time would have noticed_, in much the same way we’d notice someone skating around on a Hoverboard or using a Pip-Boy 3000 type device. And also, human nature being what it is, if you’re going to travel back in time, you’re either going to see something important (such as key events in the life and times of major historical figures) or you’re up to something (altering or counter-altering history, for example) in which case you’re going to make pretty sure you stay away from the fairly obvious 1920s Camera Unit (those cameras weren’t small or inconspicuous, after all) which are aimed at Charlie Chaplin. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/103 "2010-11-04T18:53:45Z")
To those commenting on her being fat - snopes has the DVD and posted the exact clip. The one that’s gone viral has been flattened and widened. She looks normal in the real version. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/104 "2010-11-04T19:35:07Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > To those commenting on her being fat - snopes has the DVD and posted the exact clip. The one that’s gone viral has been flattened and widened. She looks normal in the real version. Can we get a link to the Snopes page? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330/105 "2010-11-04T20:52:30Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Can we get a link to the Snopes page? Snopes page [http://www.snopes.com/info/inthenews.asp](http://www.snopes.com/info/inthenews.asp) just links to this: [Charlie Chaplin time traveler debunked: It's just a hearing aid - CSMonitor.com](http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/1028/Charlie-Chaplin-time-traveler-debunked-It-s-just-a-hearing-aid) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-traveler-in-1928-charlie-chaplin-film/558330.md?page=5)