How to Be a Retronaut

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When I grow up, I want to be a retronaut; Chris Wild already is and he is generously sharing his portal with the world. Mr. Wild’s intriguing website (and it is intriguing) is a place in time dancing with whimsy. How to be a Retronaut is a website where you can scroll and click with wild abandon and pure wonder, “If the past is a foreign country, this is your passport.

A retronaut is someone who travels through time using just perception. How to be a Retronaut is a charismatic playground within a timeline that invites you to be a retronaut. The appeal of the website is in variety and unexpected entertainment. Where else can you find Eiffel Tower blueprints, a blooper reel from the 1930s, and a 5000 year old piece of chewing gum?! There are roots to modern chromatics, like this Crayola color chart graphically depicting the evolution from 8 crayon colors to 120 colors in 97 years (image above). For a dash of Parisian history, devour the details of this flat (who doesn’t want this ostrich?!).

I love the nostalgic photographs hidden throughout the website. These images of a Brooklyn gang in 1959 are completely captivating.

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These Parisian glimpses (in color!) are from the WWII era.

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And let’s not forget the birth of Twitter (70 years earlier than you think).

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Now click over and explore!

(All images from How to be a Retronaut.)